September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month!

September 1, 2022

September is blood cancer awareness month and at Grandparent Merit Badges we are proud to support the incredible and tireless work of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. A portion of our proceeds goes toward blood cancer research.

September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month!

What makes a good brand book?

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How to create a good brand book?

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Important elements of a good design brand book

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What brand book references can I use?

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A brand book can always keep evolving

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September is blood cancer awareness month and at Grandparent Merit Badges we are proud to support the incredible and tireless work of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  A portion of our proceeds goes toward blood cancer research.

There are many ways to remember this special month.


Order a GMB Book today and you will directly contribute to blood cancer help!  Take a few moments to check out the amazing new additions we have to our merit badge books!  There is truly something for everyone here, from gardening to baking and dog lovers!  Also, coming soon is our wonderful book for Volunteer Work.


Learn more about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  It can be said that there is always something happening at this national and local organization!  The LLS has year round activities, fundraisers, and fun ways to get involved.  They have done a wonderful job in educating others about blood cancer awareness while also doing the very hard task of continually raising money.


At their website you can learn about a wonderful annual event called Man & Woman of the Year where for “10 weeks, in 80 communities across the country, dedicated candidates engage in an exciting competition to raise the most funds for blood cancer research and earn LLS’s "Man & Woman of the Year" titles.” (www.lls.org)


You would be astounded and amazed at how these energetic and passionate candidates rake in thousands of fundraising dollars across the country in such a short timeframe!


One Man & Woman of the Year Winner, Lizzy Conroy, says,


“Being a part of the LLS Man & Woman of the Year campaign brought to light how impactful LLS is in cancer research.  LLS has literally saved and prolonged thousands of lives through its continuous funding of research that has led to cutting edge treatments.  My mother-in-law passed away over 20 years ago from blood cancer and I believe if she had been treated today she would have lived longer.”


Lizzy Conroy, 2005 National Woman of the Year


What else can you do?


Donate, donate, donate.  If blood cancer has affected you directly and you would like to give a donation now, please support LLS directly by this link.  They make it very easy!


Give Blood.  Your local blood banks are constantly battling the challenge of being both in need and having depleted supply.  When those who are battling blood cancer need a blood transfusion, they are relying on your help in a very practical, ready-to-use way.  If you are a candidate for donating blood, consider putting on your calendar a once - a - month donation of your time at your local blood bank.  They are always so thankful for these donations!


If you have O-blood type, you are considered the ‘universal donor’ and should strongly consider being a regular blood donor.  It is fairly simple and straightforward and can help save lives!


Local blood drives include:


American Red Cross


I am posting an outreach email that was sent by a cancer mom whose son Michael went through extensive treatment for leukemia for 5 years.  She made #MichaelStrong T-shirts and bumper stickers and got her community involved.


When we donate and reach out to those who are fighting blood cancers, we are supporting them and sharing part of their story.


She relates a moving story best in her own words!


“Summer is in full swing.  I won’t be writing about my immaculate home, the 4-course gourmet meals we are eating, or how my kids get along 24-7.  But I do want to share with you all a few highlights that have absolutely lifted my broken (but always working on being healed) cancer mom's heart and helped a great deal with getting me through my ups and downs I experience due to the trauma of living through childhood cancer. The community we live in, meaning all of YOU, have been so supportive, and I know some of these highlights will touch your heart as well.

Last Monday, Michael was due for not only his IV chemotherapy but also his monthly trip to the pediatric OR for yet another spinal tap. This also meant the start of another long high dose steroid pulse which is always super hard on Michael both mentally and physically. My husband Joe asked for his Father’s Day present to be allowed to go this one time with Michael to the hospital and spend some dad/son time together. Joe told me he had to step out of Michae’s line of sight during the mediport needle insertion into his chest….Joe has seen this done many times but it’s been a while as I am usually the one who is with Michael because let’s face it, someone has to work and that someone in our family is Joe. He later told me it’s really not just the needle part that is hard to watch going in right above his little heart, it’s about why the needle is needed.

All of these brave warriors, just little children, are so stoic and have accepted this way of life, these harsh treatments, these long years of being constantly injected with poison we like to call chemotherapy. It’s hard, and no it never gets easier watching your little boy being put to sleep or injected with chemotherapies, you know in the long run could do horrible things to them. But these kids are so strong, mentally and physically they were recruited by our Lord because they are different. Not because their cells decided to mutate and form tumors-different, but because God knew these children would live however long or short to teach the rest of us great lessons. I wish everyone could spend a day in a pediatric cancer ward, you would come out a much different person than the one who walked in there.

