Dr Andrew Pendleton makes his rounds. The Pediatric Cancer Specialist at Memorial Health says for these kids, its not just about the medicine, but their attitude.
“The most important thing is hope,” explains Dr Andrew Pendleton. “The 4 letter word hope. All the majority of patients will be cured depending on the type of cancer, but there is always reason for hope.”
Hope, and good medicine, is what helps keep a smile on these youngsters faces. No easy task considering what they are going through. But Pendleton says kids actually make better patients than adults.
“I think its easier for me to work with them because they are pure, they didn’t cause it, whatever we do will be beneficial,” said Dr Pendleton.
“Children do not complain about things,” said Dr Pendleton. “They never lived through life and know what normal life is. To them this is normal life, they adjust, they adapt, they thrive.”
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“People ask me all the time how can you do this Doctor?” explains Pendleton. “How can you not do this? The patients, the children didn’t deserve anything they get. They go through life, not just the steps of life, eating breathing, going through the day. They live life, they play when they feel good they smile, they bring life to us, they bring a joy to us.”
Joy, and a cure. That’s what Dr Pendleton and everyone here want to bring to these families.
“Hope. All the reason to hope. No reason not to hope for a better future,” said Pendleton.
Despite the success rate and growing number of children with cancer, the national funding has been cut almost 30% in the past few years.