Week 2: Favorite Children's Quote, Children's Book, and Story about a Child

This book has been a favorite of mine since I can remember. It is full of color and mystery to figure out the next object that catches Brown Bear's eyes! I remember my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Campbell, reading this story to us and when I left school I made my mother buy this book for me. I even bought it for my daughter! Great childrens story!

MeetSt. Judepatient Audrey

Corinne, an attorney, let her assistant know she’d be out of the office that afternoon to take her daughter, Audrey, to the doctor.

That was in May 2013. Corinne hasn’t been back to work since.

Eight-month-old Audrey had been sickly all her young life, but this time when the doctor examined her, he saw her stomach was distended. He referred Audrey to the affiliate clinic of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital near her Louisiana home, where she was found to suffer from neuroblastoma, a cancer originating in nerve cells.

Audrey had two tumors in her abdomen, three tumors in her head and cancer cells in her bone marrow.

Within a week and a half of arriving at the affiliate, the tumors had grown so rapidly Audrey could no longer sit up or eat.

Doctors referred her to St. Jude because St. Jude has the world's best survival rates for some of the most aggressive childhood cancers.

At St. Jude, Audrey was started on an intensive treatment plan of chemotherapy, surgery, a bone marrow transplant, radiation therapy and antibody therapy. Then, just as Audrey’s family was ready to celebrate the completion of her treatment, the cancer came back. This time in Audrey's leg.

The family’s journey was beginning again.

“It’s been so scary, but at the same time, it’s taught me a lot of life’s lessons,” Corinne reflected. “One of the biggest is the goodness of people, and I think that’s exemplified through St. Jude. The thought of how Danny Thomas had this vision — to see it come to fruition is amazing. Without a doubt, it saved my baby’s life.”

Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. “Other people that aren’t at St. Jude have a whole lot more to deal with, because they have to figure out a way to pay,” said Corinne. “Thankfully, those are issues we don’t have to have. I could work ten jobs and still not be able to pay for all the treatment Audrey’s received.”

Today, Audrey is 2 years old. Amazingly, all she’s been through doesn’t seem to get her down. “She’s got the best laugh,” said Corinne.

“She is really funny. She’s smart. She loves to dance, and she loves her music. She doesn’t let anything stop her.”

St. Jude won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. Because, in the words of Danny Thomas, “No child should die in the dawn of life.”