Case shares personal experience with pediatric cancer

Cheryl Case, occupational therapist, Red Oak, knows all too well what it is like for a child to have cancer. Her son, Emmett, was only 14 months old when he was diagnosed with cancer on Oct. 25, 2012.
     Forty-six children each day are diagnosed with cancer and seven will not survive the diagnosis, Cheryl says. One in 285 will be diagnosed by age 18. Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for children and adolescents. 
     Fact: Only two drugs have been developed for children in the last 30 years. This and other facts are being shared on social media during the month of September -- Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month -- by parents and loved ones of children affected by cancer. 
     “While we see these facts, they often are not made real until you know someone involved,” says Cheryl. "Emmett will be in treatment until Feb. 25, 2016, for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. In his lifetime, he has been in treatment longer than he was not.”
     “Most likely there is a child in each and every school district we serve that has been affected by cancer,” she adds. “Be aware and go gold! Follow the hashtag #gogold and #morethan4 which represents the small four percent of the national budget allocated for research in childhood cancers." 
     All of us at GHAEA wish Emmett all the best!