Time Article on Childhood Cancer Survivors

Hopefully we will fall into this category in a few years!!!

Anyway, a dad on the LLS Boards just posted the link to this article in Time Magazine. Very interesting article regarding childhood cancer survivors. Lucky for us, CT recently passed a law that mandates neuropsyche testing in all pediatric cancer patients and all insurance companies MUST cover the cost (the tests costs as much as $4,000). Catherine will be tested periodically throughout her schooling as researchers try to understand the late effects of chemo on kids. Hopefully her generation of survivors won't have as many problems because radiation is no longer the standard of care (although very necessary in some cases). Take note of the fact that few pharma companies come up with drugs specifically for kids. All of the medicine Catherine takes today (and I had been told this by our oncs at the outset) are the same exact drugs used since the 50s, but now they are used in different doses and in different combinations for a longer period of time (ie the 26 month for girls or 39 month protocol for boys). Childhood cancer really gets the short end of the stick when it comes to cancer research funding. St. Jude and Curesearch (the group that is run by the Children's Oncology Group who treats 70% of pediatric cancer patients, including Catherine) are the only organizations dedicated to pediatric cancers.

Here's the link:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1645148,00.html