New Jersey Mayors are proclaiming September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Dear Mayor Kelaher, I have worked at Barnabas Behavioral Health since 1999 as an RN; first as a floor nurse then in an administrative role.  I have worked closely with both Deanna Sperling and Peggy Mazza.  I am writing you with an immensely important request…to please make an official proclamation to declare September as Toms River’s official Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month. My son, Caeden, who is now 3 years old was diagnosed with an extremely rare type of pediatric cancer of the liver (hepatoblastoma) at the age of 17 months.  He underwent surgery to remove most of the left lobe of his liver, then completed 6 months of very aggressive chemotherapy.  He was wildly sick with multiple opportunistic infections as well as the severe nausea that can accompany chemotherapy treatment.  We spent the better part of 6 months in the hospital…my husband and I rotating our time between Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center and home with our son Ryan (who was 4 years old at the time).  Many blood/ platelet transfusions and chemo treatments later, we still find ourselves traumatized by what cancer has done and can still do to our family.  Cancer literally stole the remainder of my son’s “babyhood” from him and from me.  I will be heartbroken over that forever. Gladly, I can say Caeden has been thriving and doing well.  He his closely monitored with bloodwork and imaging every 3 months, the last of which was ALL CLEAR. Below you will find a proclamation that NJ mayors have been signing throughout the state (Jackson, Holmdel, Millstone, Ocean Township, and most recently, Neptune City).  The facts contained within it are startling, to say the least.  Everyone seems to know what the PINK ribbon symbolizes…how wonderful!  I do believe it is time for the world to embrace the GOLD ribbon.  I ask, again, with the utmost sincerity and heartfelt vision to please declare September as Toms River’s official Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month. I welcome the opportunity to explore this matter further with you. With most sincere regards, Shannon Stoll 508 Eagle Point Drive Toms River, NJ 08753 732-330-3920

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Whereas, 36 children in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer each day and at an average age of six-years-old; and, Whereas, one out of five children diagnosed with cancer will not survive the disease; and, Whereas, the types of cancers that affect children are most often very different from those that affect adults; and, Whereas, childhood cancer is not just one disease but is made up of a dozen types and countless subtypes of cancer; and, Whereas, childhood cancer spares no socioeconomic, ethnic, racial or geographic class; and, Whereas, pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in US children under 15 years of age; and, Whereas, the causes of most pediatric cancers are largely unknown and not strongly linked to lifestyle, unlike adult cancers; and, Whereas, two-thirds of childhood cancer patients will develop long-lasting chronic conditions resulting from treatment; and, Whereas, the childhood cancer rates have been rising for the past few decades, and approximately 11,630 children in the US under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2013; and, Whereas, cancer kills more kids than AIDS, asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and muscular dystrophycombined; and, Whereas, in the last 25 years, only 2 drugs have been specifically developed for children’s cancer; and, Whereas, less than 5% of the federal government’s total funding for cancer research is dedicated to childhood cancers, and only about 3% of funds raised for the National Cancer Institute go directly to pediatric cancer research; and, Whereas, the funding for pediatric cancer research has gone down steadily since 2003; and, Whereas, despite the facts, childhood cancer research is vastly and consistently underfunded; and, Whereas, despite major advances in treatment, it is till critically important to conduct research and increase awareness regarding pediatric cancer, Therefore, I, Eric Houghtaling, Mayor of the Township of Neptune, do hereby proclaim September 2013 CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH in Neptune in order to help raise awareness of pediatric cancer and its victims. Facts from Alex’s Lemonade Stand / curesearch.org / theseanyfoundation.org