Childhood cancer awareness month

It's officially September! September has a big meaning to me and most of my family, it is Childhood cancer awareness month. Some of you may have just raised and eyebrow as to why that would have meaning to myself and my family, well let me tell you!!

You know how some moments in life you look back on and can remember exactly what you were doing what was going on around you and who was with you. For most Americans that day is 9/11, I can tell you right off the bat how I found out what was going on in NY without even a second thought! These next two memories are the exact same way. 5 years ago I was taking my lunch break at beauty school, I had just sat down and was going to start eating when I opened my phone and had a text message from my step mom that my niece( nearing her third birthday) had been diagnosed with leukemia the night before. This was one of those text messages I had to read several times over to actually have it sink in and realize it was real. I left school immediately!! Thankful my school was extremely close to the hospital and I was there in minutes. When I got there I walked into her room and my heart broke even more. My sweet niece, first born niece. was laying in a hospital bed with tubes and machines all around her :( my sister 8 months pregnant right by her side and my brother in law on the other. When Anna saw me she got excited to see me, and for the first time ever said my name the right way ( Shea-nuh, instead Say-nuh), another one of those little things you remember out of everything else.

The mood in the room was obviously not ahigh happy one but it didn't matter we needed to be together as a family for Anna. I stayed at the hospital as long as I could because my bitch of a boss would not let me have the night off(  I later quit this job because of this boss comparing her sons busted lip to my niece having CANCER and there was no reason I should have had the night off...Fuck you lady!!!) I tired for the next several months to do all I could to come to the hospital and see her but sometimes it just didn't happen. Anna however was a star and kicked cancers ass!!! She was doing so well in treatment she was even breaking standards for treatment, she was my little hero!!! That November 8 months after she was diagnosed she was the most beautiful flower girl in mine and Drews wedding and not too long after that was done with treatmeant

This is one of my favorite pictures of her and I from my wedding. She was getting really bored having to wait for us to go and get married, but snuggling me in our watching white dresses made happy long enough!!

Well you'll remember I said my sister was pregnant at the time of Anna diagnoses. She had little Madeline on April first( same as Uncle Drew) She was a beauty from the beginning just like her sister!! Well almost exactly 3 years later she was diagnosed with leukemia as well. I got the call early in the morning here in England and I knew it had to be bad news because it was a call on our stateside number which only our family back in Washington ever call on and there is an 8 hours time difference between us. It was my sister Becky calling to tell me. I thought the first time getting that kind of news was hard but let me tell you to hear the same words again for your niece who you love so much and now at this point being a mom myself, my heart broke in so many ways! For my niece because I knew the road that was in front of her and for my sister and bother in law, to have to hold your childs hand yet again and try to explain to them what is going on, I can't even imagine it and frankly I don't want to! Nor would anybody else!! It was very hard to not get on a plane and fly straight home but I knew I would be in the way and really I wouldn't be doing anything productive accept be another shoulder to lean on. We had a trip planned home shortly as well so that was my only smoothing factor.

I kept a close eye on my sisters Facebook updates and her caring bridge updates. I called when I felt like it might be an ok time, and I always knew that if she didn't pick up that wasn't going to be surprise but I always wanted to try. We finally made it home in June and we got to my parents house from the airport and went straight over!! It was so nice to see them and hug everyone and feel like I could do something now!! Maddie much like her sister kicked its ass!!

Here is Maddie

Sister lovins!

The girls having a tea party with Isaiah winter 2010

Both my nieces are my heroes, they have faced so much at such a young age and have come out on top! I am so thankful to God for the amazing healing he did in there bodies and how much strength he gave them. I am thankful he helped my brother and sister through these hard times and even though the path may have gotten dark at some points, they came out on top too, they even renewed there wedding vows to each other last summer! One of the few couples I can look up to see that "for better or for worse" was really what they meant!

Aside from there story there are some very real facts about Childhood cancer I want to share.

• Childhood Cancer remains the #1 disease killer of America's children --more than AIDS, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and asthma COMBINED, making it the leading cause of death in children 15 and younger

•  About 12,060 children in the United States under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2012. Childhood cancer rates have been rising slightly for the past few decades.

September is childhood cancer awareness month, the ribbon for it is GOLD!!! I know many people get caught up on buying PINK over and over, and let me firstly say that I support ALL cancer awareness and research because I fully believe that all cancers are linked together and once one is cured then slowly but surely all others will get cured as well and the DEVIL can take this disease back down to hell where it belongs!! BUT I wish people would remember the other cancers need love too not just breast cancer!!!

I am also FIRM in not playing the stupid "cancer awareness games" on Facebook! Yes it got a lot of media attention the first time around when everyone was putting up there bra color( others taking it too far and going on about lace and such) but in hind sight, you did nothing productive! I can sit and write this blog and people will probably say the same thing BUT I have been there! I have been in the hospital seen other patients and helped where I can and this post is actually about Childhood cancer not my bra color( or as one of sisters friends joked, the character on my sons underwear), this blog post is not all I will do because that would be too easy! I would like to encourage those that can to volunteer, that means more to hospitals patients and there families then anything else! Do you have a craft? Make some stuff to donate to the children, it will light up there face to receive it, trust I've been there for those random gifts!

During this month I will be wearing GOLD when I can and telling as many that will listen the story of my nieces and how amazing they are. And hopefully one of these years when my life isn't so crazy I will organize some kind of fundraiser to give back to the people who need it most!!! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Labor day weekend!!!

Until next time...