As we have been telling you, tomorrow February 15 marks the International Day of the Child with Cancer, and for that reason we bring you the manifesto drafted by the Associations of Parents of Children with Cancer (FEPNC) for this year 2011.
This year the claims focus on the need for the creation of cancer units for adolescents, some patients with particular needs that so far are cared for in children's or adult units.
The general objectives of this manifesto and the celebration of International Day are:
- Report on childhood cancer and its problems to society in general, trying to get their awareness.
- Publicize the work of the Associations in improving the quality of life of children with cancer and their family.
- Demonstrate the demands and needs of the affected children and their families by the Parent Associations.
- Involve public institutions in the coverage of the needs of affected children and their families.
Here we leave you with this year's Manifesto, put in the mouth of a sick child, this time of a teenager, who acts as a spokesman for many others like him and ends up stating that he is here, asking us if we are there. A text for reflection.
The room light is off. I do not know how I got here, the reason is the least ... a nuisance, fever, bruises ... What else? The important thing is that I'm here ... I'M HERE !!!!!! I am no longer a child, but I am not an adult either ... I am what they call "teenager" in short someone "undefined?". One thing seems to be clear "I am sick" as medical tests say ... and my discomfort. I am not the only one, I have been told, that like me there are many more. Little by little I hope to get to know them and thus be able to share with them fears, concerns and achievements, but from this dark loneliness of my room, I wonder if my “companions in this hard battle” will be in a hospital for children or adults. It is curious, so much and so much that one writes about this “indefinite” stage of life and has it occurred to anyone that in a situation as hard as the diagnosis of cancer, we have special needs? Anyone there? Can you hear my request? Two days ago I was with my friends, I went to high school, I played sports ... but now ... I am here. Why has it touched me? Maybe if I could talk to someone my age, someone who understands me, who knows how important my friends are, my music, my hobbies ... What will people say when they see me? My image has changed, my hair has fallen, I have lost a lot of weight. They say it will happen When? This seems eternal And in the meantime? Who listens to me? Maybe if all the boys and girls in the same situation were treated in Teen Cancer Units, it would be different. The disease would continue to be severe, but we would receive more personalized and specialized attention, more in line with our age and the special needs of this stage that they call "adolescence." It would no longer be necessary to decide whether this or that 16-year-old boy will treat him as an adult or as a child ... he simply "would have his place." While life goes on outside, here in this room, I try to rebuild my world that has exploded almost before I started creating it and I think about how many more worlds are trying to rebuild in these moments in other cold rooms, far from mine. How many people will be thinking of me or the other worlds in "reconstruction": parents, brothers, friends ... even maybe, someone who has in their hands the possibility of making my request come true, is also thinking of me or others like me ... and reflect on our special needs, our shortcomings ... and from there, start to imagine, think and maybe believe that forming Oncology Units for Adolescents in Spain, as well as necessary, is possible. I'm here! And you? ... Are you there?
We are there? For now, we are glad to share all the actions that are prepared and claimed for the International Day of the Child with Cancer. Tomorrow we will return with more data about this date and the disease.
