Four. F O U R. 1234
Only four percent of federal funds are used for childhood cancer research. That is insane.
Out of every disease being researched, wouldn’t you think childhood cancer would be at the forefront? I would. I did. Until I researched.
Babies, toddlers, and children are experiencing some rough days HELL. It is a hell most of us turn a blind eye to. Unless we have experienced that hell, or we have watched someone go through it, we close our eyes and hope it goes away.
It’s true. You know it is. We scroll quickly through the story on Facebook someone has shared. We turn the channel when it comes on TV. We simply cannot bear to see or hear about that hell. We know it exists but it’s too much to dwell on. Sometimes we comment on a page that we are praying, then we do everything we can to get it out of our mind.
The problem? Just because we choose to not notice does not mean it is not there. It is. According to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (2017), 175,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer each year. It is the leading cause of death by disease past infancy for U.S. children. Cancer does not discriminate. It knows no age, gender, race, socioeconomic class, religion, or geographic location.
Cancer does not care about first days of school, birthday parties, dances, graduations, or wedding days. It has no regard for mothers and fathers who have been hurt gutted and torn absolutely and completely apart from watching their precious baby suffer. It spares no sympathy for the sister or brother that is left without their best friend. It leaves an irreplaceable hole in a family, and in the world, forever.
This past year, cancer took two very important people from my life. It was unexpected in both cases and stole them from me within months of each other. It was so hard. I hate cancer.
This past year, I also watched the most beautiful (when I say beautiful, I really mean gorgeous) family experience a devastating loss of their beautiful Paisley to cancer. Their baby girl was taken far too soon. I cannot fathom the pain and misery they experienced, and still experience, daily. My heart broke when I read the beyond devastating news of her diagnosis on Facebook. I always kept up with them on social media, mainly to see their girls’ pictures. Because….OHMYGOSH, those girls. They make the most beautiful babies. See picture below for proof of the gorgeousness.
My heart ached every day for them. Yet, I know the ache I felt didn’t even touch the misery they experienced. They were at the top of my every prayer list and I clung to every post they shared on Facebook.
Their beautiful girl, Paisley Joyce Collins, was diagnosed on November 30, 2015 with MLL (Mixed Lineage Leukemia). That brave and gorgeous little girl fought so hard and eventually won the battle against such an awful and aggressive cancer. Devastatingly, in May 2016, an infection developed in Paisley’s lungs. The decision was made to put her on an ECMO machine to help her little body rest and repair from the damage of the infection. Paisley’s parents learned on July 29, 2016, her little lungs could not be repaired. On August 1, 2016, just weeks after her sweet baby brother was born, Paisley gained her hard fought wings and went to be with Jesus.
Paisley’s family is one of the strongest families I know. They relied on their faith in God to carry them through. They went through something no family should have to experience. More than that though, a child should never have to go through what sweet little Paisley did.
I shared their story (with permission) to beg you. Yes, BEG you to go to click below.
Hot Mess Mom 