Meet Savannah, a brave cancer warrior that was taken too soon. Savannah fought a long, hard and very painful battle with Osteosarcoma. Her cancer was found in her left pelvic bone with metastasis occurring in lung nodules, her sacrum, and L5 vertebrae. The aggressive cancer spread to her right femur during traditional therapy and research studies. Unfortunately, Savannah was not a candidate for surgery.
During her fight she was able to embrace her hair loss and enjoyed using makeup. Savannah was a sassy and strong 14-year-old who turned to her faith to find comfort. An animal lover who rescued over 100 dogs, 7 ducks, and a horse; she even volunteered at the local humane society and various ranches in Arkansas. Her final words were “Love each other, don’t commit suicide, and look towards the Lord.” Savannah passed away on July 20, 2018.
To learn more about osteosarcoma visit: https://www.acco.org/bone-cancer/
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About American Childhood Cancer Organization
The American Childhood Cancer Organization was founded in 1970 by parents of children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer. As the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots organization dedicated to childhood cancer, ACCO is committed to shaping policy, supporting research, raising awareness, and providing free educational resources to kids with cancer, survivors, and their families. Additionally, ACCO is the sole U.S. member of Childhood Cancer International (CCI) and has helped support more than half a million families over the past 50 years. Help make childhood cancer a national health priority because kids can’t fight cancer alone®.
For more information about how ACCO can help your family, call 855.858.2226 or visit:
THE ACCESS TO CHILDHOOD CANCER ESSENTIALS (ACCESS) INITIATIVE ANNOUNCES TRANSFORMATIVE PROGRAMS TO INCREASE ACCESS TO CRITICAL MEDICINES
In partnership with Teva Pharmaceuticals, Direct Relief and the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Fund Supply Agency, ACCESS is providing an emergency provision of 13 cancer medicines from the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicine List—more than 17,000 vials—to children with cancer in Ethiopia.
The American Childhood Cancer Organization was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by parents of children diagnosed with cancer to advocate for their needs and support research. The nation’s largest grassroots organization at the forefront of the crucial battle against childhood cancer and sole U.S. member of Childhood Cancer International, the ACCO is dedicated to shaping policy, supporting research, raising awareness, and providing educational resources and innovative programs to children with cancer, survivors, and their families. Since its inception, the ACCO has helped support more than half a million families affected by childhood cancer in the U.S. and expended to provide grant funding to support childhood cancer programs in Ethiopia. Visit www.acco.org.
The Centre for Global Child Health is the dedicated hub for global child health-focused activities at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). With a rich history of innovation in global paediatric health and a reputable network of global partners, the Centre for Global Child Health is well poised to effectively address global child health issues. The Centre supports the global health agenda through collaborative research grounded in scholarship, sustainable capacity building through education, advocacy for improved maternal and child health and the active communication of results to local, national and inter-national stakeholders. For more information, please visit www.sickkids.ca/globalchildhealth and follow on Twitter @SickKidsGlobal.
Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization, active in all 50 states and more than 90 countries worldwide, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies. Direct Relief works to equip healthcare providers who care for vulnerable people on an ongoing basis and during emergencies. To achieve this goal, Direct Relief partners with local health providers, leading healthcare companies, and business leaders, to deliver medicines, medical supplies and equipment through transparent, reliable, and cost-effective channels. Direct Relief seeks to support existing health providers over the long term, delivering aid without regard to race, ethnicity, political or religious affiliations, or ability to pay.
When we think of the spine, or backbone, we generally think of it as the part of the skeleton that enables us to stand upright and walk. However, the bones that hold us upright have a second, and potentially even more important, responsibility: protecting a delicate column of nerve tissues that carry messages between the body and the brain. These messages between body and brain are what enables our body to function normally.
Meet courageous Colton Whisler, a four-year-old warrior currently battling Perimeningeal Rhabdomyosarcoma, otherwise known as RMS. We were pleased to connect with Colton’s family through The Mark White Show, 
The brain and the spinal cord make up what is known as the Central Nervous System (CNS) and together, they control nearly all of our body’s normal functions. The brain is composed of three major parts.
Baseball season started in March of 2018 and Damon came home one day after practice saying that his right knee felt like his left one previously. They didn’t really think anything of it – so Damon finished out the baseball season the best he could. Damon’s mother, Tiffiney said, “for a minute the world stopped and went dark. It was Damon’s 16th birthday. It was something that we were somewhat prepared for thanks in part to our spor
The central nervous system—including the brain and the spinal cord—grows and develops very quickly during childhood. This rapid rate of growth and development can make treating a brain and/or spinal cord tumor in children especially complicated for several reasons. First, the growth of the tumor can more easily damage the rapidly-changing tissues of the central nervous system (CNS). Second, the tissues of the CNS are extremely sensitive to the potentially damaging impact of chemotherapy, radiation, and other tools required to eliminate the tumor. These two issues are especially concerning when discussing survivorship issues for childhood brain and spinal cord tumors, and may have repercussions well into adulthood.
By August, Kirby was completely paralyzed from the waist down. The doctors wouldn’t listen. Kirby’s parents decided to take matters into their own hands and took Kirby to a larger hospital to go through more tests. After a tearful meeting with one doctor expressing she didn’t know what was wrong with Kirby, they ordered an MRI. Moments after the MRI was read, the doctor told Sonnie, “we found out what is wrong with your son, he has tumors on his spine and they are spreading. It’s cancer. We need to get him on an airplane on our way to Children’s Hospital.” By noon, the family was on an airplane to Children’s Hospital of Colorado – a home to the Sargent family for the next six months.
What are the key prognosis factors for childhood brain tumors?
When classed together in a single grouping, cancers in the brain and spinal cord are the second most common type of childhood cancer after leukemia. Brain and spinal cord tumors account for about 25% of all childhood cancer diagnoses, with more than 4,000 new cases diagnosed every year in the United States. In reality, however, it can be difficult to discuss “brain tumors” in general terms: oncologists recognize at least nine different sub-classifications of brain tumors in children, such as brain stem gliomas and ependymomas for example, with still more sub-groupings within those broad classifications.