by Susie Adamson
I have an eight year old nephew, who on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 underwent his second bone marrow transplant. He has been fighting AML Leukemia since January 21, 2009. The past 12 months have been a rollercoaster of emotions but the feelings of hope, love and trust have never faltered. During times of crisis or illness we have an opportunity to look at life through different lenses. We tend to lean on family members, friends, and experts for strength, compassion and knowledge. It does indeed take a village to overcome great obstacles and restore your belief in miraculous outcomes.
Our village emerged into a boundless community literally over night. Through social media networks we were able to immediately connect with family and friends and inform them of Brennan’s diagnosis and the journey that lay ahead. The hospital suggested that we create a Care Pages Website for Brennan (www.carepages.com/brennansimkins) that would serve as the communication hub for updates, support and comfort for all that wanted to follow them on this journey. Over the past twelve months, many of us have longed onto our email accounts hoping for a CarePage “update” notification so we could feed our need to know more and feel connected to their family. Today, Brennan’s CarePage has had 2337 visitors, his parents have posted 89 messages and in return they have received 4982 messages of compassion, encouragement and faith that have provided them the strength to continue to fight for a cure. In October of 2009 just four and a half months after Brennan’s first transplant his parents learn that his leukemia had relapsed. Again, they turn to their community but this time they had a request – a call to action. This time they turned to Brennan’s Facebook FanPage (Fight Against Cancer with Brennan Simkins) and his parents Facebook pages to call upon friends and friend of friends to help them open channels of communication with doctors, researchers or anyone who had knowledge or expertise in the arena of AML Childhood Leukemia. Fast forward two months and on a random post on Brennan’s mother’s CarePage, two strangers reconnect the dots… They had met over email in October when she was researching the trials around a new FDA approved cancer drug, Plerixafor. When they spoke Plerixafor had only been used on adult cancer patients, today Brennan has become the first child ever to receive this drug. They were now fighting the same battle for the same kid.
As Brennan prepared to undergo his second transplant, his parents hit their Facebook pages again and called upon their network of friends to action. They requested all friends to change their status and notify all willing participants to take part in a moment of silence at 12 noon and 6 pm on January, 27, 2010 and focus on a CURE for Brennan. The viral campaign became a movement fueled by positive energy. The following day we heard from people all over the United States, Ireland, Germany, South Africa, Australia, England, and Italy that participated in the call to action and solidified our belief that we have just pushed Brennan one step closer to a cure.
There is no time to rest on their journey. Today, we do not know the success of his treatment but we understand the level of commitment it takes to win the battle. His parents turn once again to social media tools and platforms to spread the news and to raise funds so that doctors can continue their hunt for a cure. Through First Giving and Cure Childhood Cancer they are now raising money for cutting edge pediatric cancer research. Giving is simple and easy, just go to www.firstgiving.com/brennansimkins.
In eight days they have raised $5,800 online. Through web widgets and tools it is easy to put this link on any website or Facebook Page to encourage others to join us on this journey – please consider giving money and supporting our cause.
