WHO: Cole Bethel - age 13 - 7th grader
WHAT:
I came up with the idea to put polka dots all over my families' barn and raise money for cancer research by selling the dots. I talked to my dad about it he said "DO YOUR MOM'S CAR INSTEAD it will be seen more and raise more awareness for cancer." So now I am, and you can help, spots are just $5 for the 3 inch and $10 for the 6 inch.
WHERE:
On my mom's blazer that she drives.
WHEN:
From now until our
Relay for Life June 13, 2014 (20th year of being held in our community)
WHY:
I am a 13 year survivor of Neuroblastoma cancer, yep that's right I was born with cancer. No child should go through what I went through in just a short 4 months of life. Yes, I am cancer free but I live with the side effects everyday.
I have
Horner's Syndrome, my eyes dilate differently.
I only sweat out one side of my body (
Harlequin Syndrome) which makes me overheat when really warm or hard physical exercise. It also makes my one side of my body feel the cold in winter more, I have to be very careful of frost bite. Another
good link for information.
I also have
Executive Dysfunction Disorder (in other word my brain does not file information correctly so I have trouble recalling some information while other things come very easy)
With all this I am happy that the cancer is gone but at the same time it would be nice to be able to live without these day to day challenges. But then anyone who goes through cancer knows it makes you stronger! So the little bumps I now face are easy compared to some of my friends going through treatments now.
That is why I started this - to give back to those who gave when I went through my cancer, the ones who funded research so that I could be a survivor. I want to give others that same chance. So with the money I raise I am giving 1/2 to Relay for Life and 1/2 to the Roger Maris Cancer Center (
Dr. Nathan Kobrinsky) my amazing oncologist! I want the kids he treats to be able to play with games or books while they are waiting to receive treatments, I spent many hours in the doctor's office while going through followups and sometimes the video games would be in use, and being in treatments you can't be with others (because our white counts are low) so I want to gift to them a couple of game systems or even a couple of IPads. So others going through treatments can have fun even when its not so fun. Its also why I started my blog with my mom's help creating kids stories about the
polka dot ranch.
Because of my learning challenge my mom and I when driving to school would make up these grand stories about this make believe ranch, and the strange happenings there, so I want to share these stories with kids fighting cancer so they know they are not alone, that someone has gone through what they are facing, that I can give them support along the way. So take a look and become one of our
flat farm friends.
Nathan Kobrinsky,
Nathan Kobrinsky
Nathan Kobrinsky
