Cancer is a word which evokes many different images and emotions. Nothing in this world can prepare a person for the utter devastation of finding out someone has been diagnosed with cancer, especially when this person is a child. Over the past twenty five years the amount of research and the survival rate for children suffering with cancer have increased dramatically. Despite these successes, the funding for new research necessary to keep these children alive and healthy is miniscule and too dependent on short term grants. Of the billions of dollars spent each year on cancer treatments and research less than a third is contributed to researching pediatric cancer. Given the media focus on adult cancers, research for pediatric cancer is underfunded. In order to maintain the increasing survival rate of the children undergoing pediatric cancer and support those who have survived the disease, better funding is quintessential to develop and further promote research. Government funding has proven to be essential and effective in the fight against cancer. On December 23, 1971 President Nixon signed the National Cancer Act, which promised to finance the quest for the cure. Financial aid such as this has directly benefitted survival rates for those diagnosed with cancer. Forty years ago before such funding was provided, when a child was diagnosed with cancer most physicians considered the patient to be terminally ill and supportive care was almost the only thing offered to the family. However over the last few decades, due to research and participation in clinical trials performed due to funding, the majority of children are cured. Because of the creations of new drugs and therapies as a result of government aid, the survival rat... ... middle of paper ... ... 2003. USA Today . 26 February 2011 . Janes-Hodder, Jonna and Nancy Keene. Childhood Cancer: A Parents Guide to Solid Tumor Cancers. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1999. McCaul, Michael. Pediatric Cancer Remains Woefully Underfunded. 16 September 2010 . Capitol Hill Publishing Corporation . February 24 2011 . Pediatric Cancer Foundation. About Pediatric Cancer . 2010. 10 February 2011 . Rafinski, Karen. Cancer and Kids. 14 March 1999. 10 February 2011 . Steen, Grant R. and Joseph Mirro. Childhood Cancer: A Handbook From St.Jude Children's Research Hospital . Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publisher, 2000. Swati, Majumder. Facts About Childhood Cancer. 10 February 2011 .
Pediatric oncology has been so very rewarding in many ways, but also so very cruel in a few ways. The good days are great, but the sad days are heartbreaking. But beyond the death and the suffering, there is a whole other layer of
Progress and innovation are key components to discover new possibilities to fight against childhood cancer. To begin with, my interest in healthcare sparked when I was diagnosed with childhood sarcoma cancer at the age of seven. As a cancer
It is difficult to detect cancer in children. The symptoms can often be caused by an illness that is...
The second most typical tumors found in children are brain tumors. Brain tumors are the primary cause of childhood death as they are escalating in frequency. Doctors have found ways to advance their imaging of these brain tumors to help pinpoint the exact location of the tumors, increasing the chance of the children’s survival (Conway, Asuncion, and DaRasso 1). The diagnosing procedure is a crucial process, helping to gain information about the child’s tumor. Brain tumors range in different types of tumors and forms of treatment that can lead to major effects on the children and their families.
In 1946, a woman by the name of Mary Lasker, a member of the original ASCC, helped raise more than $4 million for the Society, where one million of it was used to establish and fund infamous cancer research (ACS Inc, 2011). Soon after, Dr. Sidney Farber, one of the Society’s first research grantees, achieved the first temporary cancer remission in a child with acute leukemia using the drug Aminopterin (ACS Inc, 2011). The ACS has been developing research theories for decades, with approximately $3.5 billion dedicated to finding a cure to cancer through research (ACS, 2011). With the ACS name nationally recognized, they were able to help fund many national, government, and hospital prevention strategies and research.
