Laughing Through the Fear

No parent should ever hear the words:"your child has cancer". And yet, onMarch 21, 2001, that is exactly whatwe were told. Our daughter Kelly,who was not yet 13 years old, wasdiagnosed with advanced stage IVNeuroblastoma.

In the U.S. more than 8,000 childrenunder age 15 are diagnosed withcancer every year: one out of every630 individuals. This book tells thestory of one of those children,through the eyes of her mother.You will find this journey to be filledwith laughter and tears. There isnothing more frightening to a childthan knowing that their life could endsoon. There is nothing more painfulto a mother than to know that there islittle she can do to ease the pain of herchild who is suffering. What Kellyand I discovered together was that wehad to find reasons to laugh, even onthe most frightening of days. It wasonly through laughing that we founda way to manage the fear. Not just herfear, but mine as well.