CHILDHOOD CANCER

Today in the United States 46 children will be told they have cancer.

One in 330 children will develop cancer by age 20

With continued progress in research the cure rate for cancers diagnosed prior to age 20 can approach 85%

More facts about childhood cancer

Even though there are many people who unfortunately share this experience with cancer, every family journey is unique. Each family has to follow its own track. A few things that helped us along the way were:

Faith - A trust that everything happens for a reason and is all part of God’s Plan. Never asking "why?" That question can never be answered and it will just drive yourself into a mad spiral of anger and hopelessness. We may never know the answers in our lifetime, but we just have to believe that God just needed Holden sooner.

Family & Friends - It took a while for us to reach out, but when we did, the support was incredible. Just being able to share our joys and fears through our email chain made a tremendous difference.

Being Proactive - As parents, we know our children better than anyone else. It was important to us that we be a part of every single decision in regard to Holden's care. But in order to make wise and effective decisions, it was necessary to be as informed as the doctors, nurses and other caregivers. No one can be a better advocate for a child than his parents.

Staying Organized - We kept a daily log that charted medicines, symptoms like vomiting or fevers, food and drinks, bowel movements, height, weight and the tumor marker. This chart became essential when trying to determine the cause of Holden’s chronic diarrhea. It made our lives and the lives of Holden’s nurses so much easier. Most importantly, the information we were giving to the doctors was accurate and not dependent on our memory. (When you’re in the hospital for weeks, all the days seem to run together.)

You can download a pdf of the chart here, but you’ll need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader.

Last, but not least:
Living Life
Like Holden, we made every effort to live life to the fullest. We treated him as if he were
going to live a million years (encouraging his talents, giving him time-outs when needed),
while also recognizing that life is short (whether you have cancer or not).