Research That Benefits Children and Families
Researchers have been studying the cure for cancer for years. Chemotherapy and radiation help to eliminate the cancer cells living in the body during that time, but it does not mean that those cells cannot return in the future. Researching child cancer and putting children through the trials of therapy can either have positive or negative outcomes, and the process of treatment is painful and challenging. I recently came across an article of a young boy named Sully who went through chemo and radiation for medulloblastoma, which is a type of brain cancer (Jessop, 2018).
Sully was unaware of the outcomes he would face, but he went through the therapy and radiation with the hopes of surviving his cancer. His participation in this research lead to his cancer defeat, and he states that he wants people to fund childhood cancer research in order to find a cure (Jessop, 2018). When a painful experience results in a positive outcome, the benefits outweigh the negatives, which encourages others to participate in exploratory procedures and research.
Jessop, E. (2018). Honored kid Sully beats brain cancer one step at a time. St. Baldrick's Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.stbaldricks.org/blog/post/honored-kid-sully-beats-brain-cancer-one-step-at-a-time
Photo retrieved from the St. Baldrick's Website
Sully was unaware of the outcomes he would face, but he went through the therapy and radiation with the hopes of surviving his cancer. His participation in this research lead to his cancer defeat, and he states that he wants people to fund childhood cancer research in order to find a cure (Jessop, 2018). When a painful experience results in a positive outcome, the benefits outweigh the negatives, which encourages others to participate in exploratory procedures and research.
Reference
Jessop, E. (2018). Honored kid Sully beats brain cancer one step at a time. St. Baldrick's Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.stbaldricks.org/blog/post/honored-kid-sully-beats-brain-cancer-one-step-at-a-time
Tara,
ReplyDeleteThank you for covering the topic of pediatric cancer research. I also chose to talk about pediatric cancer, the importance of research, and the positive outcomes from this type of research. We have all known someone that has been affected by cancer in one way or another and I feel it is important that research and clinical trials continue in an effort to combat this disease. I hope you have a chance to read my blog. Thank you for sharing Sully's story!
Trish
Tara, thank you for your post. This topic of cancer research has been a topic of discussion for a while. My sister is a nurse who works with children whom suffer from cancer so I feel like I hear about this topic frequently. She shares many stories about children and their battle with cancer. At times, these children do try an experimental drugs which has helped cure their disease in some cases. However, these drugs do come with great risk. I think in these situations many families are thinking this is a life or death decision. It is great to hear that Sully had a happy ending! I agree with Sully, Cancer research should continue in order to help the millions of people impacted by cancer each day.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing,
Brianna
Tara,
ReplyDeleteThis is such a powerful story and I am glad to hear it has a wonderful, happy ending! I know that if my child was sick with a life-threatening disease, I would do everything I could to try and find a cure. I actually had a friend lose her son to a rare form of pediatric cancer and she began to do experimental treatments for him. Her story did not have such a happy ending but I do believe that she was willing to risk everything to get him healthy again. #teamcole