September - National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

(Ryan and his sweetie :) - Lauren, visiting in the hospital)

September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month ....... did you know that? I probably wouldn't know that if we weren't in this battle. It doesn't seem to get very much attention. Yet these precious children can't do this alone and need so much support.

Here are some facts about childhood cancer:

- Each school day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer.

-One in 330 children will develop cancer by age 20.

-Although the 5 year survival rate is steadily increasing, one quarter of the children will die 5
years from the time of diagnosis.

-Cancer remains the number one disease killer of America's children.


These aren't so fun to read - nobody wants to think it can happen to them - but, we are living proof that it can happen - in a matter of a few seconds - our lives were changed forever.

You guys have been so good to us and you are always asking what you can do - well - one very specific way you can help is to donate money in honor of Ryan to an organization that supports research or provides support to families who have children with cancer. I have tried to do my homework and to the best of my knowledge the following organizations are trustworthy and will utilize the money they receive in the best ways.

- Vanderbilt Pediatric Brain Tumor Department
- Vanderbilt Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
(If you make the check to Vanderbilt Children's it will go into one big pot - not a bad thing, but it may not necessarily support the oncology dept. )
- www.katieshelpinghand.com -this provides great support to families at Vanderbilt!!
- St. Judes Brain Tumor Research (Dr. Gajjar is one of the leading researchers for Ryan's
type of brain tumor) - we aren't being treated there, but everything they learn - helps every
child.
- St. Judes in general
- The Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium - www.pbtc.org
- The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation - www.pbtfus.org
- www.alexslemonade.org
- www.candlelighters.org
- www.rallyacrossamerica.org
- Make -A- Wish www.wish.org
- Give Kids the World www.gktw.org

Obviously - we are dealing with a brain tumor, so that is near and dear to our hearts ... but all of these children need our support. If your like me - if you can't give a good amount -then I just usually end up not giving, plus there are so many needs I have a hard time deciding where should it go - at one time our focus was on Down Syndrome, I also was a camp nurse and one of my sweet girls had Cystic Fibrosis - now we have added brain tumor and cancer to our list - I know many of you have been personally touched by so many more. One thing I am learning - is that a dollar can go a long way - if 100 people donate a dollar - you have $100. No amount is too small to give. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions : mary_robb@bellsouth.net

A very simple thing you can do:

Eat at Chili's this coming Monday 9/24 - they will be donating 100% of their profits to St. Judes Children's Hospital!!!!! - this will be all day long. So now you have a great excuse NOT to cook on Monday night and you will be helping a precious child!!!! This is nationally - not just Tennessee!!

Another maybe not so simple thing to do : GIVE BLOOD!!! This is truly lifesaving for these children. If Ryan can do all that he does - you guys can give some blood :). (Thanks Lisa and Carolgene!!)

You guys have been so amazing through all of this - you have been His hands and feet and have walked this with us - you will never know how much we love and appreciate each of you!!

Now for an update on Ryan: He needed a blood transfusion on Wed. - that went very well and he now has nice rosy lips again. He tires pretty easily but still continues to keep on going! His neutrophils are still down - which means he has no immunity against infection. We will check that again on Monday. He missed all week of school and I think he is really ready to get back - hopefully sometime this week. Ms. Shannon kept him busy by sending home his work - he is so cute because he wants to get started on it right away! We have mentioned that his Wish trip is coming up very soon - this is still all a surprise to him - mainly in case something happens and we aren't able to go, etc. Please pray specifically that if we are supposed to go - God opens all the doors - if the timing isn't right - that He will make that very clear to us. This trip will happen, but we know God has perfect timing for everything - He knows the best time for Ryan to enjoy this trip!!!