A 12-year-old cancer patient from Waxahachie traveled to Washington, D.C. to champion the cause of pediatric cancer research, even as her own treatment options have dried up.
Isabella Day said she hopes that by bringing her own personal story to the national stage, she might convince Congress to increase federal taxpayer support to develop more treatments for children with cancer.
Currently, only 4% of taxpayer funds allocated to cancer research go to studies investigating pediatric forms of the disease.
“To show how important this is to me. Not just to me, but to other people too,” Day told NBC 5 DFW. “How much this could help, like, fund research and maybe even, like, cures for all the childhood cancers.”
She was just a 9-month-old when she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma.
Neuroblastoma, which accounts for 6% of all childhood cancers diagnosed annually nationwide, is a solid cancerous tumor that typically first develops in the adrenal glands. It usually is not found until it has already spread to other parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, liver, lungs, and bone marrow.
Day’s fight against the aggressive disease is currently at a standstill.
“I still have the cancer, but I’m currently not on treatment because I’ve run out of treatment options because of the lack of funding,” Day explained.
The idea for Day’s trip to Washington, D.C. came after a meeting in May with Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-TX). Day arrived on Tuesday and held meetings with different politicians and representatives from the National Institutes of Health.
September is childhood cancer awareness month, with organizations around the world trying to bring attention to the cause.
As explained by St. Jude, a leading organization in pediatric cancer research, 43 children are diagnosed with cancer in the United States every day.
While the survival rate is now over 80%, approximately 95% of childhood cancer survivors continue to have major chronic health issues for the rest of their lives.
With such realities in mind, alongside her own personal experience with the disease, Day said she is determined to shine a light on pediatric cancers.
“We’ve always said from the time she’s been diagnosed, we don’t want to waste what we’ve been handed,” Day’s mother, Leslie Ables Day, told NBC 5. “I’m very proud of her for being willing to use her voice and to advocate for other kids like her who are sitting here right now without treatment options due to lack of research.”
