Just Pray

***Update*** Little Gavin passed away at 10:42pm last night. So sad. Rest in peace.

Just can't stop crying. This sucks.

http://www.gavinowens.com/

He is 3 years old. He has Mitochondrial Disease, and right now, his lungs are filling up, and he is essentially drowning. His parents are praying that his next breath will be his last, so he doesn't suffer anymore. He is on lethal amounts of pain meds, and sedation meds are not working well.

So sad.

Whatcha Gonna Do? Kids Get Cancer Too

15 Months....
It's all it took.
15 months to change my life forever.
15 months to change my friend Jess' life.
FOREVER.
Just fifteen months ago, Tuesday was a healthy little toddler just enjoying life with her twin sister, Piper. She was a precocious little girl who tormented her brothers and made them laugh with her silly, infectious giggle and she was the apple of her parents' eyes.
And then she was diagnosed and life changed....
Life was cancer.
Every.day.
Cancer.
Painful.
Horrible.
Pitiful.
EVERY DAY.
Until she was gone....
And now, 15 months later, her parents struggle. Her brothers struggle. Her twin sister struggles.
To get beyond cancer.

They want people to know the truth. About cancer.
Whatcha Gonna Do?

And, I am honored to share their truth...







The truth is...cancer sucks.
It's not pretty. It's not smiles. It's awful.
Plain old awful.

Now, what are you going to do?

*If your child is fighting or was fighting cancer and you would like to add his or her photo to the Whitt's new site, please contact me HERE

And some more ...

Hey all. As I have mentioned before, Debi is creating an awesome cookbook to sell for the holidays. All proceeds will got the the Tuesday Fund for Pediatric research! So if you have any recipes, send them here with your name, and how/where you found the recipe. Click here!

I found this wonderful group called People Against Childhood Cancer. They recently have started a new mission Childhood Cancer Charities Unite, in hopes that many non profit charities will band together and make their voices louder. Check them out!

Sadly, a little girl named Sammie Hartsfield passed away on October 9th, 2009 from Osteosarcoma. Please send the family some comfort here.

Ben also passed away on Oct. 12 2009 from Osteogenic Sarcoma. Send the family some comfor on their webpage.

Donna Hornik passed away on Oct. 19th, 2009 from a brain tumor that spread to her spine, lungs, and lymph nodes. Send her family some comfort here.

Hannah Harrison is currently fighting Pinoblastoma. She is said to be doing great! Send some encouragement here!

A 5 year old boy named Noah Biorkman who is in the last stages of a 2 year battle with Neuroblastoma Cancer. His family is celebrating Christmas next week and Noahs request is to get lots of Christmas cards.

Send cards to:

Noah Biorkman

1141 Fountain View Circle

South Lyon, Mi 48178

Lets see how many cards
we can get together for this brave little boy.

Please also consider posting this very urgent message to your blogs.

I sadly report that Mason McLeod, 10 years old, has passed away from leukemia on October. 21, 2009. Please send his family some support and love here.

Please pray for Ally Jarkiewicz. At 6 months of age, she was diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, a very rare blood disorder. Please pray for while she undergoes treatment here.

Some kids to keep in your thoughts

First of all, I would like to say I am sorry. As a commenter stated, using my word "damn" was an offense, and I am sure that she was not the only one to think so. I should explain myself. I was not, in any means, saying "damn it" to the prayers. I may not be overly religious, but some of my best friends are. In the shock of finding out yet another friend of mine has a child with cancer, yes, bundles of curse words were shooting off in my head. "Damn" didn't, and still doesn't, seem like a bad word to me compared to the others that came to mind.

In all honestly, when I said it, it meant "Damn cancer." To me, that doesn't seem offensive, but in the overall post, it may be misconstrued.

So I am sorry. I feel very ashamed I offended someone(s). ESPECIALLY on a blog like this. I have removed it from the previous post, but I will keep it on my personal blog.

Okay, now back to the kids. After all, we should be concentrating on the little ones.

