CRESTVIEW — Katie Mitchell wears a smile that masks a two-year struggle with pediatric cancer.
But make no mistake: this 4-year-old is a survivor.
The Crestview student, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in December 2013, is in remission, but she will continue to receive chemotherapy until next April, her mother, Jamie said.
In fact, today alone, "Katie will receive IV chemotherapy, and will be sedated for a spinal tap and have additional chemotherapy injected in to her spine," her mother said. "The block of treatment she is in is called maintenance. For leukemia, girls receive treatment two-and-a-half years; boys are for three-and-a-half years. "
You may not have known that since pediatric cancer receives less attention than, say, breast cancer awareness, said resident Pam Callahan, whose granddaughter has pediatric cancer. "The average age for breast cancer is (around) 60 years old," she said.
"They bring in large amounts for this worthy cause and spend millions on advertising it. There is more funding for (breast) cancer than any others."
Meanwhile, Callahan said, "Children with cancer have no voice and parents are so traumatized that day-to-day survival is all they can muster."
Mitchell wasn't familiar with ALL —whose symptoms include low blood cell count, a swollen abdomen, enlarged lymph nodes and bone or joint pain, according to cancer.org — until her daughter received the diagnosis.
"My only contact with this was seeing St. Jude (Children's Research Hospital) commercials with cute little bald kids," she said, "but what the public doesn't see is when my then 3-year-old daughter was hooked up to an IV, receiving a gallon-sized bag of neon yellow chemo, that infused in her 24 hours straight.
"That is one of the many chemotherapies she has received — that adults receive, too. And this is one of the drugs that caused her to develop a liver disease and ended up in the (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit)."
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and bringing attention to the issue is important, Callahan said, for a couple of reasons: namely minimal federal funding, significant treatment bills and the belief that parents shouldn't bury their children.
"I, like most people, do not wish to think of young children suffering or dying with dreadful diseases," she said. "It’s unfathomable! It is not supposed to be like that.
"It is not until we are forced to do so that we think or learn about childhood cancer."
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Here's further information and reading on Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, pediatric cancer and other resources:
http://www.stbaldricks.org/about-childhood-cancer
http://www.acco.org/about-childhood-cancer/
http://www.childrenbattlingcancer.com/Awareness.aspx
4%: Amount ofU.S. funding specifically dedicated to childhood cancer research
67: Adults' average age at cancer diagnosis
15: Average number of years of life lost to adult cancer
6: Children's average age at cancer diagnosis
71: Average number of years of life lost to childhood cancer
Source: St. Baldrick's Foundation
BY THE NUMBERS
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: More childhood cancer awareness is needed, Crestview residents say