This is what childhood cancer looks like...

I'm sorry if this picture is too sad for you to look at. Imagine how I feel...this is my child. Imagine how he feels. The treatment is doing this to him and we have no choice. This is his only shot at life. No baby should have to go through this...ever...and I'm mad. I'm mad because I didn't know, and neither does most of America. Here are the facts about childhood cancer.

•  Every school day 46 children are diagnosed with cancer.
• Sadly, over 2,300 children with cancer die each year.
• 1 in 330 children will have the disease by age 20.
• Cancer kills more children than any other disease, more than Asthma, Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes and Pediatric AIDS combined.
• Cancers in very young children are highly aggressive and behave unlike malignant diseases at other times in life.
• 80% of children have metastasized cancer at the time of their diagnosis. At diagnosis, only 20% of adults with cancer show evidence that the disease has spread or metastasized.
• Detecting childhood cancers at an early stage, when the disease would react more favorably to treatment, is extremely difficult.
• Cancer symptoms in children – fever, swollen glands, anemia, bruises and infection – are often suspected to be, and at the early stages are treated as, other childhood illnesses.
• Even with insurance coverage, a family will have out-of pocket expenses of about $40,000 per year, not including travel.
• Treatment can continue for several years, depending on the type of cancer and the type of therapy given.
• There are 15 children diagnosed with cancer for every one child diagnosed with pediatric AIDS. Yet, the U.S. invests approximately $595,000 for research per victim of pediatric AIDS and only $20,000 for each victim of childhood cancer.
• The National Cancer Institute's (NCI) federal budget was $4.6 billion. Of that, breast cancer received 12%, prostate cancer received 7%, and all 12 major groups of pediatric cancers combined received less than 3%.
• The American Cancer Society spends less than 70 cents of each 100 dollars raised on childhood cancer.

What Causes Childhood Cancer?

• Every family is potentially at risk.
• In almost all cases, childhood cancers arise from non-inherited mutations (or changes) in the genes of growing cells.
• As these errors occur randomly and unpredictably, there is currently no effective way to predict or prevent them.
• Most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupational hazards and exposure to other cancer causing agents.

Cancer Research Funding

• Nationally, childhood cancer is 20x more prevalent than pediatric AIDS.
• Pediatric AIDS receives 4x the funding that childhood cancer receives.
• In one month there are 2x as many deaths from childhood cancer as pediatric AIDS for the entire year.

Most drugs used for childhood cancer treatment are over 20 years old and were developed to treat adult cancers.

Cancer treatment can cause serious side effects that often last a lifetime.

These kids need effective, less toxic treatments. They need a cure. So, why is childhood cancer so grossly underfunded? Are the kids just too sad to think about? Do they not have a voice?

I used to see the St. Jude kids on the TV...or I heard stories of a friend of a friend who's child had cancer. I gave money here and there, but why didn't I do more? I didn't know...I didn't think it could happen to my child. Well it can, and it did. So please, do something without it slapping you in the face too. Use Nate's pain and the pain of every other child fighting with all their might, as your motivation. I know most of the people reading this are now aware...go out and make your friends aware too. Many of these children are too little to ask for help. They need our support and our dollars, so they can have a chance to grow up and live the life they were meant to live.

Nate is not doing well. Every time we think we're starting to turn a corner, we aren't. He's keeping water down, but not much else. As you can see, he's probably lost all the weight he worked so hard to put on...I'm too scared to weigh him. He barely has enough energy to lift his head or talk. We called the on call Dr this weekend and were assured that this is fairly normal. As long as he's keeping fluids down, he's doing ok. We have an appointment at the clinic in the morning. We'll see what they say when they see him. Chris and I are not doing well either. We're mentally and physically exhausted. I'm having some major stomach problems...maybe it's sympathy pains. Please pray for us. Please pray that Nate will start doing better soon, so we can have a bit of a break before they hit him with round 4. Please pray that Chris and I can continue to stay strong and positive. I think we are doing a pretty good job, especially around the kids, but it's not easy.