Sept is childhood cancers month

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Thanks Dee.

Classmate of mine just lost a daughter. She was diagnosed at 15 and passed last month at 23. She battled hard and the family went through so much. I can't even imagine the pain.

Hug your kids a little tighter this month.
 
patfan64 said:
Thanks Dee.

Classmate of mine just lost a daughter. She was diagnosed at 15 and passed last month at 23. She battled hard and the family went through so much. I can't even imagine the pain.

Hug your kids a little tighter this month.
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Absolutely.

This is something near and dear to me. My Father and Step-Mother are both physicians, now retired. Dad was head of the dept of Surgery and my stepmom was head of the dept of radiation/oncology at the Univ. of Ala. Medical Center in Birmingham. Dad cut the cancer out and she used radiation to clean it up. Together they were quite a team and in 2010 had a wing of the hospital named after them. I grew up listening to them talk about cases over dinner almost every night and paid special attention to them talking about children's cancer. It was both inspiring and heartbreaking and in the end I knew I couldn't become a physician although I have 1 older brother and 2 younger sisters who did.

This is the wing of the hospital, Hazelrig-Salter. Dr. Hazelrig was a veterinarian who inspired me to become a vet. My parents kept both him and his wife alive with various cancers for many years.



This is my dad and stepmom, Paul and Merle Salter, at the ribbon cutting with Dr. Hazelrig's son, Chip and wife, Lynn. Dad was 87 yrs old in that picture. He's 93 now and still sharp as a tack. Chip hit it huge in the oil and gas exploration business in Texas and donated the money for the cancer center out of gratitude.
 
Patsfan my condolences to the family.

Chev hug your parents for me please.

This as some know is a very close to my heart cause. Thankfully my little one is in remission.

~Dee~
 
We used to have an active member here who lost his young son to cancer. Many of us followed his difficult journey. It's something that I can't comprehend going through as a parent.

Chevss, that's quite an amazing legacy your dad and stepmom are leaving. It's takes special people to work in the oncology field. When my mother-in-law was going through treatments, the staff at Dana Farber Milford was incredible. I sometimes wondered what type of emotional toll they were going through and how difficult it must be not to take it home with them every night.
 
Chevss you must be so incredibly proud of your Dad and Step-Mom. It truly takes a special kind of person to work with cancer patients (young and old).

Cancer truly sucks.

Hugs to everyone out there dealing with a family member or friend(s) going through this awful disease. My thoughts and prayers go out to you all.
 
Cancer is horrible, but more so for pediatric cancer.
I went to school at a regional medical center. I remember when I was in my pedi rotation and people's reaction - pediatrics, must be fun taking care of kids.
I had to jolt them back to reality by reminding them that well children are not patients in a hospital. Then proceeded to tell them about us taking care of children with cancer, birth defects, accidents, child abuse.
There are many that I still remember, but one girl still stands out in my memory, very sad.
Thankfully many advances have happened since then, but it remains horrible.

Gina
 
Chevvs - you are quite rightfully proud of your Dad and Stepmom for their good work. Quite a team. Quite an accomplishment too for you and your siblings to all enter healthcare.

Gina
 
Thank you all for your kind words. Yes I am proud of them. They worked hard and diligently throughout their professional careers. Dad is a Harvard Med School grad and did his internship/residency in surgery at the old Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. It's now Brigham & Women and the PBB building was taken over by Harvard Med School.
 
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