My letter

Warning to those who may not want to learn of some of the scary statistics around Neuroblastoma: Don't read this letter.

Dear Senator Hutchison,

I need you to get behind the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2007. Many of our little Texans will be tapped on the shoulder by fate each and every year. We need to fund Childhood Cancer Research in a big way. Each of these children has been innocent of their fate. Nothing they did has caused their illness.

Americans don’t want children to suffer from Cancer. Americans want to spend their tax dollars by putting smart American research scientists to work at finding cures for Childhood Cancers such as Neuroblastoma, AML, brain tumors, Ewing’s Sarcoma and other devastating Childhood Cancers. We need you to make sure that happens.

My son was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma a year ago this month. The treatment they have for this disease will only save about 38% of kids diagnosed with this disease. The initial treatment left my son, Hans, with debilitating side effects that he will struggle with for life. He lost an adrenal gland in each of his two tumor resection surgeries, leaving him Adrenal Insufficient. This disorder can be fatal as his blood pressure can drop and he can go into cortisol shock. He needs to be on steroid replacement for life and we have to do our best to determine when he needs stress doses, a function that the healthy human body does so beautifully as it releases adrenaline in times of stress and illness. However, we are blessed that he survived this induction treatment and has come out the other end cancer-free. Kids we know and have come to love are relapsing with Neuroblastoma at an alarming rate. There is no known cure for relapsed Neuroblastoma.

At times of crisis and stress we look to our Federal Government and our elected officials to make law out of sound judgment. I know you have a tough job divvying up the pie. But, this is United States of America. This is the Year 2007. President Nixon declared war on Cancer in the 1960’s and research brought us a long way. But we can’t stop there. We can’t treat our millennium babies with protocols from the 1960s. The Federal Government needs to step up to the plate and put our kids first. The pharmaceutical companies aren’t funding the research because they don’t see enough profit in Childhood Cancers. That is unacceptable. It is unacceptable to leave fundraising at the hands of stressed and grieving parents to do privately. This is when we need to fall back on you. I elected you with our children’s best interests at heart. All kids deserve health insurance, and the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2007 needs backing. You need to figure out how to scrimp and save in other areas. My suggestion: End the War! Stop harming Iraqi children and start saving American children’s lives!

Respectfully,



Lara Cady Weberling
Mom of Hans, Age 4, Stage IV Neuroblastoma