I don’t want to bore you all with a long novel, but I do want to share one small story that shows all of us how God truly lives strongly in Michael’s heart. Michael has, for many years, wanted to make the Sudley Seahorse Swim Team, a very competitive team with incredibly talented swimmers in a highly competitive division. Michael has practiced, even throughout the first two years of cancer treatment, but has never quite made the “A” team. It’s also extra hard when Michael sees that 3 of his siblings have made the A team. At the beginning of this swim season, Michael came to me and said, “Mom, I am going to make the A team. I am going to start training every day and night and I am going to make that A team. I know I can do it, and I am going to do it.” Well, I was a little upset because quite honestly he was doing great on the B team….and what did he mean start “training” - Michael swims for two hours with the entire Sudley team every morning of the week, plays a full hour of tennis everyday and spends most afternoons playing soccer with his siblings. I feared Michael overdoing it, and quite honestly going after a goal that wasn’t going to happen. Michael needed to swim a 50-meter race in 46 or 48 seconds. The last time I had him timed he was around 55.6 seconds at the beginning of the summer. I was never a swimmer, but I know enough to know trying to drop almost 10 seconds in a 50-meter race is pretty much impossible, add cancer and your mom throwing chemotherapy pills at you daily, it seems even more out of reach.

Coach Dennis, whom our family considers family by this point, came to me to tell me that he could not make an exception for Michael. He explained it just wouldn’t be right, wouldn’t be fair, and that Michael would need to earn his way on his own on the A team. But when Dennis and I spoke, we both understood the same thing. The very LAST person that would want a handout or a special exception would be Michael himself. Now if you think that's because of some awesome parenting, I’ll throw a few of our other kids in the mix and you’ll see very quickly this virtue is unique to Michael. And I love my kids for the record, all of them, but they are all just very different. So, Michael started asking his dad if he would take him running when he got home from work. Joe works long hours and commutes long hours so I was not thrilled with the idea of Michael waiting up for his dad to get home to go on a 3-4 mile run in the heat after having exercised all day already. I also began to worry a lot after a week or two of this running when Michael began having frequent nose bleeds….in the childhood leukemia world a nosebleed is never just your average kid nosebleed. For a day or so, it triggered my PTSD and anxiety so badly that I outright stopped the running. Michael was disappointed but he hates to see mom upset so agreed to it. Well the hours of swim practice, hours of tennis, 3-4 mile night runs, and countless sit ups and push ups continued. The nosebleeds, for now, have stopped.

On Friday evening, I took all the kids to the pool, and began to quickly get Michael ready for his first attempt to swim into the A meets. His look of determination, perseverance, and all the hours of hard work were right in his beautiful eyes in front of me. But, I was sad, because I just thought knowing his prior best time, this might be out of reach and would he feel like he had failed when he had worked SO HARD?! I decided I needed to step away from him because I could feel all the emotions and was ready to cry my eyes out. And as a cancer mom, you never really know who knows what you have been through, who knows that you just forced your 10 year old child to swallow 22 pills, mostly chemotherapy pills, prior to rushing him to his swim meet, who knows what you are still living through daily, and it’s sadly probably my own pride but I didn't want to be seen crying at a silly Friday night mini meet! But before Michael was ready to step up for his swim I just pulled him aside and said, “Michael you have worked SO HARD, if you miss the time you need it will be ok, no other child out here has cancer and is taking chemotherapy, Please don't be upset about what happens, good or bad.” Michael looked at me and said, “Mom, it’s ok. You look like you are going to cry. I can do this mom, I said a prayer to God and I am going to swim this one for a miracle for Joe Gregory. It will be fine mom.”

And you know what, it was fine, it was more than fine. Michael made the A team that very swim!  He beat the time he needed by a couple milliseconds. When I realized he had accomplished this goal, and had done it for our dear friend, a young father - Joe Gregory - who has 4 young children and advanced ALS…..come on - how could I not cry? I looked at all the other timers and people who had come to support Michael and cheer him on and tears were streaming down all their faces. And as I said before, it actually has nothing to do with swimming, but everything to do with Faith and Love and overcoming hardships that are so unbearably painful at times, they are indescribable.

Thank you all for loving us and praying for our family. It takes a village, and you all have carried my family through so much. We also pray for all of you during family nightly prayers. Our oldest son is in Fatima on a pilgrimage and he said he spent his money on one gift - a Portugal Christiano Reynaldo shirt for his brother Michael. I am one blessed mom, thank you for praying for me. I need it!

#MICHAELSTRONG

#PRAYFORJOE

#INITTOWINIT

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