Stomp Out Cancer: When Not If

 

 

Stomp out cancer is a campaign with the hashtag #stompoutcancer.

 

Cancer survivors from OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital joined Nike and UofO to help create the uniforms the Ducks wore for Stomp Out Cancer.

 

Their efforts are a ray or hope for everyone crossing the line from cancer treatment to cancer survivor.

 

Cancer survivor is the ticket, and it’s a tough buy.

What’s it like to learn about cancer from the inside? Everyone is different, but what’s not so different is the response you get from others trying to be helpful.

 

Kid cancer, no matter the kid or the cancer, is crushing news to bear. I can’t imagine what parents go through.

 

What this writer can report is how kids respond to parent cancer:

 

Listen kid, this is Oregon, home of the Knight Cancer Institute. Phil Knight, the man behind Nike, created a force to defeat cancer in all of it’s disguises.

 

Because of Nike some of the best doctors in the cancer field come to Oregon to solve the cancer problem. Their work creates more hope for when, not if, cancer stops killing people.

 

Stomp Out Cancer takes the notion to another level when it combines college football and cancer awareness. The Oregon Ducks wore the logo on Saturday against Nebraska and won. That’s a win for everyone.

 

Their season will go on with fan hopes and dreams of a return to the National Championship game where the third time will be the charm. The cancer game plan moves on the same way, with hopes of a big win.

 

A parent cancer isn’t a signal to you, kid, just a heads up. Live right, stay in touch, and keep on top of changes you notice.

 

Get any persisting pain in the neck checked out. If you notice something unusual in an otherwise normal part of your body, have it looked at. Health consciousness isn’t the same has being a hypochondriac where everything is a threat.

 

Cancer isn’t a question of being hurt or being injured like a football player after a hard hit. You can’t rub dirt on cancer and make it all better. Take a cancer timeout and get back in the game doesn’t work either.

 

Not to get all dramatic, kid, but this stuff is life and death in slow motion. Cancer treatment, the chemotherapy in particular, kills cancer while it kills the host. The idea is it kills the cancer first, since we are the host.

 

You’ll hear everything you never wanted to know about cancer in a parent. Friends and family might talk about it. The whole discussion could sound like an obituary. Just don’t jump the gun on that. Unless they have first hand experience, they’re full of it, opinions that is.

 

Listen to your parents if they’re in treatment, of they’re getting the load of chemo and radiation, and understand one thing: They’re full of it too.

 

They want to ease the terror of uncertainty, cushion the hard reality of the unknown reality.

 

The only thing you need to do is keep this day in mind, the day your parent has their Cancer Survivor doctor appointment.

 

That’s the day to point to and it’s a When Not If.

 

When The Day and Stomp Out Cancer.