The Beginning of The End for Childhood Cancer

A while back, we told you about a very exciting new immune therapy for adult leukemia patients, in which the patient's own T cells are modified and used to attack cancer cells. The big news today is that doctors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), a premiere pediatric cancer facility, have successfully treated a child with this same therapy and thus opened the door to further trials and even more victories! Emma has now been in remission for seven months, after relapsing twice with ALL and exhausting all other treatment options. Hers is another amazing and inspiring story - one we hope is repeated over and over in the years to come.

If you'd like to be a part of such ground-breaking, lifesaving research, please consider an end-of-year gift to END childhood cancer! The 46 Mommas 2012 campaign has just 21 more days to go, and we're within $42,000 of our million dollar goal! Thank you all so much for your support this year - and every year. Your donations are helping to CONQUER childhood cancer!

We had such a great time Friday night at the clinic holiday party - thank you, Superhero Kids! It was so nice to see so many patient families and beloved staff members enjoying themselves, and the food from the amazing Becky and her crew at Bountiful was wonderful, as always. Not surprisingly, Georgia and Ivy's favorite part was the carriage ride up Congress Avenue. It was a perfect night!

 See the Capitol building behind them?

Happy December!

Although, it feels like May or June around here - muggy and warm! Not very Christmas-y, but it doesn't stop us from decking the halls and dreaming of a white Christmas. December always seems to fly by, especially since we have so many special things to celebrate - including a certain someone's 13th birthday! Already?

That said, the month didn't get off to the greatest start for Georgia as we spent the entire day on Saturday at the hospital. She hadn't been feeling well since Sunday, and by Friday evening, we decided we needed to get some blood work done. We had to go the ER at Dell because there were no beds available on 4N, but it was still better to be there than at an urgent care facility. The ER doctor was in constant communication with the doctor on call from the clinic, and we were able to have Georgia checked out from head to toe. Blood work, x-rays, and ultrasound were all normal (normal!), so the probable culprit behind her symptoms is a bad bug, and we're waiting on cultures to confirm that. The hardest part of the day was getting the IV started since Georgia was fairly dehydrated, and they had to poke her five times before her veins would cooperate. She never made a peep, but you know it hurt! As always, the nurses (the three it took to get the IV going) commented on what a "patient patient" Georgia is and how easy she makes it for them to do their job. What a trooper.

The good news is, she's feeling much better and will be back at school tomorrow. She's got her next clinic appointment in a couple of weeks, and I'm sure we'll rehash the whole episode with Dr. Neff, but for now, she's definitely on the mend. In fact, we're all looking forward to this weekend and the clinic holiday party at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, courtesy of our friends at Superhero Kids!

Finally, the word on the street about Comedy GOLD is: Success! We had such a great time and are so appreciative of the wonderful performers and dedicated volunteers. We met our fundraising goal and, even better, made great contacts and inroads for future events, so we're really looking forward to doing it all again! Big thanks and much love to everyone who came out, and we'll see you next time!

Lucky Seven

Georgia! It's the 29th! So now how many months have you been off treatment? 

Lucky SEVEN!

We're celebrating over Daddy's cheesy lasagna, but YOU folks could mark the occasion by joining us at Comedy GOLD tomorrow night! Get your tickets, or make a donation, HERE. Now, onward to Dec. 29th!

Giving Tuesday

Forget about the madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The really big day is today, Giving Tuesday! "#GivingTuesday™ is a campaign to create a national day of giving at the start of the annual holiday season. It celebrates and encourages charitable activities that support nonprofit organizations." We think this brand-new movement is brilliant and positive and keeps the focus of the season where it should be: helping others. So, if you'd like to GIVE this Tuesday, we've got a host of worthy organizations listed in the sidebar on the right, or you can search past posts for gift ideas that support a variety of childhood cancer causes. For today, you might consider purchasing one of these items, all of which benefit the St. Baldrick's Foundation. Happy shopping!

Headbands of Hope! Seeds of Happiness! Votre Vu's French Accents! MaxLove beanies!

United

Regardless of the election results, here's something all political parties can stand behind: we must support childhood cancer research. And that's exactly what Democratic National Committee spokesperson Brad Woodhouse and Republican National Committee spokesperson Sean Spicer agreed to do by shaving their heads to raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. Originally, they made a bet on the presidential election, with the winner getting to shave the loser's head, but in the end, Brad Woodhouse decided to shave too, and they both went under the clippers this morning on "This Week with George Stephanopolous."

Watch More News Videos at ABC | 2012 Presidential Election | Entertainment & Celebrity News
  

Raising awareness! So awesome and so desperately needed. Currently, less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute's annual budget is directed to research on the 12 major types of childhood cancer combined, so a bipartisan statement like this might encourage the powers-that-be on both sides of the aisle to push for increased funding to the NCI and specifically to pediatric cancers! A girl can dream ...

If you'd like to make a stand for childhood cancer research, join the fun this Friday at Comedy GOLD! And even if  you can't make the show, you can still make a donation here, in support of the 46 Mommas and St. Baldrick's. It's going to be a great night for a great cause, so come on out and let's CONQUER!