by Shannon Blaeske from Lifes Litte Surprises:
Parents are crazy. Especially moms. And especially new moms. Every sniffle raises alarm, every odd movement or out of routine behavior causes suspicion. So it comes to no surprise to me that doctors have quick answers to all these tiny concerns. I am sure the pediatrician night hot lines ring off the hook all night long from worried moms over-reading into the common cold. But what happens when mothers intuition is right? What happens when the rare, not likely cause of the sniffle is the cause? What happens when doctors dismiss symptoms because they are unaware of what they may be indicating?
For two families, just that happened. Both Holly and Sarah knew certain things were not right with their daughters. Numerous small health concerns kept rising up, and each time, they were dismissed with the most common answers. For Holly, the answers she was given for the cause her daughters constipation and projectile vomiting did not sit right. And for Sarah when her daughter ended up having a very rare congenital subglottic stenosis, she too questioned if something else could have caused it. But who were they to question doctors? They trusted their opinions. They trusted that they knew best.
from NeighborNewspapers.com:
Rally Foundation, a national non-profit organization committed to research to fight childhood cancer, announced it will be distributing $30,000 to fund research at Northwestern University-Chicago Campus on the biology and targeted therapy of childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in patients with Down Syndrome.
Funding for this grant was made possible through Jumping for Jacob, a family fundraising event honoring 11-year-old Jacob Moore who has Down syndrome and is currently battling leukemia.
Diagnosed in November 2009, Moore is a Rally Kid, a child who has fought or is fighting cancer, and is currently in the middle of his three and a half year treatment plan. Jacob lives in Alpharetta with his Mom and Dad and brother, Jared.
“Through the grant provided by Rally Foundation in conjunction with fundraising efforts from Jumping for Jacob, we are taking one step closer to understanding the link between Down Syndrome and ALL,“ said Dr. John Crispino, the Rally-funded researcher at Northwestern University. “This research will lead to continued breakthroughs in successfully treating the disease in patients with Down syndrome and allow us to learn more about the varying effects of current treatments.”
Rally’s grant at Northwestern is a part of the collective $700,000 in childhood cancer research grants made nationally this year. In its first five years, Rally has given more than $2.2 million in grants across the country in its efforts to find better treatments with fewer long-term side effects. These grants support more than 50 projects nationwide that include young investigators awards, research nurses and fellowships. For every dollar Rally receives, 93 cents goes to support its mission, according to independently audited financials.
“Communities and families, such as Jacob’s, across the country have joined Rally in supporting the need for more research,” said Dean Crowe, Founder and CEO of Rally. “It is our hope that, one day soon, new and more effective research will eliminate all childhood cancer.”
