I never thought we would be on the receiving end of these words seven years ago today. I knew something was wrong. Grace was a very active four year-old but the deep black and purple bruises all over her little body worried me. Still, I didn’t for a minute imagine it could be cancer. Then I got the call from her doctor.
We ended up at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where we learned Grace had a very rare and aggressive form of cancer, PH+ Leukemia. The doctor said she had a 75% survival rate which seemed very hopeful at the time. It wasn’t until several of her friends passed away did we realize that it means 1 out of 4 children with her type of cancer will die from it.
Grace was inpatient for nine weeks to receive what we dubbed “chemo-bombing.” Grace suffered terrible side effects from the dose she required- 10x the normal amount. She was vomiting all the time. Not only was she weak and had muscle atrophy, she also had nerve damage in her feet that made her feel like she was walking on broken glass. She had severe mucositis, which looks and feels like a thick blanket of canker sores. It ran from her nose through her mouth, stomach and bottom. She was addicted to morphine. She couldn't eat or drink but required IV nutrition to keep her alive. She had pancreatitis. She had a blood staph infection. She had the flu. All at the same time.
Dr. Sun, her amazing pediatric oncologist, checked in on us and said, “I think Grace is doing great!” I remember looking at her with my mouth open in disbelief. But Dr. Sun was right. Grace’s body was still able to fight. That’s when my husband and I learned that a good day is any day out of the pediatric ICU. That’s still our standard today.
The reason I’m sharing this hard story with you is because it's important to know how much kids suffer from cancer. Otherwise you might not understand why I started the Parents Against SSFL and why we’re asking for you to support our work.
At the time Grace was diagnosed we didn’t know that we lived near one of America’s worst nuclear meltdowns, the Santa Susana Field Lab. We didn’t know it existed. And it wasn’t until we met other local families at Children’s Hospital, whose children also had cancer, did we learn that there was a pediatric cancer cluster surrounding the site.
That was seven years ago today. We’ve been fighting for the long promised cleanup of the site to try to protect other children in our community from suffering like my daughter did. From cancer. From autoimmune disease. And thyroid diseases. And benign tumors. And developmental issues. All of which directly correlate with the type of contamination at the lab.
The responsible parties, Boeing, NASA and the federal Department of Energy, still refuse to begin the cleanup. They know about the dangerous contamination. They’ve read the EPA reports. They know about our children. But they don’t care. They don’t want to pay for the cleanup and they don’t care if our children suffer for it.
I’m so thankful that even after Grace’s intense chemo, a relapse, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant that my daughter is alive and thriving today. The video by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shows Grace after the most severe part of her treatment had past. It was a time of hope and healing and shows how brave she was- it’s her bravery that inspires us to keep fighting today for the cleanup.
Warmly,
Melissa Bumstead
Founder, Parents Against the Santa Susana Field Lab
Your donation to support Parents vs SSFL is fully tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles (PSR-LA). Your donation will go directly to covering our costs to fight for the cleanup- like paying for organizing materials, travel costs, printing and advertising, web hosting and educating the public. Thank you for your generosity.