Kids with Cancer- A Story

I have a long distance friend who has an 8 year old child who was just last year diagnosed with cancer. The type she has is called Mesothelioma. It's a type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos although, her doctors are sure that is not the case with her. Rare, but it is possible to develop this disease without having been exposed. 

My friend, who shall remain nameless, reached out to me not long after she found out. Needing support, I came to the rescue. It definitely isn't easy dealing with diseases let alone in a child, I was so sad for her and mostly just wanted to be there for her. 

We had begun exchanging emails every few days or so, and I could tell she was getting more worrisome, the sicker (lets call her...) Jane became, the more depressed my friend became. I wanted to do something to help but I just didn't know what I could do, after all cancer doesn't even have a cure so basically we were just praying and having faith that little Janie would make it through the treatment. She would tell me how sick and sad Janie was all the time and it just broke my heart. So I decided to do something.

I went out shopping one day and I saw the cutest little bear sitting on the shelf of a toy store, I was there picking up birthday presents for my daughter, but when I saw that bear something just clicked. I decided I would buy the bear and send it to little Janie to help keep her spirits up. So without letting her mother know what I was up to (I wanted to surprise them) I found out their shipping address, and I sent the bear along with a card, explaining to Janie why I had done this, in hopes to keep her strong and motivated towards fighting this awful disease.

A few couple weeks later, my friend had posted a new video to her youtube account. She told me she wanted me to see it, so I linked to it. It was a video of Janie after she had just opened the parcel I had sent the previous weeks. She was so happy she grinned from ear to ear. 

" I love it!" she said as her mother began to read the card I had written.

Watching this, my heart just melted as I watched the tears well up in both Janie and her mothers' eyes. I knew that what I had done was something special, uplifting and something neither of them would ever forget. It's moments like these that make life worth living and I am so glad that I could make a difference in a little girls spirit. 

Currently Janie is in the children's hospital, she has since gotten sicker but continues to fight, and I often write her letters in hopes that one day she will be in remission. Please send your prayers to Janie! Mesothelioma is a rare and distructive disease but I believe in faith and love. Keep believing.