Communities Working Together for Awareness
Join our mission to spread awareness for childhood cancer in 2025 and beyond.
Go Gold 2025
Raising Awareness for Childhood Cancer
We are a group of people who have been affected by childhood cancer. Our mission is to turn the world gold in September to raise awareness for a disease that is affecting far too many of our children. Join us as we unite for the future of our youngest warriors.
Super Star Wilson
In November 2023, Wilson began experiencing leg pain in his left knee & shin. At first, he would complain of pain when running or engaging in sports that he loves, which was very unlike him, & eventually turned into him becoming lethargic, waking in the night screaming in pain, & refusing to put any weight on his leg. Between November 2023 & April 2024, we visited his pediatrician 6 times, resulting in 4 xrays that showed nothing. We were pending a Rheumatology referral for suspected juvenile arthritis when we finally had something show up on an xray.
On April 15, 2024, this xray showed evidence of a "neoplasm," which we now know meant tumor. The doctor we saw that day got us a same day referral to our closest Children's Hospital in Omaha, NE an hour & a half from where we live. There, he underwent an ER visit for an MRI, & then a subsequent week long hospitalization for biopsies, bloodwork, & various scans to determine if we were looking at cancer or osteomyelitis (a bone infection). At this point, we learned he had a small, round, blue cell tumor and that this particular cancer would be malignant.
On May 8, 2024 after his port placement surgery, we got the call that pathology had determined he was facing Ewing's Sarcoma, an uncommon bone cancer. We then began his treatment plan of 14 rounds of chemotherapy every other week at Children's Nebraska. He would stay in patient during chemotherapy for anywhere from 3 to 7 days during his cycles & underwent 5 different medications of chemotherapy (Vincristine, Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Ifosfamide, & Etoposide) for 14 rounds. This lasted through January 21 of 2025, when he finally got to ring the bell.
Halfway through his chemo reigment, Wilson underwent a Rotationplasty amputation surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN approximately 6 hours from where we live, on August 19, 2024. This surgery removes the knee & then utilizes the ankle joint to become the new knee joint & allows for greater range of motion with only having to have a lower limb prosthetic. This surgery took a long time to heal due to chemotherapy. We have had to make repeated trips to Mayo for follow up appointments, an additional surgery to resuture his Rotationplasty incision site, & scans.
Following surgery, Wilson has been in a hard shell cast & has had to utilize a wheelchair or hop with a walker to get around. He was finally cleared on Februrary 24, 2025 to begin weight bearing on this leg & can start the process of getting his prosthetic.
Wilson currently has visits weekly with physical therapy to work on reducing sensitivity in his Rotationplasty leg & foot. This pain often feels like sharp, shooting, neuropathy pain & is very difficult to manage. He also has weekly appointments with a mental health therapist to work on processing the medical trauma, anxiety, & PTSD he currently experiences.
Wilson went from being a regular, energetic, goofy 6 year old boy to an almost 8 year old with enough trauma for several life times. He has missed sports, friends, most of 2nd grade, getting to run & play, & so many milestones. He is still our Wilson, who is wild & loves to make others laugh, but there is now forever an underlying shadow of anxiety in his thoughts & day to day activity. He continues to look forward to getting back to his life & is working hard at it. Cancer will have forever changed our family & Wilson's life after what we have endured & witnessed this last year.
-Wilson's Parent
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Facts About Childhood Cancer
Did you know...
* Gold is the color for childhood cancer awareness and September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
* Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children.
* In the U.S.A. about 47 kids per day are diagnosed with cancer.
* More than 17,000 kids in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer each year.
* The 5-year survival rate for childhood cancer is around 80%, but just because they make it to 5 years does not mean they will survive it.
* For the children that do survive and beat the cancer, 2/3 of them will have a chronic health condition and 1/4 will have a life-threatening effect later on in life (heart damage, lung damage, infertility, second cancer, and more).
* Most of the time the cause of childhood cancer is unknown.
* Around 1,800 children each year die in the U.S. because of their cancer.
1800 pairs of shoes to represent the 1800 children that die EACH YEAR from cancer. CureFest 2024.
What Can you do to Make a Difference?
Go Gold 2025 - Supporting Education
Here are some ideas you can use to bring more gold to your community this September:
* Wear gold every day as a conversation starter. When someone says something, take the opportunity to let them know what the gold represents.
* Buy some gold ribbon and safety pins to begin making gold ribbons as early in the year as possible. At the beginning of September, take them to local stores to leave out for customers to take along with a card showing the link to the GoGold2025 website.
* Contact the athletic director of your local high school to see about them having a Go Gold game in September.
*Ask your school district to have a Gold Out day for the students and staff to wear gold.
* Have a bake sale or lemonade stand in September - donate the proceeds to an organization of your choice that provides assistance for children battling cancer.
* Post on social media, or share other's posts. If your child had cancer, share their story if you are willing, share statistics and facts, share that childhood cancer is not as easy as chemo for a little while then cured for life.
* Hang up posters around town, with permission.
Have more ideas to share? Send them to ErikaS@gogold2025.com
Shiny gold pants get comments, which means opportunities to share about childhood cancer.
Organizations that Support GoGold2025's Mission
The Brooklynn Miller Foundation
The Brooklynn Miller Foundation
The Brooklynn Miller Foundation
The Brooklynn Miller Foundation provides customized gifts to children battling cancer, Couples Care Kits to couples with a child on hospice care, and gifts to families on the one-year anniversary of their child's passing.
Battlecorn Care Packages
The Brooklynn Miller Foundation
The Brooklynn Miller Foundation
Battlecorn Care Packages strives to spread smiles and joy across the country and as far as their support can fly.
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The Brooklynn Miller Foundation
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Join us in this mission and we will share your website here!!
Join us in this mission and we will share your website here!!
Join us in this mission and we will share your website here!!