September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

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September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Only 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s budget is directed to pediatric cancer.

4%? Kids are not little adults. They need more research for chemo and other therapies just for kids!

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Here are some warning signs of childhood cancer.

These are the major warning signs. But my cancer kid didn’t have any of these!

Appetite changes, but no weight loss. Kid just got picky, and didn’t like anything anymore. Including their favorite snack cake.

We had been going to the pediatrician for about a month with breathing issues. Only when laying down. We spent so many nights watching the kid to make sure they didn’t stop breathing. Put the kid in our bed, propped up on pillows so they could breath. Kid did not understand why we kept waking them up at night to sit up.

Pediatrician said asthma, and was treating for that but it didn’t help. We finally went to the ER one night. Kid was misdiagnosed by the ER doctor. But that chest xray led to the radiologist finally recognizing a problem.

A mass the size of a grapefruit in the kids little chest. Not a typical presentation for leukemia. Pediatrician sent us to a pulmonologist at UK. Poor pulmonologist had to be the one to tell us our kid had some kind of cancer, and sent us down the hall to the oncologist. We were admitted that day.

Kid is now a survivor! Coming up on 22 years since diagnose!
If you see that something is off with your kid, keep going to the doctor until you get an answer! Don’t let them put you off! Mom and Dad know when something is wrong!!