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Posts with tag St.
Posted Sep 7th 2007 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Childhood Cancers
How are children surviving cancer today? Better than ever before. Some childhood cancer patients, now in their young adult years, are expecting to reach milestones in their lives others before them never would have reached.
Today, 1 in 1,000 young adults in the United States is a childhood cancer survivor. In the 1970s, the chance a child would outlive leukemia or lymphoma was 25 percent. Today, it's 80 percent. That's better than most adult recovery rates.
As recovery rates rise, a new frontier is on the horizon -- follow-up for these young people as they age. You see, the very treatments that saved these individuals may cause them complications later in life. It's not yet clear what happens when kids live 20 to 30 years beyond diagnosis. But teams at
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, plan to find out as they launch one of the most ambitious follow-up programs to date. Contacting 5,000 patients who have survived for more than 10 years, doctors hope they will recruit a group to receive free check-ups for life. They'll also receive blood tests, MRI scans, even fertility counseling. Their medical histories will serve as rich textbooks for medical professionals and future patients -- so the war on childhood cancer can continue.
Posted Jun 26th 2007 7:00PM by Kristina Collins
Filed under: Childhood Cancers, Clinical Trials, Research, Cancer Survivors, Surgery
When researching children's hospitals and oncology programs, you should have a list of questions that are relevant to the child's cancer. The same questions should be asked at each hospital so you can compare answers and make an informed decision about where to seek treatment.
Some questions include:
- What clinical trials are available?
- What type of research is going on for this type of cancer?
- What are the success rates?
- How many of these type of cancer cases do you see each year?
- Have you treated a child with this type of cancer?
- What cancers do you specialize in?
- Do you offer support groups?
- Do you allow family-centered care which allows families to be part of the treatment plan?
Pediatric cancer care is much different than cancer treatments in adults, many parents decide to go to a children's hospital like St. Jude's for care. Whatever the choice, make sure that you are getting the best possible care for the child as you can. Since you are their voice and their advocate, you have to do what you can to make sure that you are giving them the best opportunity to fight and beat childhood cancer.
Posted Feb 16th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Ovarian Cancer, Daily news, Cancer Survivors
The first documented whole-ovary transplants are now on the map -- the United States map.
On February 5, a renowned infertility expert in St. Louis transplanted a whole ovary from one woman into her sister in order to enable the sibling to have children after a battle with ovarian cancer that resulted in early and permanent menopause.
Dr. Sherman Silber, who performed the same type of transplant on twins last month and has previously restored fertility via ovary tissue transplants, believes his success is unmatched. Apparently, surgeons in China have reported similar success but offer few details to support their claim. And due to a lack of published material about the case, it is believed Dr. Silber's ovary transplants may be the world's first scientifically documented cases.
Silber says whole-ovary transplants,
that could potentially allow women with cancer to freeze an ovary, undergo treatment, and then have the ovary returned to restore fertility, could also one day help women who don't have cancer but experience natural premature ovarian failure, which leads to early menopause.
While both of Silber's ovary transplant patients are awaiting news about their status of their fertility, Silber awaits the long-term results of his work. Ovarian tissue transplants last a few years, but whole ovary transplants should last for decades, he says.
Posted Nov 21st 2006 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Childhood Cancers, Fundraisers
If you plan to send out photo holiday cards this season, consider supporting the youngest of cancer patients at the same time.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and
Target have teamed up and are offering customers the chance to order from four 4X8 holiday card options. Each option was designed by one of four patients currently receiving treatment at St. Jude's -- the only children's hospital treating patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Designers include Christina, 11, who is busy fighting acute myeloid leukemia; Genesis, 8, and Samantha, 14, who are both battling osteosarcoma; and Jake, 4, who is trying to conquer heptoblastoma. One-hundred percent of all profits go directly to St. Jude.
This St. Jude and Target partnership was formed to support St. Jude's
Thanks and Giving program -- a national endeavor that encourages customers to honor the healthy children in their lives by giving to those who are not.
You can place your St. Jude holiday card order through
Yahoo! Photos.
Posted Oct 24th 2006 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Childhood Cancers, Fundraisers, Products
The kids at
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital keep busy getting better. They keep busy making holiday gifts too -- like ornaments and ceramic plates and holiday cards and gift wrap. All of their hand-crafted creations fill the 2006 St. Jude
Holiday Hope Gift Book, available now and jam-packed with powerful gifts of hope.
