s we look around today, we cannot help but to see cancer awareness ribbons popping up on everything from bumper stickers to t-shirts. Awareness ribbons for every type of cancer imaginable. But one that is close to my heart and that is not recognized enough is the GOLD ribbon. The ribbon for Childhood Cancer!!
Childhood cancer strikes one in every 300 boys and one in every 333 girls before they reach the age of 20. Due to advances in treatments, about 80% of children treated for cancer survive 5 years or more. As the treatments allow these children to live longer, they can also cause health problems that may not show up until months or even years after treatment. These problems are called late-effects.
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Two-thirds of these survivors will face one or more late-effects from treatment that is classified as severe or life-threatening. These can include heart damage, a second cancer or more, lung damage, infertility, growth deficits, hearing loss and most commonly, cognitive impairments such as attention, memory, producing and understanding, reasoning, problem solving and decision making. As you can see, childhood cancer “is for life”!! It is imperative that all survivors of childhood cancer receive on-going monitoring and continue with physical and psychosocial care throughout their entire lives.
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The causes of childhood cancers are largely unknown, and for the most part they cannot be prevented.
YOU can help us raise awareness for Childhood Cancer in the month of September by wearing gold (shirts on sale @ www.leapsoflove.org), replacing your outside lights with a gold light bulbs or displaying a gold ribbon in your window of your car or place of business.
From all of use affected by childhood cancer, we ‘Thank You’ in advance for your support and concern for our children!
Leaps of Love * 907 Main St. * Highland, IL 62249 * 618.410.7212
Leaps of Love *100 Center St. * Hannibal, MO 63401 * 573.221.4409
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