I had mentioned in my initial e-mail another local story of triumph which I received this morning.   Natalie and her family are from the Eastern Polk County area.  Here is Natalie's story...

"On March 10th 2006 Natalie was diagnosed with T-Cell Non-Hopkins Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. The cancer was found on a Saturday and on Monday was surgery. the tumor was surrounding her lungs and internal organs and she was being suffocated and she had to be Bagged to stay a live during surgery for 2 1/2 hours. She had hard core Chemo at Blank Children's hospital for 2 years. During this time she was in and out of the hospitaland missed a lot of school. She was 5yrs old at Diagnosis and missing school for the 2 years did not have a lot of interference on her school work. She was very forgetful due to the chemo and she made it through ok. She has been clean for 8 1/2 years and she just had her 9th year check up and everything was clear. She will have follow ups until she is 18yrs old and Echo Cardiograms until she is 50yrs old. Many of the chemodrugs are still hard on the system years later and there can be many side effects years later, this is why her follow upif so strict."

MariAnn    

MariAnn, we are so thankful for the progress that has been made in treatment and for Natalie's encouraging follow-ups.  We hope that the efforts of this organization will continue to improve the treatment of childhood cancers and its effect on the children and their families facing the challenges it presents.  Thank you for sharing Natalie's story.

-Ryan