~A Bitter Swallow~

I have something I am concerned with, and which affects me on a personal level. A very dear friend of mine has a daughter with what is called "an infilltrating fibullary astrocytoma in her spinal cord..." This tumor is located in her neck, by her brain stem. It is considered a brain cancer.

Rian is one of the most beautiful people I have ever met, along with her mother. The entire family is so caring, gentle and fantastic! Lately, she has been getting worse, and it breaks my heart to feel helpless to do anything about it. I've decided to be more active in getting the word out there on organizations to help care for, and more importantly, find cures for, this terrible thing that is killing our children.

Breast cancer is so dominant in the news and the research, etc. I have heard of breast cancer organizations as far back as I can remember. I think it is fantastic that they have such a strong core and support group. But it truly flabbergasts me that I had never heard of anything to help our children diagnosed with cancer, and brain cancer, before Rian's diagnosis. Where are the television ads, and news stories, and push for support groups for our little ones with this dreadful, painful disease, and their families, who give up everything to help try and make their children as comfortable as possible?

Please take a moment to read Rian's story. A wonderful website called CaringBridge provides an online journal to help give family members not only a place to keep their family and friends updated, but a place to vent, and get the word out there.
Her story is here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/riananderson/mystory

I'm also including some links to sites that deal with this tragedy, and give opportunities to contribute, whether it be monetary, or with your time. Please give them a look-over as well. I know that in this time our economy is in a hardship, and money is not as plentiful as it was for most people. But that only means that charities such as these are going to be hit hard. And these families who already have lost so much, will lose more.

http://www.tbts.org/home/ - National Brain Tumor Society
http://cbtf.org/cms/ - The Children's Brain Tumor Foundation
http://braincandyproject.org/home.html - helping parents living in the hospital with their children
http://teamunite.net/about.html - raising awareness and funding
http://rmhc.org/ - The Ronald McDonald House
http://www.wish.org/ - The Make A Wish Foundation