Childhood Cancer

By: Michael Freeman, Jamie Svenson, Ed Kahovec, Beth Devine

  
       
   

Finding a CURE

 
  Standing in the dark, in a tiny broom closet, Heather Conrad was handed a telephone and received the most devastating news she could have expected.  Her 7-year-old daughter, Cady, had been diagnosed with cancer. 
No one ever thinks that this will actually happen to them.  “Race, religion, creed, no religion, it doesn’t matter,” Conrad said.  “It levels the playing field--cancer is blind.”  Just days earlier, Conrad’s biggest concern had been moving her family from out of state, which now seemed trivial compared to what lay ahead.  During the move, Cady had been staying with her aunt, an oncology nurse.  After incessantly complaining about a pain in her side, Cady’s aunt realized something was wrong, and they decided to take her in for tests.  Within hours, they discovered Cady’s leukemia, a cancer found in the blood. 

Heather Conrad

 

Leukemia is the most common form of pediatric cancer, with the most intense treatment, lasting two years.  Though there are many types of childhood cancer, the children and their families have very similar experiences.  Some may think 14 out of every 100,000 children being affected with childhood cancer is a small statistic, but to families dealing with this, the statistic seems all too big. 

As devastating as childhood cancer is, there is hope in sight.  Childhood cancer survival rates have gone from ten percent just ten years ago, to 70 percent and rising today. 

 

CURE logo

CURE

“Once a CURE family, always a CURE family.”  These are the sentiments expressed by Conrad when describing how vital CURE has been to her life.  CURE is a local childhood cancer association, established in 1976 to help families deal with all the hardships that come with fighting childhood cancer. 

  

Carol Vattimo first encountered CURE while helping her child struggle with cancer years ago.  Now she not only supports CURE, but is an active member-helping every family battling childhood cancer that passes through the doors of Strong Memorial Hospital.  “Everything in life comes full circle,” Carol said, explaining to us how CURE helped her, and how now she’s giving back to CURE.  CURE supports families financially, with information, and emotionally.  They provide, parking passes, brochures, and a shoulder to cry on.  Weekly coffee hours provide support for many families, including, “veteran moms,” ones whose children are in remission. 

   

The first thing CURE does for every family is provide them with a thick binder.  This is no normal binder.  It is full of facts and procedures as well as resources to help the parents handle any situation that might arise.  Initially, some parents don’t want to take the binder because that would mean accepting their child’s illness.  After awhile, they learn to live by it.  Vattimo said, “It becomes a bible to all CURE families.” 

   

For Conrad, CURE was even more essential.  She had just moved to a new area and had no one else to go to for support.  “CURE is the lifeline for all the families” Conrad said.  “They’re not just there for two and a half years, they’re there for the long haul.” 

 
 

Interview with CURE Parent Advocate, Carol Vattimo

Carol Vattimo

Q:  How did CURE start?

A:  CURE Childhood Cancer began in the 1970’s as a bereavement group because most of the children at that time were dying.  CURE is present in ten counties in Western New York State.

Q:  What is the prevalence that you see at CURE in Rochester?

A:  CURE sees approximately 50-65 newly diagnosed children a year.  They lose an average of 10-15 patients a year.

Q:  What is one way that childhood cancer is different from adult cancer?

A:  Cancer treatment for children is actually more aggressive than treatment on adults.  They can withstand more and are much more resilient because their bodies are still growing.

Q:  What is a normal day like for a child in treatment?

A:  The children come in and are weighed first.  The doses of medicine they get are seriously dependent on how much they weigh because they are mixed per kilogram.  They get treatment and can play in a very sanitary playroom, which makes families feel secure.  It becomes like a home away from home for them.

Q:  Do the kids like it there?

A:  At first they hate it, but after they get comfortable and make friends, their parents have to drag them out.

Q:  Are all kids outpatient?

A: Some are inpatient. It depends on their counts; if they are very susceptible to disease because of a weakened immune system or physical weakness, they stay overnight.

 

More information on CURE is available by clicking HERE

 
 

Family Life

It’s cliché to say that adversity brings families together.  Conrad can attest to this not always being the case.  Balancing life with a family of four children, including one with a severe illness was not easy. “Siblings are the lost entity,” Conrad said.  When one child is sick, it is common for the others to feel neglected.  When Cady was first diagnosed, there were teddy bears piled knee high in the living room.  Siblings are bombarded with a plethora of emotions during this time.  They felt terrified they were going to lose her, but also jealous, then guilty because they felt jealous. 

To understand the magnitude of how separated the family became, the youngest boy was confused about which home was actually his.  During the move and Cady’s sickness, he spent most of his time with his grandmother two hours away.  Whenever Conrad leaves the house she is reluctant to see her go, asking if she will return. 

During Cady’s sickness, Conrad stayed in the hospital with her, while her husband stayed at home to take care of the other kids.  “Over the last few years, I lost track after 100 nights of staying in the hospital,” Conrad explained.  She lost contact with the rest of her family.  Her marriage struggled as well as her relationships with her other children.

Conrad had to spend a lot of time repairing her relationships with her other children when Cady returned home.  “I started at the oldest and worked my way down,” Conrad said.  “That’s the only way I knew how to do it.” 

Remission Accomplished

Cady has been in remission for a few months now and things are looking good for her.  It is hard to see what good may come from an experience like this.  Conrad’s family went through a traumatic experience in which they thought they would lose their daughter and their family was torn apart. 

“I found out who I really was deep down inside.” Conrad said.  “I discovered strength I never thought I had.  I found purpose for myself and passion to reconnect with families through CURE.”  The help Conrad received from CURE has made her an active member and volunteer to help other families get through the hardest years of their lives. 

Cancer survivors always live in fear that it will return.  They also experience lasting effects from it, physical and emotional.  “Cancer is a shadow.  You live in that shadow for a lifetime,” Conrad said.  “You can walk out of the shadow, but only so far.” 

 
 

Information & Statistics on Childhood Cancer

  • Childhood cancer is relatively rare, affecting only about 14 of every 100,000 children in the United States each year. Leukemia, lymphoma, and brain cancer are the most common childhood cancers for all age groups.
  • Causes of childhood cancer differ from adults in that they are less influenced by environmental causes or smoking and more attributed to non-inherited mutations in the genes of growing cells. -The type of treatment varies based on severity and cancer type, but generally include one or more of the following: chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
  

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