The following is a guest post from our nonprofit partner, CureSearch for Children's Cancer.
One of the most difficult realities of childhood cancer is that there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason why some children are diagnosed with it. That was one of the biggest struggles for Pam when she found out her three year old son, Caden, was diagnosed with stage IV high risk neuroblastoma.
'I had always been super cautious with Caden, feeding him organic foods and trying to live a very healthy lifestyle, so I couldn’t wrap my head around how he, at 3 years old, could get cancer.' said Pam.
While Caden's dad joined him on his airlifted flight from their hospital in Montana to Seattle Children's Hospital, where Caden would receive his official diagnosis and treatment, Pam stayed behind to take care of and make arrangements for Camryn, Caden's infant, nursing sister, and the family cat, Coco.
Pam reflected on the journey, saying, 'Caden’s battle with cancer touched every facet of our lives: emotional, relational, financial, careers, perspectives, physical, faith, you name it. Nothing was undisturbed, yet while much of it was in a negative sense, the positives that came from cancer eventually became the focus and has helped us rebuild from the trauma we experienced. I’d like to think we’re a stronger family unit because of it. While the extreme stress of cancer and treatment brought out the worst in ourselves as individuals, we witnessed the best in others.'
Caden's battle with cancer didn't end when he and his family returned home to Montana. Caden suffered hearing loss because of the harsh treatment he received and even had his cancer return three times.
Today, at nine years old, Caden continues to undergo regular testing to monitor and watch for additional cancer cell growth.
Children like Caden inspire Love Your Melon to support the CureSearch for Children's Cancer Catapult fund. The Catapult fund was created to support the development of innovative, novel, and promising oncology research into human clinical trials and product commercialization with the ultimate goal of improving clinical outcomes in childhood cancer patients. Love Your Melon is proud to be partnering with CureSearch as they work to fund research that will create healthy futures for childhood cancer patients.
