By Ken Irving, Senior Reporter
It is estimated that 14,910 children in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer. According to the World Health Organization, 1,590 of them will die from the disease.
Childhood cancer rates are rising in the United States. CNN says that in the past decade alone, there has been an 8% increase in childhood cancer diagnosis.
There isn’t a definitive reason for why childhood cancer exists. Childhood cancer stems from genetic mutations that cause cells to grow and divide uncontrollably.
Cancer can progress faster and be more deadly than adults in children, however children tend to respond to chemotherapy better.
As adults, we can process the diagnosis and news of cancer. We have the ability to understand the long term treatment plan and what someone will have to go through to beat cancer.
Children are not so blessed. They tend to wonder why is this happening and they don’t understand that they may not be allowed to do certain things that they are used to doing.
Northwestern student Madelyn McReynolds was eight years old whenever she was first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
“As a kid you don’t really understand, why can’t I do this, why isn’t my body allowing me to do this” McReynolds said.
McReynolds was raised in Lamont, Oklahoma. Her father is a band teacher and minister and her mother works at the bank in Lamont. Her siblings go to school there while McReynolds works at the restaurant.
Lamont is a small town with a population of 417. Everyone knows everyone and everyone supports everyone. During her treatment, she said that everyone was there for her.
“It really helped during my journey. They were always behind me. Anything that our family needed, they were there. They always wanted to help.”
Growing up, McReynolds played sports. She was involved with multiple activities and stayed active. Throughout her childhood she wanted to keep playing and to have fun. She didn’t understand at times why she wasn’t allowed to do certain things during her treatment.
She had to receive accommodations to help her play sports.
From third grade to fifth grade, McReynolds was absent from class every two weeks to do her treatments.
She said it was hard because those are the years that you grow as a kid. You make your memories and build relationships during those ages. It’s hard to do that if your not around your peers often.
At times, McReynolds felt alone; afraid. She was scared of losing her hair. She was afraid to be away from her family. McReynolds said that her family is what helped her during this time.
Her parents staying with her at weeks at a time is what helped her get through this rough patch. She credits her belief in Jesus, her faith helping her stay strong.
Looking outside, it’s easy to feel helpless. It’s hard to understand exactly what you need to do to help a child with cancer.
McReynolds said “Just having someone listening to you is a good feeling. As a child, you don’t understand how to put your words into emotions, and it feels good to just have someone listen to you.”
McReynolds pointed out an important detail that a lot of people tend to miss.
Not only is the person with cancer affected, but the family and loved ones surrounding them are too. She said that a mom with an eight-year-old with cancer may not have time to do laundry or clean the house, so they might need help with that.
Doing little things like that can help ease stress on a family that is already going through a lot. McReynolds talked about going to this camp that hosts kids with cancer.
At this camp, she would see people with worse conditions than you and it really puts things into perspective. It helped seeing kids with the same condition because it made it feel like you were fighting with someone.
McReynolds said if there was one thing she would tell her younger self, it would be that things will get better.
“It’s going to get way better. You’re going to get past this and you’re going to meet amazing friends. You’re going to meet amazing people, and your story is going to get out there. You’re going to do amazing things in high school and college and you’re going to get through it,” McReynolds stated.
As our interview ended, McReynolds put in perspective the grand scheme of things. She said how amazing it was for these little kids’ bodies to fight this disease and get through it.
McReynolds is a reminder that you never know what someone has went through. Her passion and courage for childhood cancer stems from her toughness from defeating it as a child.
September is the month of childhood cancer awareness. Thousands of children are battling cancer, and some may not make it.
Madelyn McReynolds is a stern reminder that the strongest soldiers get the strongest battles and with determination and support, anything can be done; and anything can be beat.