Every year too many lives are affected or taken by cancer. To be exact every year in the U.S. there are about 15,780 kids between the ages of birth and nineteen years
Cancer is a deadly disease that affects many people worldwide. This year about 564,800 Americans are expected to die of cancer, 18,000 of those people will be under the age of 18. That’s more than 1,500 people a day. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the US, exceeded only by heart disease. One of every four deaths in the US is from cancer. Since 1990, there have been approximately 5 million cancer deaths. CITE THIS MOTHERFUCKER!! Each year, the parents of approximately 150,000 kids hear the words “your child has cancer.” That’s 43 children a day. In order to understand how cancer affects a family in everyday life as it relates to Cancer Slam by Ansley Dauenhauer, it is necessary to examine how cancer affects someone financially,
It can establish government subsidies for independent researchers who are fighting the war on cancer. It can increase the taxable deduction for people who choose to donate money to find a cure. Finally it can help make the drugs and other hospital services more affordable. The deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, Dr. Leonard Lichtenfeld asserts “cancer shows that poverty remains one of the most potent a carcinogen-rivaling tobacco and obesity-as we have ever seen.” His argument is a powerful one. He’s claiming that those with more money can potentially avoid dying or prolong their life. Lichtenfeld continues “sitting right in front of our noses is the fact that...at least 37% of cancer deaths in people between the ages of 27 and 64 could be avoided right now.” If the government helps those with less money afflicted by this awful disease, that 37% could potentially be a lot lower. Lichtenfeld is clearly a leader in his field, so his comments are valuable as a source, but alarming nevertheless. It’s startling to think that in this day in age, a cancer patient could potentially not receive the needed treatment because he can’t pay for the
It takes a lot to become a child’s hero. To be able to be recognized as one is the most wonderful feeling in the world. Being an Oncology Pediatric Nurse helps kids overcome cancer to help them achieve having a healthy and happier life. As a nurse’s main goal, they hope to get the ability to be able to cure every child from cancer.
Kids are meant to be happy, play outside, go to school, and have fun. They aren’t meant to sit in hospitals, losing weight by the pound, carrying around IV poles filled with poison. It’s ridiculous and immature that we don’t have a cure for childhood cancer. The only “treatment” that we have is chemotherapy- a chemical that seems to help fight off cancer. Chemo doesn’t just fight off cancer cells though- it fights off healthy cells in your blood, mouth, digestive system, and hair follicles. The most frustrating thing about childhood cancer is that only 4% of federal funding is exclusively dedicated to childhood cancer research. It is true that more adults get diagnosed with cancer than kids, but does that mean that adults are 96% more important than children? The average age of diagnosis for an adult with cancer is age 67, and the average number of years lost is 15. 15 years are definitely many years, but not that many compared to the average number of years lost for a child- 71. Also, age 67 is a lot older than the average age of diagnoses for a child- age 6. At least the adults get to grow up and have the ability to even have cancer- some of these kids can’t even get through a fifth of their lives.
Currently, the United States of America contain thousands of people who are battling with diseases every day. On a yearly basis, a family member does the unthinkable by putting a member of their family to rest. One disease that kills numerous people each year is lung cancer. To a majority of individuals, the thought of lung cancer is devastating while to others it causes confusion and a lack of understanding. Why? What is lung cancer? What causes lung cancer? These are common questions one faces after receiving a lung cancer prognosis. Luckily, there are organizations whose sole purpose is to decipher the disease, work on treatment, and conceivably one day a cure. Lung cancer claims the lives of countless people each year and to
DeVita, Vincent. Cancer Principles & Practice of Oncology. 9th. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a Walters Kluwer business, 2011. Print.
When one hears the word “cancer”, thoughts about how their previous life is about to change cloud the mind, but when one hears the word cancer for their child, it is a whole different outlook; the affects of childhood cancer are not only taken on by the patients, but also by their families; the affects can range from emotionally to physically, socially to financially, and even educationally. “Childhood cancer is considered rare, especially compared with adults. Still it’s the leading cause of death in children pre-adolescent, school-aged children” (Report: Childhood Cancer Rates Continue to Rise, but Treatment Helps Drive Down Deaths). Around 12,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer every year and around one in five children that are diagnosed with cancer will die.
...xt of pediatric cancer treatment/research, conducted parent interviews, and administered clinician questionnaires to examine these issues” with the 14 children. Some of the parents were asked some of the similar questions but were asked much less (Quinn, Olechnowicz Joseph, Eder Michelle, Simon Christian, Zyzanski Stephen, and Kodish Eric).
Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer in children. Cancer kills more children than any other disease. Over 2,300 children with cancer die each year (Ibackjack, 2013, p.1). Cancer causes pain, stress, anxiety and many more physical behaviors, but how can music therapy affect those behaviors? This paper will demonstrate the physical effects cancer has on children and how music therapy can promote improvement in these areas.