On Sunday night, members of Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Team joined around 4,000 walkers at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s annual Light the Night Walk.
Children’s was a sponsor of this year’s event, and also formed a team to show support. Children’s treats more than 70 percent of Minnesota kids that are diagnosed with cancer, so many of the families at the walk have been or are being cared for at Children’s.
The walk took place at Target Field and was led by Twins Hall of Famer Rod Carew. Each walker carried an illuminated balloon: white balloons for cancer survivors, red balloons for supporters, and gold balloons to remember those who lost their battles with cancer.
In all, the Light the Night Walk raised more than $540,000 to support research into cures for blood cancers.
My teenage children are mortified that I am participating in a “blog”, which to them marks me as a middle-aged techno-wannabe. My hope, however, is that this will enable me to engage in conversations about healthcare with people outside of my usual sphere of influence. I am a pediatric oncologist, or children’s cancer specialist. I care for children with many kinds of cancer, and have a particular interest as well in complementary and alternative therapies, also called integrative medicine (IM). Individuals who have cancer or other life threatening disorders are more likely than other individuals to explore the world of IM, and parents of children who have cancer feel that they should leave no stone unturned in looking for treatments which might help their kids.
