Hi! My name is Rachel. I am seven years old. My mom is helping me make this page, because I don't
know how to. My mom knows a lot about computers. I have Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. This page
is dedicated to kids with cancer. I got this kind of cancer when I was five. I'm still sick. I am in the
hospital 9 months out of the year. I have really bad cancer. Either my mom or my dad stays with me at
the hospital every night. I get a special kind of medicine called chemotherapy. I get it through my IV,
so that I don't have to get a shot everytime. That is going to make
my body healthy again. Sometimes I get better. That's when I get to go home. I am usually only home
for a few days at a time. My chemotherapy makes me get sick a lot. It is because my white blood cells
get killed, even though they are good. When I don't have enough white blood cells, I have to get a lot
of blood drawn, and I have to get my temperature taken a lot. And I have to stay away from sick
people, because I could get an infection from them. My mom always worries about me too much
when I am having chemo. I'm not allowed to go faster than a walk, even if I feel good, and I have to
go everywhere in a wheelchair. Chemo made me lose my hair. I collect funny hats. My mom has a
hat that says "Bad Hair Day", and I have one that matches that says "No Hair Day". My mom does a
lot to help me. Both my mom and my dad are doctors. But right now, my mom took something called
a leave of absence from her job. I'm not really sure what it is, all I know is that my mom gets to spend
a lot of time with me, and she doesn't have to work.
A Note For Parents
Hello. My name is Monica. I'm Rachel's mother. For the past two and a half years, our family has
been dealing with Rachel's illness. Rachel has an older brother named Brad, who is 10, and a little
sister named Elizabeth, who is 4. Her father and I were both very busy with our jobs until Rachel
got sick. Now, I am on a leave of absence to help take care of Rachel. Her father, Doug, is still
working, but he is not taking on as many responsibilities. I was devastated by her
illness, but I finally realized there was something I could do about it. Rachel and I are starting this
page as a support network for children with cancer. Ever since Rachel got sick, she has always
wanted to know more kids with cancer. So I decided to help her do just that. We want to start an
e-mail network for kids with cancer. Rachel wanted to pick out the name. She picked out "The
Kids With Cancer Support Network". Rachel is a very
couragous young girl. She has to undergo painfull treatments that make her nauseated, that make
her lose her hair, that makes her body shrink into it's tiny frame. Rachel doesn't only want to help
herself, she wants to help other young children with cancer. Below, the program is outlined.
The Kids With Cancer Support Network
This program is designed to help young children with cancer make friends with other children who
have cancer. The way it works is, send me, Monica Wilson, an e-mail at
dalee18@hotmail.com,
and I will hook your child up with a pen pal with cancer. To make this service work, I need lots of
people to sign up. Since I don't know how soon I can get people paired up, I don't know if there will
be a waiting list, or whether there will be a lot of people signing up. So please feel free to e-mail me,
and I will be sure to get back to you.
