Andrew Scotchie *vocal/electric guitar (andrewscotchiemusic.com)
music by Dave Desmelik (davedesmelik.com)
Derrick Gardner - keys
Dave Desmelik - acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums
fact sources:
Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (curethekids.org)
John Hopkins Medicine (hopkinsmedicine.org)
Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (cbtrus.org)
PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMOR FACTS
-In the United States, more than 28,000 children are living with the diagnosis of a brain tumor.
-In the United States, about 4,600 children are diagnosed with a brain tumor each year... that's 13 new cases per day.
-72% of young people diagnosed with a brain tumor are younger than age 15.
-More children pass of brain tumors than any other form of pediatric cancer.
-There is no identifiable cause for most childhood brain tumors.
-Brain tumors are the most common tumors in children.
-Nonmalignant or benign brain tumors can be devastating if their location in the brain prevents surgical removal or other curative treatments.
-Pediatric brain tumor survivors often suffer from lifelong side effects caused by their illness as well as by treatments such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
-Current treatments are toxic, cause permanent cognitive and physical impairments and severely diminish a child's quality of life.
-First line chemotherapy for the most common form of pediatric brain cancer has remained unchanged for over 30 years.
-The Cerebellum is the lower, back part of the brain and controls balance, coordination, and fine muscle control.
-The Cerebrum is the large, outer part of the brain and controls thought, learning, speech, emotions, planned muscle movements, and the senses.
-The Brainstem is the bottom part of the brain and connects the cerebrum to the spinal cord and controls many basic body functions and movement.
-The Spinal Cord is a long, tube-like bundle of nerves that starts in the brain and goes down the length of the spine, and carries messages to and from the brain.
-Brain and Spinal Cord tumors are graded I thru IV.
-Grade I and II, or low grade tumors tend to grow slowly.
-Grade III and IV, or high grade tumors grow fast and spread into normal brain tissue.
-The most common types of brain and spinal cord tumors in children are gliomas and medulloblastomas.
-There are numerous different types of pediatric brain and spinal cord tumors... such as...
astrocytomas, diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas, gliomatosis cerebri, gangliogliomas, oligodendrogliomas, optic nerve gliomas, thalamic and hypothalamic astrocytomas, tectal gliomas, gliosarcomas, atypical teratiod rhabdiod tumors, medulloblastomas, neurocytomas, pineoblastomas, ependymomas, meningiomas, neurofibromas, choroid plexus tumors, and the list goes on... and on...
-The brain contains about 85 billion neurons and 100,000 miles of blood vessels, enough to go from New York to Australia 10 times, making brain surgery very complex.
-Children with brain tumors require multi-disciplinary care by many different providers including neuro-oncologists, neuro-surgeons, radiation-oncologists, expert nurses and family support services.
-Research that focuses specifically on pediatric brain tumors is crucial to saving children's lives and improving survivor's quality of life.
-Pediatric brain cancer research is historically neglected.
-In the United States, the taxpayer funded National Cancer Institute provides only 4% of it's annual budget to childhood cancer.
credits
from Dave Desmelik with an Army of Love,
released December 10, 2018
Derrick Gardner - keys
Dave Desmelik - acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums
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