I would like to direct you all to this wonderful group called Crayons for Cancer. Their mission is to help families struggling with the financial burden that cancer brings. They sell super cute shaped crayons. The best thing, these crayons are recycled from old, broken pieces of crayons! To donate, or host a crayon making party, click here.

We had a commenter on the last post that really pulled the heart strings. Her daughter Peyton passed away at the age of 1 month. 28 days to be exact from Infant leukemia. Infant leukemia is very rare (1 in 50 million). She passed away on Oct. 2th, 2008. Please visit the mothers blog, to send support and prayers.

CureSearch is a great organization to donate to. They are the worlds largest cancer research organization for children.

Also, co-contributor to this blog, and a great friend to Tuesday's mom, Debi, has created Remembering Tuesday Designs! Need a blog makeover? Check out these cool blog designs. And the best part, they are all free!

Luke Jenson was diagnosed with Leukemia two years ago. Today he is cancer free! Go send him congrats here! or here!

John Lehman is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia. Please send him some support, and/or prayers here. He has been having troubles with his kidneys lately.

A wonderful site to check out is The Lonliest Road campaign. A group of fathers, who all have/had children with neuroblastoma, set out to raise money for neuroblastoma research. Out of the 7 fathers, 3 children have passed away. Here are the kids: Sydney, who is currently NED is most tests (she has a spot on her left femur), Grace, who passed away Oct. 29, 2007, Marissa, who passed away June 17th, 2008, Taylor is still battling neuroblastoma. She is 4. Jack Brown passed away on May 2nd, 2009. Kai Davis is currently NED! Codey St. John is also NED!

Wasn't sure if I already posted this article. It is about gene findings revealing reasons for neuroblastoma risk.

What are the odds?

For those of you who read my personal blog, sorry for the repetitiveness. I changed some lines though.

That is what I am asking myself today.

I have mentioned in the past that I am involved in a wonderful multiples group online ... but, really, we are so much more then that. We are the closest of friends. Three other women, Shar, Deb, and Terri, are also contributors to this blog.

A lot of us has have banded off, through one reason or another, onto our own paths, keeping in contact with some of the ladies, but we all continue to share common threads.

We were all pregnant with twins together. We all had the same pains, aches, and bitterness about bed rest. We also continue to love and care for our friend Jess, who recently lost her daughter Tuesday to neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma. The "rare" pediatric cancer. Ha!

Last night, we all found out that another dear friend, and a great support to Jess in troubled times, now has to face the same battle with her own child. Her son Joey, who will be 8 next year, recently had a tumor removed, and it was found to have neuroblastoma cells.

So I have to ask ... what are the odds? What are the odds that in a group of women (who's numbers were around 50), that 2 children would end up with the same cancer? The "rare" cancer? There are approx. 650 cases a year in the US. Around 50 in Canada. Out of approx. 50 women ... 2 women have had to, and are now facing this road with their child.

If everyone can pray for Patti, and her son Joey, that he will heal quickly, and as painlessly as possible, and soon be running around with all his friends. That is what they need and want right now. Prayers.

Some Hope

I've been moved to tears by this man. John Kanzius was disagnosed with terminal leukemia. While undergoing chemotherapy, he was inspired to invent a machine, which has MUCH promise for the treatment or cure for cancer. As much as he was inspired by his own cancer, what really haunted him was the children with cancer he encountered.

His machine is currently being researched (really, I will leave it up to the videos below to explain what it does), and testing on animals is already underway. Human testing is at least 2 years away.

His wish was to see the first patient find themselves tumor/cancer free. Unfortunately, he passed away this past Feb. 18th.

Watch the videos below. They are just news clips and interviews compiled into 3 videos. Approx: 20min. altogether. Moved me to tears though.

Miles For Tuesday

TUESDAY CONTINUES TO INSPIRE!

I wish there was a way to embed the news video, but there isn't. SO I am just going to pass on a slew of information through links.

CBS News article about Tuesday, and what Miles for Tuesday is HERE

Miles for Tuesday's official website HERE

Donate to miles for Tuesday HERE

CBS News Video about Tuesday and what Miles For Tuesday is HERE