Not a funny post

Warning: there is nothing funny about this post.

I just got word that my dad's friends son, who is only 6, just found out that he has cancer. SIX! He went to his grandparents house and his grandma took his for a haircut (the kid, being a surfer boy from San Clemente, had long hair). The grandma noticed a lump on his throat and called his parents to ask if they had noticed it. They had not. The kid gets taken to the doctor who says it's probably nothing, but they should biopsy it anyway. The results come back inconclusive. The doctors decide to send the sample to Stanford Medical Center just to make sure it truly was ok. What the doctors discovered was the actual opposite. They found a serious and deadly form of cancer (at this point, I'm not entirely sure what kind). Now the doctors have gone from saying it's ok to needing to do a full body scan to see if their fears of it having spread through his entire body are true. That is just one of the saddest things I've ever heard! I hate that kids get sick. They don't understand what's going on. All he knows is that he's had one scary and painful procedure done when he was at the hospital, and is scared of having to go through more. He's six! Of course now my dad's buddy and the buddy's wife blame themselves. If only they had noticed the bump. If only they had cut his hair sooner. If only that had been more observant. If only. It's not their fault though! Who expects that their child will get sick?? This buddy isn't some deadbeat dad. He works hard to provide for his wife and 3 young sons. He's a good man, and they're a good family. How could he have known? Maybe I don't completely understand his feelings, as I myself am not a parent. But I do know that blaming himself or playing the "what if" game will not make the cancer go away. I just really hope that whoever is reading this post will pray to whichever God or god you pray to, and ask for this poor little guy to be ok.

I also hope that this story makes you all stop and think for a moment. The next time someone cuts you off in traffic, or the store doesn't have your size in the pants you wanted, or that cute girl from the club blows you off, or your boss took out his frustrations on you, just stop and think about the fact that there is a 6 year old kid fighting for his life.