May is National Brain Tumor Awareness Month

Normally I make my health and safety posts on Wednesdays. Today is a special post for a special reason. People are encouraged to Go Gray in May for Brain Tumor Awareness.

May is National Brain Tumor Awareness Month. While I have not personally had a child who had a brain tumor, I had two friends from high school that had children in their extended family with brain tumors. It was inconceivable that it happened at the same time.

One is now doing very well.

The other had D.I.P.G.. D.I.P.G. is always fatal! It is terminal upon diagnosis and it primarily strikes children between the ages of 5 and 10. Upon diagnosis, with 6 weeks of daily radiation therapy, they are given a life expectancy of 9 – 12 months. Without radiation their life expectancy drops to under 3 months.

The video below is just one child’s journey.

Falling, vomiting, headaches, loss of balance, blurred vision, double vision are some of the most common symptoms before a child gets a diagnosis. Often it is a fall that is followed by vomiting which leads to a CAT scan looking for a concussion.

Another common way it is diagnosed is when an eye doctor can not find anything wrong with the child’s vision so the refer the child for a neurological work up.

Then your seemingly healthy child is handed a death sentence.

Your child does 30 daily radiation treatments with their head bolted onto a table. Then it is time to make memories because when the tumor begins to grow again, it is going to be extremely aggressive.

So, to raise awareness of D.I.P.G. I am doing a sweepstakes. You can enter multiple ways. The prize will be a $20.00 Amazon gift card. I am going to let this run the entire month of May, as May is National Brain Tumor Awareness Month.

Remember to GO GRAY IN MAY!





Becoming 7



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