When most people think of cancer the first image that comes to mind probably won't be a child.
But during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month – throughout September – Dayna Caruso would like that image to be front of mind.
Caruso is the executive director of Northern Ontario Families of Children With Cancer, which has helped support families throughout the north for 17 years while their children fight a cancer diagnosis.
Each year Northern Ontario Families of Children With Cancer supports around 150 families throughout Northern Ontario meet their financial and emotional needs as they go through childhood cancer.
“One of the things that makes our organization unique is that we try to focus on the whole family,” Caruso said.
That support includes covering the costs of travel and accommodations when families must go to southern Ontario, or even the United States, to get their children the treatment they need.
The organization will also help families cover costs for experimental treatments not covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, or even pay for their household bills while they're out of town and unable to work.
And the organization is able to provide that support without any government funding.
All of Northern Ontario Families of Children With Cancer's funding comes from community donations (http://nofcc.ca/donate/), with about 90 per cent originating from Greater Sudbury.
Caruso said around one in 285 children will be diagnosed with a childhood cancer before the age of 20.
“One in 285 is not really uncommon when you think about it,” she said. “It's the number one disease killer of our kids.”
But childhood cancers receive only three to five per cent of the cancer research funding in Canada.
Caruso said there's a cynical reason for that funding gap: “Childhood cancer drugs are not profitable because kids make up less than one per cent of all cancers diagnosed each year.”
But Caruso said she has seen a positive change the last few years where national organizations like the Canadian Cancer Society have increased their own advocacy for childhood cancer.
And while Health Sciences North's NEO Kids has no immediate plans to increase Sudbury's capacity for childhood cancer care, she said more pediatric outpatient services would be a big benefit for children with cancer and their families.
Around 98 per cent of children who go through cancer treatments face side effects from that treatment.
Northern Ontario Families of Children With Cancer supports patients and their families after their treatment, and even into adulthood in some cases.
In the end, it's important for families to know they're not alone, Caruso said.
