Oddly enough I am seeing something else.
My daughter is actually old enough to have pimples - this alone is cause for celebration. Also symbolic of the fact that this is a typical stage of pre teens and I am so thankful for that. If this is the only side we have to deal with nowadays, I'll gladly take it. So, I am stoked for normalcy but don't kid yourself, I still have to deal with the break outs because I cant help it.
10 years ago, I prayed for this day (teen years). Other parents did too, but sometimes their prayers were unanswered, which I still have difficulty getting my head around.
Seems that every decade there is an improvement in either treatment or results.
My hope is that in 2020, we are celebrating the successes found to save our babies and children.
Kali still remains tight with her fellow survivors, in fact had a play date with her long time friend Natasia yesterday. Both girls giggled and played Wii, joked about their silly moms while Carol (My friend and fellow cancer mom) and I reflected on the days when life was all consuming with little evidence that we would ever experience "normal" again (like pimples...).
My friend now battles cancer. The irony of that situation is mind boggling. She was diagnosed when her little girl hit her 5th year remission status. Her little girl still faces many residual complications from side effects so it hasn't left the house yet. I will never forget the day when she told me of her diagnosis and her upcoming orientation at the Cross Cancer. Automatically I offered to go with her (even with the memory of the place and my promise to never return). We went and opted out of the tour because we could have lead the tour ourselves. Instead Carol cracked wack jokes about her cancer, and my wack sense of humour found it funny so that day kinda worked out for both of us. Her treatments there are ongoing - this not so funny.
Carol and I once ran the support group for families through Kids With Cancer Society. We called it "Familes Helping Families" and held a monthly Sunday afternoon event for 2 years.
We were also the parent liaisons and jumped at given opportunities to help a newly diagnosed family or ones going through unbearable conditions (which was pretty much most of us). The two of us still faced our own children's battles at that time, but we did it together and were able to lean on each other through those times where no one else seemed to understand or were strong enough to step up to face the music with us.
Eventually we both dropped the support group for reasons beyond our control (mostly due to lack of support) and opted to delve into fundraising events instead. We felt that this had a much bigger impact on our cancer community. Carol remains in touch with the families to this day and I connect with her to keep updated, as my schedule no longer allows for this type of commitment to stay connected, nor do I have the stamina or desire to remain immersed in "cancer" on a regular basis.
Carol is now retired from running her event "Small and Mighty". All consuming for her - as I fully understand. It eventually took a toll on her health and general well being, something that gets me thinking quite a lot.
I think it's a double edged sword. A cancer family, or any person / family that is personally attached to any particular cause is the perfect ambassador because of their investment and passion for the cause. They will go to the end of the earth to make things better than what they had endured. Their knowledge and ongoing commitment is the very life breathed into that cause. On the other hand, because of the personal investment - it's too close. It's all consuming for the body, mind and soul and eventually leaves the person / family drained with little to no hope for replenishment.
So that's the scoop on that. All I think is wouldn't it be nice if there were no longer a reason to pink and shave our hair? Wouldn't it be nice if the biggest health concern for our kids was pimples?
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