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ALEXANDRIA'S ANGELS www.alexandriasangels.com 
Alexandria Nicole Haddock
Alexandria Nicole Haddock earned her beautiful pink-tipped angel wings at 10:20 p.m., Sunday, February 16th, 2003. She left this earth feeling no pain and flew into the arms of our Lord and Savior. At the moment she took her last breath, she was holding the three things she wanted to be holding when she left this earth,
her mommy's hand, her daddy's hand, and moonbeam..."the magical unicorn that could work miracles."
Alexandria Nicole Haddock
August 6th, 1993 - February 16th, 2003
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Alexandria was a very happy and healthy child until the age of seven. After suffering from headaches, nausea, vomiting and bruising for several weeks her pediatrician finally ordered blood work on November 7th, 2000. It was election day and while everyone in the country waited on baited breath to see who would be our next president, a lab technician was counting 1 million white blood cells in my daughter's CBC. An average WBC count is 5-15,000. We rushed her to St. Louis Children's Hospital. Our pediatrician said the word "leukemia" and at the time, in my state of complete shock, I did not even realize how bad things really were. She had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with 11q23 subtype. She was admitted to the PICU where they hooked her up to a pheresis machine. This basically took her blood out slowly, spun off the white blood cells, and was put back in to her. She was in grave condition and they were not sure if she would make it through the night. She did. She got into remission within 30 days and continued with extremely intense chemotherapy for 20 months. The chemo made her immune system non-existant for almost that entire time. She fought several infections in that time period and we were not sure if she would make it or not. She did. On April 11th, 2002, we were moving into a new home. We received a call from her hemonc doctor telling us that a spinal fluid test that had been submitted to St. Jude's per our request, had come back higher than a previous one. Grant and I wrestled with the decision to keep her treatments at Children's Hospital. We were told that we would probably be able to get her back into remission quickly if this was the case and then we could proceed to Bone Marrow Transplant. Uneasy about this major decision, we once again, just like when she was initially diagnosed, contacted prestigous doctors from around the country. Several felt that we should get her to transplant quickly while she was still strong. We should have followed their advice. We had a strong suspicion that relapse was imminent. We were right. Sadly and unfortunately, Alexandria did relapse on July 11th, 2002. It was difficult to get her back into remission. She again suffered from horrible infections that bought her a ticket to the hospital and almost cost her her life. She made it through. She proceeded into transplant with her brother, Hunter, as her donor on October 1st 2002. Her brother Hayden and sister Addison were matches too, which was amazing. She sailed through the chemo, the radiation and extended isolation hospital stay. We felt like we had won. We felt this was our second chance at a healthy life for our precious daughter who had fought so incredibly hard for so long. This was not to be, not God's plan or purpose for her life. Her mission on this earth was completed on February 16th, 2003. She passed so peacefully. It is almost two years ago that she left our arms to go to Jesus'. Not a single day goes by that I don't think about her, long to hear her voice, hold her hand or see that beautiful face. There is a hole in my heart that can never be filled. However, from this trial I have learned a great deal, mostly from my daughter who was always positive and cheery even when she felt horrible. I gained greater knowledge of my Lord and Savior and my faith has grown in spite of this loss.
Alexandria I miss you. I love you, doodlebug. I will never forget you sweet sissy girl. I will try my hardest to make you proud of me, to keep the Alexandria's Angels Foundation going, and to help others as we have been helped.
If you feel compelled to join us in our mission of helping other families affected by childhood cancer, you can donate to the Alexandria's Angels Foundation which is a Missouri 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit. It is our goal to offer smiles and hope to cancer kids and their families. We do this by helping financially with non-covered medical expenses and by giving gifts to our sponsored cancer kids.
Our address is:
Alexandria's Angels
c/o Alison Haddock
241 Chestnut Hill Drive
O' Fallon, MO 63368
or e-mail us at
alisonhaddock@charter.net
www.caringbridge.com/page/alexandriasangels
Saturday, September 13, 2008 1:30 PM CDT TODAY IS CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!
