 I
am sad to say I have a child with an inoperable brain tumor.
I lived the research for my book The
Healing Place, an Inspirational novel that won
Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart Contest
in 2006. The Healing Place
became available in bookstores December 2007. The story is centered
around a child suffering from an inoperable brain tumor. While
this book is a work of fiction, many of the scenes are based
on very real situations and the tale carries a sweet message
of faith, loyalty and love.
Thanks
to the Lord, our personal saga has a happy ending. We're still
dealing with hormone growth issues (our daughter is a shorty)
and liver damage caused by a year of chemotherapy, but we'll
take those problems over the alternative and we feel very blessed.
Approximately 23% of all deaths in the United States each year
are caused by cancer. All of us have loved ones who have been
afflicted by this horrible disease. Children comprise roughly
one-third of the U.S. population (99+ million) and brain tumors
are their leading cause of solid tumor cancer death, even surpassing
leukemia.
We each
have special people in our lives that guard and protect us and
give us strength when our troubles become too burdensome to
carry alone. You are just such a person and you can do much
good in the world to benefit children suffering with a life-threatening
illness. I urge you to contact one of the following worthwhile
organizations to see if you can help out by donating time or
monetary sustenance. You never know when it might be you or
your child who needs their assistance.
The
Koret Family House, who provides a home environment
for families with critically ill children to stay while receiving
treatment at UCSF Hospital in San Francisco. Their mailing address
is: Family House, Inc., 50 Irving Street, San Francisco, CA
94122-2714
The Make-A-Wish Foundation, who blesses the lives
of critically ill children and their families. The foundation
is made up of people who remind families in distress what service
is all about and how generous mankind truly can be. Their mailing
address for the Northern-Nevada Chapter is: Make-A-Wish, 910
Pyramid Way, Sparks, NV 89431, Phone: (775) 826-8008
The
Children's Brain Tumor Foundation, who continues
to help fund research and provides hope in a weary world of
fear. Their mailing address is: Children’s Brain Tumor
Foundation, 274 Madison Avenue, Suite 1301, New York, NY 10016
The
University of California-San Francisco, Brain Tumor
Research Center, where an army of doctors and professionals
fight to save lives. Their mailing address is: UCSF Brain Tumor
Research Center, Box 0248, San Francisco, CA 94143-0248 |
