Helping Those Who Need It Most

January 7th, 2011

I woke up early this morning to retrieve Big Boy from Children’s Hospital. We’re so fortunate. In and out world-class medical care just 30 minutes from our home.  At Children’s, they treat anybody – from the children of DC’s power brokers to the poorest kids in our nation’s capital.  As one of the doctors there said to me yesterday,

“We’re $50 Million in the hole this year. We can be doing fine financially, but then one bone marrow transplant for a patient without insurance will set us back. And can you really say no to a child with cancer?”

And while I give thanks for the incredible staff at Children’s National Medical Center, I also thought of others with cancer – adults. Do people say no to them?

According to my friend Susan from ToddlerPlanet, they do. Susan has world class medical care and  tons of resources at her disposal to fight her fourth recurrence of cancer in four years. She just found out about this latest round, and while she’s intent on beating this back, her focus is also on a very personal campaign: getting lymphedema sleeves onto the arms of cancer patients.

If you haven’t heard of lymphedema sleeves, you’re not alone. In fact, when I first met Susan at BlogHer this summer, I gasped and said, “You blog about everything! How come you never blogged that you have tattooed arms??!!”

Well, this brilliant astrophysicist does not have tattooed arms – but she does have lymphedema sleeves, which reduce the pain and swelling associated with cancer – while looking like radical fashion accessories.

Read more here.

— Lynn


5 Responses to “Helping Those Who Need It Most”

  1. Susan @WhyMommy on January 7, 2011 8:25 am

    I had totally forgotten that! What a kick!

    Thanks, Lynn — and your boy, he’s ok?
    .-= Susan @WhyMommy´s last blog ..It’s Cancer Again =-.

  2. Lynn on January 7, 2011 9:32 am

    He’s fine! Thanks so much, Susan. Can’t wait to follow your progress with LympheDIVAS and that other thing…! You ROCK.

  3. Alok@OneNationUnderMom on January 7, 2011 11:21 am

    I wish I had known about these when my mom was battling cancer! Thank you for sharing! I bet those could be really stylish for sure…
    .-= Alok@OneNationUnderMom´s last blog ..20 Questions Every Mom Should Ask in 2011! =-.

  4. Brenna on January 9, 2011 11:30 pm

    I have never heard of those either. I actually have one friend battling breast cancer right now and another who was just declared to be cancer-free! I will be passing the word on about Susan’s mission for sure.
    .-= Brenna´s last blog ..Learning- teaching- and continuing on the path to living green… or why I started this blog and what’s in it for you =-.

  5. Bloganthropy and Lymphedema « Toddler Planet on February 28, 2011 5:33 am

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

CommentLuv badge