MCHers love the kids!

My nephew and I on Father's Day.

One of my favorite quotes, by an unknown author, goes like this: To decide to have a child is to decide to have your heart walk outside of your body forever. When I first read that quote, years and years ago, it struck me, but in a much different way than it does now. Being older, having nannied with several families (all of whose kids I love, still), and having a relatively new nephew have all illustrated how much that quote really is true. And being in maternal-child health, we work with women and children and families, which this quote really gets to the heart of, in my opinion. At MSK, I am working with my supervisor on a lit review of psychosexual issues and young adults who had childhood cancer. Many people don't know that chemotherapy, radiation, and especially bone marrow transplants can cause premature ovarian failure, or abrupt menopause, bringing a whole new host of issues to an individual who is already dealing with a life-threatening illness. Some people might be thinking, yeah, but infertility is a small price to pay for survival. Well, it's not that simple. Yes, surviving and living through cancer are paramount. But why should having biological children be any less important? Why should they have to possibly make that sacrifice, without their knowledge (many people say they aren't aware of possible risks to their fertility until after treatment)? Yes, there is always banking sperm, freezing eggs, using surrogates, and ART (assisted reproductive technologies), but these are not always feasible or available to everyone, and it's still a very emotionally and psychologically taxing experience. The opportunity to bring a child into this world is such a special, sacred experience - and I feel like it's incredibly unfair for cancer to take that choice away from someone.

Fertile Hope is an organization based here in NY, founded by cancer survivor Lindsay Nohr Beck, and it's a really great group. They have information about all the options for cancer survivors and their significant others, and it's presented in a very matter-of-fact, pity-free way. 

On that note, I'd like to post the Lance Armstrong Manifesto video below. Every time I watch it, I get chills and my eyes tear up. 

And below is the song "Maybe Tonight, Maybe Tomorrow", by the band Wide Awake. They played at the LAF Summit on Survivorship in Austin in 2006, and they were amazing. This video makes me cry everytime I watch it!