Something unexpected happens when you have the opportunity to look into the eyes of a child with cancer. I had that experience recently and what I saw changed me forever. I had been given the opportunity to volunteer by serving dinner to pediatric cancer patients and their families at St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital®, when our eyes met.
The little girl with black eyes. She must have been three or four years old. She covered her face, smiling shyly. I overheard her family speaking Spanish so I asked her what she´d like to eat, pointing at the different options for taco night. “¿Carne, o pollo?”
“No sé,” (I don´t know) she replied, and skipped away to a table.
I looked up at her mom and smiled. I told her how my kids also used to be indecisive about food when they were little.
“Oh, it´s the chemo,” her mother answered in Spanish, in a monotone. “It changes their tastebuds.”
What do you say to that?
I smiled and nodded, fumbling as I passed her plate to the next person on the serving-line.
An older kid, maybe around eight years old, followed the mom. The dad brought up the rear, holding a baby in his arms.
As I helped my colleagues serve these very special diners, I tried to grasp what feelings the father´s darting eyes were concealing. I think I stopped breathing for a moment.
A moment later a mother wheeled her beautiful six-year-old, blue-eyed, bald daughter in front of the serving table. The little girl´s eyes just wandered into space after taking a quick look at the food.
I felt faint.
What for me was but a small window into someone else´s full-blown battle with cancer, was for them a life-changing event they had never anticipated, and that had clearly thrown them off balance.
It was easy to see that the simplest of decisions, like choosing what type of meat to eat for dinner, was overwhelming.
That´s when I realized how much I take for granted in life, and when I vowed to do something, however small, to make a difference in the lives of families at St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital®. Sure I´ve had my share of challenges, but I believe everything pales in comparison to having one (or more) of your kids battling cancer. And as the doctors told us right there at the hospital, when it comes to kids and suffering “there is no such thing as other people´s children.”
What do you associate with St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital®?
Up until very recently, the main thing I associated with St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital® was the yearly envelope I received from them around Christmas time with return address labels with my name on them. They always came with a request for a donation along with a card with the smiling face of a bald child. A child with cancer. But as with so many things I get in the mail raising awareness … I desensitized myself by shelving it and moving on to more cheerful matters.
Well, now that I have actually been to the hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, as a part of a group of digital influencers who were invited to tour the premises and learn more about what they really do at St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital®. I will never set aside those return address labels again without sending a donation.
Now that I have looked into the eyes of children with cancer, from newborns to teens, when I look at a picture of a bald child undergoing treatment, I see hope (80% of children treated at St. Jude survive). And I also realize that I can be a part of the cheerleading squad these kids and their families desperately need. St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital® is a non-profit organization. It relies entirely on donations.
As I learned during the tour of the hospital, the average donation is of $30, and it is made by an individual. Many people send in just $5 or $10 in cash. It all adds up. No donation is too small. Although corporations also step in to make a huge difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families, people like you and me are the main donors.
Who can be treated at St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital®?
There are three main criteria for that. The patient must have a type of cancer or illness that is being currently researched at the hospital, be referred by a doctor, and be under 18 years old. I had no idea that they are researching illnesses such as malaria or even the flu. The full list of illnesses they research and treat is on their website.
Every patient and their family is given the best treatment available and all their needs are taken care of, as Ashley, a pediatric patient´s mom told us. Bailey, a joyful 9-year-old whose once bald head is not filled with ringlets, is a patient at St. Jude.
What are donations used for and how can you help?
No matter how much or what method you use to donate, from sending in some cash in an envelope to purchasing goods from their gift shop, the money benefits the pediatric cancer patients and their families in many different ways.
No family receives a bill, ever. Everything, from their room and board to the medical treatment, is covered by St. Jude. Airfares to travel from their home town are also covered.
And t results of the research carried out at St. Jude are freely shared with other hospitals and doctors.
What happens next?
This is just the beginning of my involvement with St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital®. I am not being compensated by them for this blog post. I am more than happy to be able to share with you my experience and what I learned at the center, hoping that I will perhaps inspire you to find out more about this magnificent place and the battles that take place there every day. Some are lost, but many are won: as I mentioned before, 80% of children survive. They are trying to increase this to 90% and eventually reach 100%. Will you join me in helping them?