{"id":202659,"date":"2020-02-14T18:37:46","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T15:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ww-vb.mine.nu\/w108\/valley-survivor-continues-fight-for-pediatric-cancer-funding\/"},"modified":"2020-02-14T18:37:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T15:37:46","slug":"valley-survivor-continues-fight-for-pediatric-cancer-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/valley-survivor-continues-fight-for-pediatric-cancer-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Valley survivor continues fight for pediatric cancer funding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n                <!-- Image Block --><\/p>\n<div id=\"horiz_photo\">\n                                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"storyimg\" itemprop=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/ktar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/mia.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>(Photo by Patty Waxman)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/ktar-reporter-audio\/valley-pediatric-cancer-survivor-fights-for-pediat\/embed?style=cover\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>PHOENIX \u2014 Behind boxes of old stuffed animals, lamp shades and other lightly used household items left over from her garage sale the week before, Mia Waxman grabbed just one of her many cases of beads.<\/p>\n<p>The 17-year-old has made more bracelets than she can count in the past year for people she\u2019s never met \u2014 yet they have a bond most of us will never understand.<\/p>\n<p>She started her own business called Miracles in Art.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI took one-third of the proceeds and used it to buy materials to make things for kids at the cancer clinic,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n<p>In the past year, Mia has spent countless hours sitting outside the cancer treatment clinic at Phoenix Children\u2019s Hospital, allowing kids to pick any one of her handmade creations to take with them as they head into treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if I don\u2019t know them personally, it just makes me feel so great that I\u2019m helping somebody get through something,\u201d she said with a smile.<\/p>\n<p>And while this is something she does out of the goodness of her heart, it goes much deeper than that.<\/p>\n<p>Mia knows what it\u2019s like to walk through those doors.<\/p>\n<p>On June 11, 2018, Mia was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia which required an even more aggressive form of treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first treatment was 10 doses of chemo 10 days in a row of really heavy, heavy chemo\u201d Patty Waxman, Mia\u2019s mom said.<\/p>\n<p>Those treatments would knock out Mia\u2019s immune system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause it was so hard on the body we had to stay in the hospital for a month. We knew each time going in, \u2018we\u2019re going to be here for an entire month,\u2019 if things go well.\u201d Patty said, remembering the frustration those stays would bring.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, it felt like they were battling the treatment as much as the cancer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did sort of forget about the leukemia and just prayed that her body, her kidney, her liver, her heart could handle the toxins going in,\u201d Patty said.<\/p>\n<p>While going through treatment, Mia learned of the massive disparity between pediatric and adult cancer research funding.<\/p>\n<p>According to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, only 4% of cancer research funding is directed towards childhood cancer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the past three years there have been 53 new approved treatments for adults and in the past 40 years there have only been 4 new approved treatments for children,\u201d Mia said.<\/p>\n<p>Mia is also one of the 95% of pediatric cancer survivors who will live with significant health-related issues by the time their 45 \u2014 often times, from their treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though it happens to us as kids, some of us, including myself\u2026 can\u2019t have children because of this,\u201d she said through tears. \u201cIt\u2019s just kind of crushing our chance to have dreams that we want for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During her fight with cancer and even her remission, those around her have seen Mia\u2019s fighting spirit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe has a lot of grace in the way she took this whole thing on and never yelled at me once, never took her frustrations out on any of the nurses, never on me. She went through it with such grace,\u201d Patty beamed.<\/p>\n<p>Even Mia\u2019s oncologist saw it right away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was stopping at nothing,\u201d Dr. Dana Sazberg with Phoenix Children\u2019s Hospital said. \u201cShe was determined that she wasn\u2019t going to let the leukemia take over and that she was going to fight her hardest\u2026 She had an inner strength that I really admired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now Mia is using her strength to fight for others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now I\u2019m doing the Students of the Year Program, benefiting the Leukemia &amp; Lymphoma Society,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just to see who can bring in the most money [for pediatric cancer research funding] in those seven weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Over the past several weeks Mia has hosted fundraising events with local businesses, sold art, held garage sales and reached out to people across the country sharing her story and encouraging them to donate.<\/p>\n<p>Which is bound to make any mother proud.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you see individuals come in and it\u2019s not all about them and they get that at such an early age,\u201d Patty said with pride. \u201cIt gives me hope for our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Through raising funds and awareness, Mia and Patty hope that this means no one will have to fight the same way they did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re fighting for the future of children,\u201d said Patty. \u201cThis really isn\u2019t about Mia, it\u2019s bigger than Mia. Do it for our next generation, because it could be someone you know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/taylorkinnerup\" data-show-count=\"false\">Follow @taylorkinnerup<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/ktar.com\/story\/2977769\/valley-survivor-continues-fight-for-pediatric-cancer-funding\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] (Photo by Patty Waxman) PHOENIX \u2014 Behind boxes of old stuffed animals, lamp shades and other lightly used household items left over from her garage sale the week before, Mia Waxman grabbed just one of her many cases of beads. The 17-year-old has made more bracelets than she can count in the past year &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":202660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[107721,32765,107720],"class_list":["post-202659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tie-world","tag-92-3-ktar","tag-home","tag-phoenix-and-arizona-breaking-news-and-news-headlines-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}