September will now always have a deeper meaning in our family because it is the month of childhood cancer awareness. Before Olivia got diagnosed, I had very little knowledge on childhood cancer. As time passed by, we slowly learned about the disease and one that's very eye opening is the statistics. According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, 1 in 285 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer. Every 3 minutes, someone, somewhere in the world will find out their child has cancer. It is devastating to hear those words. We've been there. But eventually you try to move on, survive and hopefully inspire other patients and families to have courage and keep going. Survival rates for many types of cancer have improved through the years but not everyone has the same fate. People who survive may suffer other life long threatening diseases, including secondary cancers. I remember during the first few days in the hospital with Olivia, I couldn't sleep at night. I kept waking up crying with the thought of falling under the 15% that do not survive. It was like nightmares every few minutes. It was very difficult then, and even 11 months later, it still gets hard at times. Our family and friends' love and support kept us going. And for this, we try to give back to others every chance we can. I continue to hope and pray for 100% survival rate.
We do hope that this blog can continue to inspire others, and serve as awareness on a family's life with childhood cancer. I salute those who have fought hard and are continuing to fight this battle. And to our supporters, THANK YOU from the bottom of hearts.
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