A Hero in Sports and the Cancer Community
- There’s a reason why legendary football quarterback Tom Brady is often dubbed “The Greatest of All Time,” which is often expressed in the acronym GOAT.
- The Tampa Bay Buccaneer, 44, who announced retirement prematurely last year and then signed on for another season with “The Bucs,” recently had his hair dyed orange by pediatric cancer patients at a Tampa charity event.
- Tampa announced in February that they were doing a throwback of their former orange and white jerseys for the 2022-2023 season. The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, one of Tampa’s largest organizations, joined forces with the entire team and its superstar athlete for a fun-filled day and a super good cause.
- Some childhood cancers might not develop any symptoms, but some signs that could be initially overlooked include flu-like symptoms, a "glow" in the pupil, itchy skin, trouble exercising, decreased appetite, a swollen face, abnormal bleeding, a stomach lump, bone or joint pain or even a myriad of odd symptoms.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneer, 44, who announced retirement prematurely last year and then signed on for another season with “The Bucs,” recently had his hair dyed orange by pediatric cancer patients at a Tampa charity event.
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The former New England Patriot, who is married to supermodel Giselle Bundchen, 41, seemed to genuinely be enjoying himself during the light, playful “Cut and Color for a Cure” event hanging with the kids and their families.
“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a brand new look, ORANGE ya glad they raised over $118,000 for pediatric cancer research?!” the Pediatric Cancer Foundation captioned their Tom Brady-filled instagram photos.
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"The support of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in our fight to end childhood cancer is invaluable," said National Pediatric Cancer Foundation CEO David Frazer.
"The team's continued commitment to assist kids facing a cancer diagnosis makes them so much more than a sports team they are truly heroes, rallying to create a better tomorrow for their young fans and supporters nationwide."
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The seven-time Super Bowl champ has played 22 seasons thus far, and couldn’t resist coming back for more. After all, how rewarding are moments like these? There can’t be anything better than helping kids like these at the height of your career.
A true champ and hero.
Learning About Pediatric Cancer
Some childhood cancers might not develop any symptoms, but some signs that could be initially overlooked include flu-like symptoms, a "glow" in the pupil, itchy skin, trouble exercising, decreased appetite, a swollen face, abnormal bleeding, a stomach lump, bone or joint pain or even a myriad of odd symptoms.
The Impact of a Childhood Cancer Diagnosis on the Whole Family
These signs and symptoms are not exclusive to the cancers mentioned, but you should always bring up any changes to your child's health with their doctors.
Treatment advances in recent decades have led to 84 percent of children with cancer now surviving five years or more, according to the American Cancer Society. This is up from 58 percent in the mid-1970s.
The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation reports that more than 95 percent of childhood cancer survivors have significant health-related issues because of the current treatment options, and only 4 percent of the billions of dollars spent each year on cancer research and treatments are directed towards treating childhood cancer in the United States. Since 1980, fewer than 10 drugs have been developed for use in children with cancer while hundreds of drugs have been created exclusively for adults.
Dr. Elizabeth Raetz, director of pediatric hematology and oncology at NYU Langone's Perlmutter Cancer Center, reminded us in a previous interview that there is still reason for hope.
"There are also targeted treatments and different immunotherapies that have been studied in adults and have now moved into clinical trials for children and there has been a great deal of excitement in the community about that," Dr. Raetz told SurvivorNet.
Here at SurvivorNet, we're always encouraging people to advocate for themselves when it comes to cancer and, more generally, health care. But when it comes to a child, the parent must become the advocate and make sure any possible signs of cancer are fully and expeditiously addressed.
Contributing by SurvivorNet staff.
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