Child cancer support group

Until August of last year I was not aware of the prevalence of children who were battling cancer in our area. That was when my own grandgirl, age 4, was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare and deadly brain tumor. I quickly learned much more about cancer than I ever wanted to know, and somewhere along the line I realized there was no one locally to support the friends and families of these brave children. I realized something had to be done about that and decided I would be the one to do it.

The organizational meeting of a new support group, Families and Friends of Kids With Cancer, will meet at 7 p.m. July 26 in the Beef O'Brady's meeting room in Cape Girardeau. We intend to celebrate our children no matter what stage they may be in, educate ourselves, uplift each other, raise awareness of children's cancer and support research in this area of medicine.

If you have been personally touched by someone with children's cancer, come and let us share your battle. For more information you may call me at 573-979-2269. To see how DIPG has affected one young family, go to www.whenabbysmiles.blogspot.com.

MARY HOPKINS MILLER, Oak Ridge