IMPACT PLAYER PROGRAM

Why do you want to donate your special day? Celebrating Scott 20 years - Cancer FREE! The day you hear those four life altering words, “your child has cancer”, life is split in two: Before cancer. After cancer. It forever changes you, your child, your family. All that mattered before, is pushed to the side. The only focus is getting your child better. Hearing words you don’t remember or understand, rolling through your mind. Making life altering decisions, praying you made the right choices. Breathing, because when you’re going through this, you have to remember to breathe. Sometimes deep gulping breaths, sometimes barely breathing at all or holding your breath as you wait. Waiting, that’s the new normal. Waiting for bloodwork, scans, procedures, test results. Watching. Watching to see if your child is breathing, is too pale, is uncomfortable or in your twisted, sleep deprived brain looks worse than the last time you stared at him 5 minutes earlier. Childhood Cancer changes your outlook, it makes you realize what’s important. Family, friends, moments, creating memories, spending time with the ones you love. Taking time to nurture relationships, ditching the ones that are too much work. We are blessed, Scott’s approaching 20 years as a survivor. Survivor is an appropriate description, because you go through hell to get there. Veins pumped with chemicals that the nurses basically wear hazmat suits to hook your child up to. Pain, nausea, spinal taps- 24 to be precise. Scott wouldn’t take anesthesia , because he didn’t like the way he felt, so he took a needle the size of a small straw,filled with chemo in his spine; monthly, then bimonthly for 3 years, wide awake. Oh, and I’ll never forget the intra-muscular shots, where a 4 inch needle disappeared into his thigh. I don’t know how he got through it, but he did. We all did. The silver lining? Yes, there are silver linings- we learned to love and live life harder. Appreciate our time here more. Cancer in children is rare they say… then why is it the leading cause of death by disease in the US? 20 years later and children still get diagnosed with cancer. One or both parents need to take time off from work. A family can be financially devastated, not able to put food on the table, keep the llghts on or a roof over their heads. I'm asking for donations to the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation in honor of Scott. The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund helps families tackling childhood cancer by providing comprehensive financial, emotional and practical support. From diagnosis to recovery and beyond, we are part of the team, allowing parents to solely focus on their child’s wellbeing. Our goal is to BE THERE for parents facing the unthinkable so they can BE THERE for their families.