Macie Ann McCloud

Macie Ann McCloud
October 1, 2004 - August 5, 2005
Welcome to our little Angel's wesbite. It tells the story of her courageous battle against Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Although Macie was only with us for ten months, she taught us all a lifetime of lessons. Please sign her guestbook. It warms our hearts to know that people still think of Macie. We miss her so much, to the depths of our souls.

Journal

Monday, May 4, 2009 9:14 PM CDT

Sweet Macie,

How I wish to see you in my dreams. You are in my soul, my heart, my mind, in every breath I take.

The butterflies are coming back. Their lilting yellow and black wings flutter through our garden as your big and baby brothers trot around amusing me and Daddy.

We miss you and think of you always.


Soapbox Time:

The Swine Flu vs. Childhood Cancer

Here are the numbers: There have been 84 documented cases of swine flu in the U.S. There has been one death, a two year old boy with underlying health issues.

Updates on the Swine Flu epidemic are all over the papers, T.V., internet, and radio. You can't avoid it.

This is a crisis and deserves a fast response. Sick children, and the death of even one child, is a great loss. So please understand what I am about to say. I in no way wish to belittle those who have suffered from the swine flu. I would just like to point out some comparisons.

1) Since the outbreak in the U.S., there have been 84 cases of swine flu, and one death. Compare that to the fact that 12,600 families are told their child has cancer each year. That is 35 families every single day of the year. And 7 children die every day from cancer.

2) The media tells us that the 84 cases and one death from the swine flu is a "crisis" and "epidemic". But do a google search on childhood cancer, and you will find the media consistently refers to the 40,000 children currently with cancer, and the 2,500 annual deaths, as "very rare".

3) To protect yourself against the swine flu, you should wash hands, not touch your nose, and cover your mouth. You can even wear gloves and a mask. But there is no protection against childhood cancers. In fact, the cause of most childhood cancers is still unknown.

4) The swine flu produces severe flu symptoms. The effects of cancer are beyond description. So just consider this: Cancer is part of the body, so the treatment is a process of poisoning the child to the brink of death, then pulling back hoping they stabilize, then hitting them again. And again and again and again. Maybe a year, maybe 7 years. The resulting organ failures often cause more complications and deaths than the cancer itself. And then you wait and pray that it all worked. "Remission" only means they think they got it. "Relapse" means they were wrong.
5) The government has opened up its stockpile of flu drugs to fight the crisis. But there is no stockpile of cancer drugs. In fact, it has been 30 years since a new pediatric cancer drug has been developed. A 5 year study by the National Institute of Health concluded that new drugs for pediatric and adolescent cancers are not being developed because the profit margins are too slim.

6) Congress has approved $1.5 billion in ADDITIONAL funding to fight the swine flu. With 84 infected people, that is $18 million per person. Childhood cancer receives a TOTAL of $30 million. That works out to $750 for each child currently fighting cancer.

So does any of this scare you more than the swine flu? It should. The emergency response to the swine flu has been great. But where is the emergency plan for childhood cancer? And where is the media attention? There is none.

Some might say these are not fair comparisons. Well, in one way they would be correct. The $1.5 billion for the flu has been paid. The $30 million for childhood cancer was approved, but has never funded. Other issues of greater importance keep taking priority, such as $120 million to distribute free condoms in 3rd world countries (Yes, really. It's in the stimulus package).

I am not criticizing the response to the Swine Flu. It fact, I believe it is an appropriate response. I just do not understand why our children with cancer deserve less.

Please remember:


~ 1 in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20.
~ 12,600 children are diagnosed each year.
~ 3,000 will die of cancer each year.
~ Cancer is the #1 disease killer of children ages 1-19.
~ The cause of most childhood cancers is still unknown.
~ Only 3% of cancer research money goes toward childhood cancers.
~ There are currently 30,000-40,000 children fighting cancer in the U.S.
~ The number of children diagnosed with cancer has increased every year for the past 25 years.
~ Teenagers and young adults (ages 15-22) are the only age group that have flat or declining survival rates from cancer.
~ In the past 35 years ONLY ONE new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use.
~ Since children can handle much more chemo than adults, most treatments are little more than mega doses of adult cancer chemotherapy treatments. The result of these high doses of chemo on children is a higher rate of secondary cancers.

Hospital Information:

North Carolina Children's Hospital
UNC
Chapel Hill, NC

Links:

E-mail Author: smccloud@nc.rr.com

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