I've not been in a shop for a long time but I bet if I went into Asda this week there would be all sorts of items from PJ's to cakes, emblazoned with pink ribbons for breast cancer research.
I think the awareness, the fundraising and gradual removing of the stigma is a great thing but I bet as you look around Asda you will struggle to see gold.
October is pink - breast cancer research, a great cause.
September is (or should be) gold -childhood cancer research, also a great cause
I bet you wouldn't see many gold things and yet there needs to be more awareness so cases can be spotted quickly, in many cases childhood cancer isn't diagnosed until its stage 4 (the worst) as symptoms were written off as a 'virus', 'constipation' or 'problems at school'.
Here's a few gold facts for you
-1700 children in the Uk will be diagnosed with cancer in 2013
-3 in every 10 will die
-those who survive face a life time of difficulties, risk of relapse and risk of developing secondary cancers caused by treatment
-Some childhood cancer diagnoses carry a 0% chance of survival
-Many of these children will go through years of treatment and still die.
Lastly but not least, less than 2% of funding given to Cancer Research is given to research childhood cancers.
No one thinks it will happen to them, none of the hundreds of families I've known expected to become an 'oncology parent' until it happened.
So I'm turning my nails GOLD, not just for those who have fought the big battle and won or who fought and passed away but I'm going gold for those 1700 UK children diagnosed this year and the 1700 diagnosed the year later.
Are you child cancer aware?
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