Proceeds from gift purchases -- 84 percent of each sale -- benefit sick children in every community in every country who come to St. Jude for life-saving treatment. Like Caleb, a seven-year-old boy diagnosed in 2004 with leukemia.
Caleb was referred to St. Jude -- where no family is ever turned away because of an inability to pay -- and received treatment for three years. Caleb is now in remission and expresses his feelings through his artwork.
Anna Grace, a five-year-old who was abandoned on a roadside in China when she was one day old, was adopted by an American couple and soon after was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on her brain stem. After surgery to remove the tumor, Anna Grace was referred to St. Jude for chemotherapy and radiation. Today, Anna Grace is healthy and only returns for check-ups every six months.
St. Jude stories of hope are plentiful. And so are the kid-created holiday gifts offered this season.
Posted Sep 24th 2006 10:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Childhood Cancers, Cancer events, Research, Events, Fundraisers
Tomorrow -- Monday, September 25 -- is the day when every dollar you spend at Chili's restaurants will be donated to
St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. So treat yourself to a meal out tomorrow -- and treat the kids at St. Jude's to some hope for a healthy future.
Donate All Our Profits Day is Chili's way of creatively conquering childhood cancer. This fundraising effort will benefit the development of
Chili's Care Center -- a St. Jude's building dedicated to groundbreaking research on brain tumors. The center is scheduled to open in Fall 2007.
Chili's doors will be open for lunch and dinner tomorrow. So abandon your plans for cooking today and let Chili's cater to your every wish -- while you sit back, relax, and quietly make a difference in the lives of sick children.
Posted Sep 4th 2006 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Childhood Cancers, Cancer events, Research, Events, Fundraisers
Chili's restaurant is the place to be on September 25 -- because 100 percent of profits earned on this day will go to
St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital -- the only hospital for sick children that does not require anyone to pay for treatment. So fundraising is key -- and Chili's has cooked up all sorts of creative ways to help conquer cancer in children.
Besides
Donate All Our Profits Day, Chili's is sponsoring a program called
Creativity for a Cause -- where customers make a donation and then color a rendering of a pepper. The coloring sheets are displayed at participating restaurants in a chain-like fashion, hanging from the ceilings.
Create a Pepper gift cards are also available. For every $25 spent on gift cards, Chili's will donate $1 to St. Jude's. And t-shirts -- black with a white pepper gracing the front -- can be purchased for $12. Kids can even have fun
on-line with Chili's crafty creations, including an interactive pepper coloring activity.
All this fundraising goes hand in hand with the development of the
Chili's Care Center -- a St. Jude's state-of-the-art building dedicated to groundbreaking research on brain tumors. The center is scheduled to open in Fall 2007 -- thanks to Chili's professionals who over the course of 10 years have donated a historic $50 million to St. Jude's.
Posted Jul 23rd 2006 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Stress Reduction, Products, Sunday Seven
It's hard to describe the feelings that overwhelmed me during my bad days with cancer. I could call them consuming and crushing and sickening and frightening and crippling and still not completely cover all the bases. It's much easier to describe the feelings that overwhelmed me on my good days with cancer. I felt -- and still mostly feel this way -- happy and spunky and motivated and invigorated and fulfilled. And I felt loved -- because most of my bad days were turned around by the love of others. It was like clockwork. When I needed it most, a surprise awaited me in my mailbox or my inbox or on on the other side of my front door or on my front porch. These surprises strengthened me on my bad days -- and sometimes beyond the bad days. They still help me really -- because my memory of how they saved me from days of despair continues to fuel my good days. And here are seven of my special surprises.
Continue reading Sunday Seven: Seven surprises sent to strengthen my spirit
Posted Jun 23rd 2006 4:30PM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Childhood Cancers, Celebrity spokesperson, Research
I just received in the mail my
Certificate of Completion for St. Jude's Campaign for a Cure. I have never really known much about
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital -- except that I can be brought to tears by the television specials that showcase sick children whose lives depend on the research and treatment that this hospital offers. But I came to know more about St. Jude this year after a friend asked me to make a donation for the
Up 'til Dawn program he sponsors on the college campus where he works -- a program that involves more than 150 college campuses nationwide and partners faculty, staff, students, and communities in an extravaganza of activity, education, and fundraising to benefit the children at St. Jude. So I made a donation and then was contacted by St. Jude with an invitation to help them further -- and I did. I sent out 10 pre-written letters to friends and family asking for their support. I was given an attainable fundraising goal. And I met it. So this is why I received my certificate -- and some cheery address labels too.
Continue reading Partnership with St. Jude's saves children sick with cancer
