What are you thankful this holiday season – your health, your loved ones, or something else? On top of these things Aflac also wants to give back. Aflac’s Duckprints program is an ongoing celebration of the unsung heroes in the fight against childhood cancer and continues their mission to help eradicate the disease through raising donations and awareness.
One of my cousins was diagnosed with brain cancer at the young age of 9 months. With children of my own, I cannot imagine having that happen to one of my kids. She ended up with brain surgery, radiation, and chemo. Unfortunately, this course of treatment also left her mental retarded. She's always had the mental capacity of about a 6 year old. When she was in high school, she then was diagnosed with bone cancer. To treat that, she missed about a year of school. My cousin is now in her 30's and is battling cancer again. After watching her deal with cancer over her lifetime, I would love to stop cancer dead in it's tracks. (Right now, she's in the hospital with pneumonia, so any extra prayers her way would be appreciated.) Cancer is hard enough for adults; in children, I feel it is so much worse.
Aflac is committed to the fight against childhood cancer, and has raised more than $93 million with the goal of reaching $100 million by the end of 2015. Can you imagine what that money can and will do? I know a blogger's child that I'm friends with who has leukemia. One of my neighbors children died from a blog clot during leukemia treatment. I can only imagine that research this money will fund will help kids like these! To honor the unsung heroes of pediatric cancer, Aflac created the Duckprints award. Duckprints champions these heroes who have left their footprint in this important cause through ceremonies at childhood cancer hospitals, user-generated nominations on www.aflacduckprints.com and in social media. The goal of Duckprints is the eradicating childhood cancer.
My cousin isn't the only cancer story out there. Austin Freeman was born on April 20, 2003. Shortly after his tenth birthday he hurt his back and went to the doctor with persistent pain. The doctor took x-rays and thought it was likely a bruise from a fall he had taken. Austin then told the doctor that he had been experiencing pain in his groin area as well. The doctor initially attributed it to the fall and Austin started to head home (aff) with his mom. Before leaving the parking lot, the cell phone rang. It was the nurse, saying the doctor didn’t feel comfortable not giving a full examination of the groin area. They went back in, did x-rays and discovered the mass, which unfortunately was diagnosed as Ewing Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. Austin was treated at the Aflac Cancer Center in Atlanta Georgia, where he received numerous doses of chemotherapy and radiation. Thankfully, after a very difficult year, Austin has been cancer free since March of 2014.
The Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is one of the largest childhood cancer centers in the country. The Aflac Cancer Center is committed to providing childhood cancer patients a brighter future through advanced medical treatment, family-centered care, a child-friendly environment and innovative research.
I know it is easy to feel helpless against cancer. However, you too can leave YOUR footprint in the fight against childhood cancer! All of the net proceeds from Duckprints merchandise – like the annual Holiday Duck, which is available at participating Macy’s or at aflacduckprints.com – go to hospitals treating childhood cancer in the U.S. Aflac will also give an additional $2 (aff) to the Aflac Cancer Center for every post, share, tweet, or re-tweet that uses the #Duckprints hashtag on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook (you can follow the Aflac Duck on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @AflacDuck).
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.