Pediatric Brain Tumors
Social Action



Do you know what the number one disease killer of children is? Not AIDS, Diabetes, or even asthma put together. The number one killer of children is Cancer, and the cost of paying for treatments is extremely high. One specific childhood cancer, Brain stem tumors, bear the least amount of survival chances, and is the deadliest childhood cancer. The cost of paying for only one day of research for Pediatric Brain Tumors is five hundred dollars, and the cost continues to rise from there. What about a year of research? One hundred twenty thousand dollars. Not to mention the cost of traveling to hospitals, dining, and paying for hotel rooms. So, how is any person who makes an average salary supposed to pay for research and treatments of childhood cancer? How is somebody who only makes a below-average salary supposed to pay for the research and treatments of childhood cancer? That is where we can make a change; by donating money and raising awareness for the cause, together, we can save so many young kids diagnosed with Brain Tumors.

Just consider this: You make a normal salary, but your child (who is diagnosed with a Pediatric Brain tumor) needs yet another removal surgery. The last surgery cost two hundred thousand dollars-- five times more than what you get paid in a year. The hospital bills are even piling up on your desk, and you know you won't be able to pay them off. Even the treatments are getting to be WAY too expensive. You have other children to take care of too, plus feed a whole family and buy necessities. Even paying your taxes just makes your wallet smaller. Stress is getting the better of you, and you barely have time to spend moments with your sick child. Wouldn't it be nice to have one or maybe even two surgeries be paid off by a charity?...

According to Dr. Peter C. Phillips, Director of Neuro-Oncology at The Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia, “The rule of thumb is that each person in research requires about $100,000 per year to conduct research. For our current neuro-oncology research program, it is closer to a figure of $10,000 per month. And no one works 40 hour weeks- 50 hours is the minimum.” In other words, paying for treatment for this killer cancer can eventually use up every single penny a family has to their name. The cost of a removal surgery is over two hundred thousand dollars, and the lowest cost is over eighty thousand dollars; insurance contributions are little-to-non. And, most of the time, brain tumor patients need more than one removal surgery to save them. So how are low-income families with a child diagnosed with Brain tumors supposed to pay for treatments and research? There are so many funds in the U.S. to help these Brain tumor patients, and by donating money, you can help save a life. This money is dispersed to hospitals that try to find a cure for this young childhood leukemia. Also, the money that is donated to these foundations go to the families who cannot afford to pay for treatments and surgeries. So by donating money, you can help a family in need pay for treatments and hospital charges. You can help take some stress off of families, and you can even save a child's life.

Did you know that each year, three thousand two hundred new cases of Pediatric Brain tumors are diagnosed? Even though that is a small amount of cases, the cost for finding a cure, treatments, and surgeries are overwhelming, and charities need more donations. Awareness for the cause needs to be raised. More people also need to be educated on this topic, so they know about these existing charities. So, to raise awareness for the cause, facts about Pediatric Brain tumors need to be known, and more people will be educated on the topic.

Only about three out of one hundred thousand children will get a Brain tumor; but as stated before, the cost to help these certain children is extremely high. Many people do not know that there are over one hundred different types of Brain tumors. Basically, there are ten main types, but it depends on how many times the original tumor divides, to determine which specific case out of one hundred different cases the child has. Half of all of Brain tumors are first diagnosed as “non-cancerous,” and can eventually be removed by expensive surgeries. Pediatric Brain tumors are almost always cancerous, as opposed to Brain tumors in adults. Many times parts of the tumor are left over after the surgery and children then need to go through a long period of treatment. That treatment is either chemotherapy (a treatment of drugs that kill the cancer cells), or radiation (patients are exposed to rays of electrons, thus killing the cancer cells). Also, not many people know that scientists believe that for a child to have a Brain tumor, they have to have an abnormal chromosome in their DNA; research may help to identify these chromosomes.

Some of the funding for the research of Pediatric Brain tumors are paid for by Brain tumor-fighting foundations... your donation can also save lives.

We must fight against Pediatric Brain tumors. By donating money and raising awareness, many young lives can be saved. Now, go back to the second paragraph, and re-read it-- do you feel like donating money to a Brain tumor-fighting foundation is one amazing way to invest?. Paying for expensive tumor removal surgeries is just one major obstacle that parents with a child diagnosed with a Brain tumor need to overcome. Every donation made saves a life. Whether the donation goes to expensive treatments, research or surgeries, it is all worthwhile, and it all makes a big difference for these suffering young children.



**To help save a life, here are some charities in which you can donate to:
The Kortney Rose Foundation
Wiley's Day Foundation
Brown Bag For a Cure Foundation
Each organization listed above collects and donates money towards families with children diagnosed with Brain tumors. This money goes toward paying for the treatments and surgeries in order for these children to recover from this deadly disease.