Blogging for Blood Cancer, Because This Is What We Do

Any time I see a blog that mentions cancer I get excited and zoom over to read it.  I’ve found very few that ever mention pediatric cancers, so I guess our site is pretty unique in that.  However, I am excited to share some other blogs written by mom’s of cancer kids who could use some support and show them what a brave thing I believe they’re doing to share their journey with the world.

Natalie Willis write BelieveInMandy
Joanne Lee write Hope4ACure
MaryLynn Kesler writes Butterflies and Rainbows
Ami Czorapinski writes Broccoli 4 Breakfast
Heather Duckworth writes Faithful Froggers

A few weeks ago I found this awesome blogosphere-wide event going on at Goodies for Mom and Friends of Heroes promoting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  You should absolutely go check them out because they have some MAD prizes available for anyone who visits. If you have a blog of your own, I would urge you to take the time to be a part of this event by writing your own post or putting a button your site to promote awareness.

This worked perfectly me because I had my own Leukemia and Lymphoma Society event this week to share with all of you.  Last year, a group of the Tampa area families were invited to participate in the Pennies for Pasta program that reaches out to local schools and allows their students to be a part of a fundraising event that raised over $257,000 this year alone.  The class in each school that raises the most money is treated to a great lunch provided by Olive Garden!

At the kickoff of this past year’s event the families were treated to a photo session with Flashes of Hope that donates amazing photos to families with life-threatening illnesses.  Can I tell you how much fun we had that night?  We got our hair and makeup done by professional makeup artists, we got these phenomenal gifts of pictures with our kids and, well, frankly, any time this group gets together you can expect a rolling fun time.

We are all proud to have our children be honored as survivors.  For me, it is empowering to feel as if there’s something good that comes from having a child with cancer, we can raise awareness and hopefully make a difference in the lives of the many future children who will be diagnosed.  While the L&LS reach out to adults on a large scale as well, our lives revolve around our children and those are the ones that we focus on.

It’s an opportunity to lift our child high and say “HEY! Don’t forget that kids get cancer too!  We are fighting for their lives and we need your help!!”  It’s a desperate plea for people to understand that cancer strikes at any age.
Wednesday 6 of the families with kids who were honored survivors had a luncheon at Olive Garden with the top fundraising schools.  It was a chance to come face to face with the people who put so much work into getting out the word and teaching these school-aged kids that even pennies matter.

What was devastating was to know that of the fairly small number of families chosen in our area, I think 10-12, 3 of the honored survivors lost their battles.  Emily Lester, Mathew Gliddon and Sierra Kesler weren’t at the lunch because their treatments failed.  I cannot even explain the agony in my heart.  It hurt so much to look around the table and know they should be there, but they weren’t because of Leukemia.

Every day I blog for blood cancer.  I blog for my daughter who has battled hard and who is winning this fight.  I blog for the many children who will lose to cancer’s devastating attack.  I blog because I believe once you know, you can’t unknow.  Once you’ve been made aware, you can’t forget.

This is the reason I blog for blood cancer.