HERE ARE SOME INTERESTING FACTS TAKEN FROM Jessica Randall's site.
Please visit www.teamunite.net to learn how a group of parents, whose children are angels or still fighting this disease, are banding together to make a difference.
Childhood Cancer Facts
** Childhood cancers are the #1 disease killer of children — more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined.
** One in every 330 children will develop cancer before the age of 19.
** The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) federal budget was $4.6 billion. Of that, breast cancer received 12 prostate cancer received 7 and all 12 major groups of pediatric cancers combined received less than 3
Childhood cancer is not a single disease, but rather many different types that fall into 12 major categories. Common adult cancers are extremely rare in children, yet many cancers are almost exclusively found in children.
** One out of every five children diagnosed with cancer dies.
Common cancer symptoms in children — fever, swollen glands, anemia, bruises and infection — are often suspected to be, and at the early stages are treated as, other childhood illnesses.
** Three out of every five children diagnosed with cancer suffer from long-term or late onset side effects.
Childhood Cancers are cancers that primarily affect children, teens, and young adults. When cancer strikes children and young adults it affects them differently than it would an adult.
** Attempts to detect childhood cancers at an earlier stage, when the disease would react more favorably to treatment, have largely failed. Young patients often have a more advanced stage of cancer when first diagnosed. (Approximately 20 f adults with cancer show evidence the disease has spread, yet almost 80 f children show that the cancer has spread to distant sites at the time of diagnosis).
** Cancer in childhood occurs regularly, randomly, and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region.
** The cause of most childhood cancers are unknown and at present, cannot be prevented. (Most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and other exposure to cancer-causing agents)
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** Nationally, childhood cancer is 20 times more prevalent than pediatric AIDS yet pediatric AIDS receives four times the funding that childhood cancer receives.
On the average, 12,500 children and adolescents in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer each year.
On the average, one in every four elementary schools has a child with cancer.
** On the average, every high school in America has two students who are a current or former cancer patient.
In the U.S., about 46 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every single school day. That's about the equivalent of two entire classrooms.
While the cancer death rate has dropped more dramatically for children than for any other age group, 2,300 children and teenagers will die each year from cancer.
Today, up to 75 f the children with cancer can be cured, yet, some forms of childhood cancers have proven so resistant to treatment that, in spite of research, a cure is illusive.
** Several childhood cancers continue to have a very poor prognosis, including: brain stem tumors, metastatic sarcomas, relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
So, now you're saying, "Wow! That's absolutely ridiculous ... what can I do to HELP???" (right?) :)
Here are some things you can do this month (and ALL YEAR ROUND, for the most part!) to support Childhood Cancer Awareness. None of these things involves any financial burden of any kind (except for eating at Chili's ... but hey, ya gotta eat right??)
1) Join team unite to become part of a unified voice against childhood cancer
join people against childhood cancer (PAC2) to learn of efforts being made around the world to find a cure, raise awareness, and lend support
2) Tell everyone you know (and even those you don't know) how you, or someone you love, has been touched by childhood cancer
donate blood
3) Eat at Chili’s on mon., sept. 29, when chili’s will donate 100 percent of profits from participating restaurant sales to st. jude
4) WEAR GOLD FOR THE KIDS www.cafepress.com/teamunite
(you really don't need to click that link -- i know you've got SOMETHING gold in your closet!!!!!)
5) Register to become a bone marrow donor
let a family that's been touched by childhood cancer know you STILL CARE and haven't forgotten about their struggles ... let a family of an angel know their child remains in your heart
6) Sign the CURE CHILDHOOD CANCER petition (and ask your friends and family to sign, as well!)
read this article on Forbes.com
offer to volunteer at a local childhood cancer center
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: Heaven: In Jesus' Arms
Links:
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