"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”Boy does that little nugget speak to me. We mom's are a pretty vulnerable bunch! I love my kids fiercely. Sometimes so much it hurts. Man do I worry about all kinds of strange things on their behalf. In my defense, what mother hasn't lay in bed at night and negotiated with the Big Guy to keep her kids out of harms way? More times than I care to admit I've gotten caught up on my own worried imagination and literally pleaded with tears stinging my eyes, 'Please God, just keep my babies healthy and safe.'
No parent wants to realize their greatest fears. No parent wants to see their child suffer. No parent wants to get a call like our friends Ryan and Massiel Merritt did on May 19th, 2011. No parent wants to hear those four little words that will forever change their lives: 'Your daughter has cancer.'
Kass (on the right) volunteering for the Silverman last year!
Kassidy Merritt is a 15 year old rock star! A straight A student, Varsity Softball player at Centennial HS and an all around great girl! Just days after her diagnosis Kassidy received 2nd year varsity letter for softball, the Scholar Athlete award, earned her white letter for lettering in 3 sports in 1 year and All State Academic because of her team having the highest GPA in the state.
She also has an inoperable brain tumor called Ganglioglioma. The Merritt's have done a TON of research to find the best methods to treat this form of cancer, which is extremely rare due to it's location within the brain stem. They have reached out to parents who have fought this same fight with their own children and are learning from their trials and their triumphs. All roads have led them to the decision to avoid chemo and radiation because of it's debilitating side effects and low success rate for this particular type of cancer. Instead they're opting to seek treatment from the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, Texas. Below is an excerpt from Mass' new blog, Kassidy's Road to Recovery, about coming to this decision:
This clinic was brought to my attention by Matt's [a Ganglioglioma patient] mom a few days ago and in friends and family researching we keep going back to this therapy. Number one reason because there is no real serious side effects. Chemo and radiation seem to be pretty debilitating and we are concerned with Kassidy's quality of life after treatment.
This clinic performs an antineoplaston therapy that uses human dna which includes natural peptides that are found in the blood and urine that can be used to control cancer growth. The clinical trials are on Phase III of FDA approval, which is the last step before the FDA approves the drug to be prescribed by doctors. Antineoplaston therapy supposedly triggers the death of cancer cells without inhibiting normal cell growth. They "turn on" the tumor suppressor genes and "turn off" the oncogenes which cause cancer.
The downside of this treatment is the financial burden. It will cost $30,000 just to begin treatment plus an additional $6-8,000 each month for a year - Just for the treatment! This cost does not include additional monthly meds or room and board in Texas while they are away from home. It's a lot of money for most families, especially for a family who is sending their oldest child to college in the fall.
On June 15th they learned that Kassidy's case was accepted for the personalized treatment therapy and that the doctor wants to get her approved through the FDA for the clinical trial, antineoplaston therapy, as well. Their appointment is scheduled for June 28th, and if they can raise the $30,000 needed to begin treatment she can start 2-5 days later. Since this alternative treatment has not yet been FDA approved it is unlikely that insurance will cover any of the costs. So it's up to us - Moms, Dads, Aunts, Uncles, Sons and Daughters, anyone who would want the same for their own family - to offer the Merritt's support in Kassidy's road to recovery.
Several fundraisers are in the works which will help ease the burden of Kassidy's ongoing treatment. If you have any fundraising ideas to share, please do so! In the meantime, the Merritt's need your help NOW! They are desperate for it. Please consider a donation to their cause. They've raised $18,000 so far and have just 8 days to come up with the additional $12,000. If my Facebook friends alone each donated $5 we'd have over $6,000 to contribute! Imagine the cost of a cup of coffee could help save a life!
Please visit Kassidy's blog here to hear her story and to DONATE NOW!
On behalf of the Merritts, thank you so much for considering to become one of Kassidy's Krusaders!
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