POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Nov 2012

Life is not always fair. As adults, we accept this bitter truth. We have lived our lives through loss and triumph. Most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, can trace our current circumstances to past actions. In many ways, we have made the life we are living. Random chance and misfortune may enter our lives, but for the most part, we are the product of our past decisions. We have made the world we live in.

But for the children afflicted with life-threatening diseases, such as cancer, sickle cell anemia, AIDS, immune disorders and blood diseases, their lives have become the victim of extreme injustice. Through no fault of their own, they have become sick, and the devastating truth is that some of them will not get better.

The Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation does not cure the cancer or beat the immune disease. That job is left to the amazing doctors and nurses of the various hospitals that dot the Las Vegas Valley. But what the foundation does do is equally as important and critical.

The NCCF “works side by side with the medical community to help children and their families emotionally, financially, socially and through education,” says Jeffrey Gordon, president of the NCCF.

“Medical science has made great strides in the past 15 years. Cancer and other diseases that once had a 53 percent cure rate now have an 80 percent cure rate,” Gordon says.

Studies have proven “how important attitude and the stress level is in getting better.” These factors play an incredibly powerful role in healing and help create an environment in which the amazing can occur.

“IT’S THE ATTITUDE WE BRINGTO LIFE THAT SERVES AS THE CATALYST TO MIRACLES HAPPENING.”adds Gordon. “A positive attitude is more important than facts, money, failures and successes and the past.”

But for families devastated by the news that their child is sick, a positive attitude is not easy to achieve. That is where the work of the NCCF comes in.

“WE LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY ARE PART OF OUR FAMILY,”
According to Gordon, within 24 to 48 hours after a life-threatening diagnosis, the child and their family are shown that they do not have to tread “the troubled waters on their own, and that there is hope.”

“We let them know that they are part of our family,” says Gordon. “We see where they are financially, and our programs never cost them a thing. Many families survive on two incomes, and when a child gets sick, one parent must quit their job.”

Through its 35 programs and services, the NCCF provides the children, as well as their moms, dads and even siblings, with counseling and educational services to help bolster a positive attitude, so that the healing can begin.

While the work the organization does is unquestionably amazing, it does not come cheaply. To help spread the word and raise much-needed funds, the NCCF has numerous events throughout the calendar year. The most important of these is the Profiles of Courage Gala being held on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Bellagio Las Vegas.

Held annually “to celebrate courageous children fighting a daily battle against disease, special adults touched by cancer and members of the community who help provide hope and triumph in the fight against disease” the Profiles of Courage Gala is responsible for much of the NCCF’s annual operating budget. “In life, we cannot always do magnificent things,” Gordon says, “but we can do small things with great love.”

As the old saying goes, love (and some great medical care) can cure all ills. Help give these kids some much-deserved love and choose to do a small and wonderful thing.