If your life has been touched in some way by cancer than you have a pretty clear idea of how it affect lives and families. If your child or a child, you care about, has been diagnosed with cancer then it feels like an assault on every front. You, as the adult, have maturity on your side and some skills to help deal with this life and death challenge; even though it may not feel that way. Still, the weight of the world…all of the responsibility can feel like an anchor; holding you down. Wishing to remove some of the trauma from your child you try to handle as much of it as you can but you are human you can only do so much.
Dealing with the paperwork, the care of other siblings and spouse, working a full time job; not to mention hands on care between treatments, paying bills, chauffeuring back and forth between doctor and hospital visits; it can become overwhelming. However, the most important thing is meeting the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of your childhood cancer patient. You can’t be all things to all of the people in your life at the same time and there are moments when you have to be away from your child in the hospital. Finding a way to still provide comfort and security for your child, even when you aren’t there, is of the utmost importance to you. This is extremely important for the positive outcome of the battle against cancer. There is someone who has been there and is trying to make a difference for other families in the same battle.
There is a non-profit organization called, Friends Like Us. Friends like us was started by the parents of a childhood cancer patient named Brandon. Mark and Delores Bailey are those parents and they created something called the chemo bear. This bear provided comfort to their son when he fought his battle. The chemo bear is customized in a way with interactionable parts which simulates the treatments that the cancer patient goes through. This helps to open the door for positive communication between the child-patient and the medical staff who are providing care.
Children with cancer have to deal with so many life changes and it can be frightening and lonely. Treatments are often unpleasant or uncomfortable. These bears can provide great physical and emotional comfort to a child who is suffering during this time in unfamiliar locations sometimes seperated from friends or family.
The Bailey’s have started a program which provides chemo bears free of charge to child cancer patients through social workers in cancer hospitals. The bears cost about 24 dollars to make and ship…and so the Getting Better Together program thrives on fundraising. This week, June 28-July 5th, they are having a fundraising event called, Adopt A Bear. For each $25 dollar donation, a bear will be given to a child with cancer. Want to learn more about this wonderful program? Are you associated with a hospital or cancer clinic that has not heard of this great program? Check out their website for more information here: http://www.friendslikeus.org/ or follow them on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/friendslikeus .
If you can find it in your heart to help spread the word or to donate much needed dollars to provide comfort to a little one please do so. If you want donate in the memory of someone who’s life has been affected by cancer; please do. I think that is a great way to honor someone. Thank you!
.gif)
A nice article and a great thing you’re doing by getting this out there and getting people involved.
I’ve been there with my daughter when she was 8 and fought acute myelogenous leukemia. Support and a positive attitude makes all the difference in the world.
Thanks, Lorraine
Writerchick47
Thanks for the heartfelt comment on the blog. It is hard to go through such trying times and not seek comfort where we can find it; as human beings. When I heard about this program, it just sounded like it could really fill a need. I have been lucky so far that none of my children have not been threatened with a life threatening disease or accident. I can only imagine the nightmare (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it); because, I have a powerful imagination.
The fear and the horror of not knowing how things are going to go in a situation like yours, regarding your daughter when she was young, can tear families apart. In fact, it often does. The financial and emotional strain is terrible. I hope this organization raises lots of money so that they can bring some measure of comfort and peace to patients and their families. Thanks again for sharing your family’s story with us. We appreciate you doing so!
WritewhereUr
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sharon McPherson, Ann Evanston. Ann Evanston said: RT @WritewhereUr Children who r hosp w/cancer can b traumatized & fearful of procedures how abt donating a chemo bear? http://bit.ly/cw20l3 [...]