Being a mom of a child with cancer comes with a rollercoaster of emotions. Not only does your child have a life threatening illness, but the research to help cure your child’s awful illness is far and few between. It has been a fight since the start to even have her diagnosed with cancer. While glaring statistics from the National Cancer Institute, inform us that childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease past infancy among children in the United States. It is estimated in 2022, that over 15,600 children will be diagnosed with childhood cancer and 1,780 of those children will die.

       Annabella was only 2 years old when she was diagnosed with WHO grade 2 Ependymoma, which is a brain/spine tumor.  Since her diagnosis, she has had an uncertain and overwhelming journey.  Annabella deserves to live a full life just like every other child. She has endured countless hospital stays which are so hard for our family. We have to leave them at home, only to sit and watch our child go through surgeries and treatments that will only make her sick before it starts to help. 

       The federal government has allocated a baffling 4% of government funding for cancer research in the United States, which is far from enough. This percentage needs to be increased to 8% for proper research. The signing of this petition will facilitate the lobbying and passing of a healthcare policy or law that allocates a higher percentage of national resources to childhood cancer research.

       Bella has undergone a recession surgery that made it so she had to learn all of her basic skills like walking, talking and swallowing over again. Our daughter is 1 of the 47 children diagnosed with cancer each day. This new life has not been easy on any of us, especially for Bella. But we will keep pushing forward everyday. We pray that one day there will be more treatment options and more research funding for all pediatric cancer. 

       The signing of this petition will facilitate the lobbying and passing of a healthcare policy or law that allocates a higher percentage of national resources to childhood cancer research. The increased funds would be a much needed shot in the arm as public healthcare institutions would be actively researching childhood cancer all year round, rather than waiting until Childhood Cancer Awareness month in September. 

       We need 12 million signatures to move this forward. Every signature counts in making that possible. These children are our future and they deserve more than the mere 4% they are given at this time. We will not stop fighting until that number is raised to 8%.