I have sat down many times to update this blog, but I just can't seem to do it. It's been a rough few weeks for our local childhood cancer community, and my concerns and complaints are minuscule compared to what other families are dealing with. So, I'll update you all on the happenings of the Sudbury's another time, but for now, I am asking (actually...BEGGING!!!) you to support us on July 9th. CureSearch is holding their 1st walk in SLC and we NEED you to join our team! If you can't walk, please sign up as a virtual walker, or just make a donation to our team. Even $5 helps. www.curesearchwalk.org/kaidan

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As you may or may not know, CureSearch for Childhood Cancer is holding their first-ever walk in Salt Lake City!! This event is especially important to us because of our daughter Kaidan, who is our hero and a cancer survivor!

CureSearch is a non-profit organization that funds the lifesaving, collaborative research of the Children's Oncology Group (COG). The COG is the largest children's cancer research organization in the world!! They have over 6,000 physicians, nurses, and researchers at more than 200 hospitals in North America. 90% of children in the US with cancer are treated at COG hospitals.

Every year, more than 13,500 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer and more than 40,000 are undergoing treatment. Overall survival rates have increased in the last 40 years from 10% to 78%, but 1 in every 4 children still loses the battle with cancer. Cancer is the number one cause of death by disease in children.

Primary Children's Medical Center (PCMC) is a COG hospital. In 2010, between 170-180 kids were diagnosed with cancer at PCMC. That means that 3-4 families per week were given the same devastating news that we received on June 25, 2007 - they were told that their child had cancer.

You probably don't know that children with cancer are treated with chemotherapy drugs that were approved in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. We certainly did not know this before we became part of the childhood cancer world. The only thing that has changed is the doses that our kids receive! Children with cancer are given mega-doses of these toxic drugs - doses that an adult body could not handle. Our children are amazingly resilient, but even so, 3 out of 4 childhood cancer survivors will suffer long-term side effects - heart problems, neurological disorders, and even secondary cancers, just to name a few - from the chemotherapy that had to be given in order to save their life. Some of these effects are life-threatening. There has only been one new drug introduced for pediatric use since the 1980's - it is a drug for relapsed leukemia.

AWARENESS = FUNDING = RESEARCH = CURES!! Only research will cure cancer!

We would like to ask you to join our team for the walk in July. It would mean the world to us. Our goal is to spread the word about childhood cancer. We want CureSearch's name to be known in every household. We want CureSearch to be as well known as other foundations that have made an amazing impact on the adult cancer community, such as the American Cancer Society, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Susan G. Komen.

The CureSearch walk will be held on July 9, 2011 at Liberty Park in SLC. This is a family walk, so we'd like you to have your entire family register! The cost is $10 for ages 16+, there is no fee for anyone under 15. Of course, we'd love your help with raising funds for childhood cancer research; however, our family goal this year is AWARENESS, so what is most important to us is that we have your support and that we have you on our team. If you are not able to walk, you can join as a virtual team member. If you prefer not to use credit card information online, you can join off-line - just send us an email and we'll get all the information to you. We also need sponsors, volunteers, and in-kind donations for food/beverage items and family friendly entertainment for the day of the walk. If you can help in any of these areas, please let us know.

You can join our team, donate, or find more information by visiting www.curesearchwalk.org/saltlakecity/kaidan. Our team name is TEAM AWESOME - in honor of AWESOME KAIDAN.

If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to call (801.205.2905) or email (mysteejsuds@q.com). Also, please forward this email on to anyone that you think would be interested in supporting us. We'd love to have youth groups, sports teams, and companies join us. Please join us, not just for our family, but for the entire Utah childhood cancer community - especially the children fighting this cowardly disease. Together, we can REACH THE DAY where we can guarantee every child a cure followed by a lifetime of health!

We have been consistently humbled by the outpouring of love and support our family has received since Kaidan's diagnosis in 2007 and we can't wait to share this event with all of you!