The SuperDans are back at it
As many of my friends already know, my son Daniel is a cancer survivor. At 2 1/2 years old, he was diagnosed with a kidney tumor, and he received treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Jimmy Fund Clinic. Due to tireless decades of work by researchers at BCH/JF and elsewhere, clinicians knew exactly how to treat Daniel’s condition while minimizing the side effects of the treatments. A remarkable team of surgeons, oncologists and nurses combined that hard-won knowledge with their own skill and dedication to cure his cancer without any long term effects on his health. This year, Daniel had his last set of follow up x-rays and ultrasounds to check for a recurrence of the disease, and we have been able to fully put this difficult time in our lives behind us.
But in every visit we’ve made to the Jimmy Fund clinic in the past eight years, we’ve seen too many families that will not be blessed with the same joyful outcome. Their children’s conditions are less well-understood, the treatments less refined and more damaging to their young bodies. Often, these children receive treatments for many years instead of the 18 weeks Daniel experienced, and face much higher odds of recurrence. It is for these families—and to honor our son’s struggle—that our family participates in the Jimmy Fund Boston Marathon Walk (on September 21 this year) to raise money for pediatric cancer research. Please help to ensure that all families facing pediatric cancer can have the same opportunity for a cure that we were so fortunate to have received.
Donations can be made on my Jimmy Fund Walk page. Thanks for your support.
Stephen Carson 