I'm raising money for childhood cancer research! Did you know that kids' cancers are different from adult cancers? It's true. And childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. So I decided to do something about it by raising money for cures.
Now I need your help! Will you make a donation? Every dollar makes a difference for the thousands of infants, children, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancers.
Scott Wood was 20 years old when his life was cut short by a rare form of cancer called Ewing's sarcoma. Ewing's sarcoma are tumors which arise in the bone or soft tissue. Only a couple hundred new cases of Ewing's are diagnosed each year.
Scott was diagnosed in November of 2007 as a 16 year old Junior at Fort Zumwalt West high school. He spent the second half of that school year at home, taking classes online, in between stays at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital for chemo and radiation treatments. During the summer of 2008, upon completion of seven months of treatment, Scott was declared a cancer survivor. He was able to return to school that fall for his senior year and graduate on time with the Class of 2009! That summer, he faced another hurdle when a small spot was found to have recurred on his lung and he had to endure more radiation treatments. He did this while working full time and preparing to leave for college in the fall at Southeast Missouri State University. That fall, after attending a wonderful first semester away (and loving every minute of it!), which included joining a fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, Scott's cancer was found to have recurred and spread. He was forced to leave school for the spring semester and stay home to receive treatment in preparation for a stem cell transplant during the summer of 2010. Over the next year and a half, he would subsequently suffer two more recurrences. Despite the side effects, he was adamant about remaining in school, so his treatments were scheduled at the Cancer Center in Cape Girardeau, with occasional trips back to Cardinal Glennon to see his doctor. Scott kept up with it all - classes, fraternity events, treatments - even though he was so sick. By the fall of 2011, all treatment options available to Scott had been exhausted and the cancer continued to spread. He completed the first semester of his junior year and then returned home. We spent a bittersweet holiday season together, knowing it was our last. After being surrounded by family, friends and (fraternity) brothers the night before, Scott lost his battle with cancer on the evening of February 9, 2012. He graduated posthumously from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in Mass Communications in May 2012.
Jockstrong was Scott. It was his nickname; his creation. He started it as a member of his fraternity to raise money for his favorite charities. One of those charities is St Baldricks. After attending this event for years with Scott, this is the first year we will be participating with our own team of shavees and doing it in his memory.