Welcome!

Hi and welcome to The CHEMO Bag’s blog. We are excited to share all our happening with you and encourage you to become excited too!

But first, some background information. Last Oct (2012) as I was coming to the end of my chemo infusions my daughter Michelle (who was 7 at the time) and I were watching TV as a young man on the west coast was honored for his dedication to making chemo bags for breast cancer patients. Michelle and I watched silently as he was honored and when it was over she looks at me and says “Mommy, don’t you have a bag you always take to chemo?” I said “Yes” and she says “Everyone should have a bag mommy; we could make bags for people who have to have chemo, not just women with breast cancer but all people, even kids, because kids get chemo too.”

Of course as a mother I was proud of my daughter for making a suggestion like this, but as a woman who was beaten down and exhausted from months of chemo I replied “That sounds like a good idea honey but let’s wait till after the holidays before we really think about doing something like that.” Michelle then got up, got a piece of paper and wrote on it CHEMO like this:

C

H

E

M

O

And then asked me to write these words following the letters:

Caring

Helping

Encouraging

Motivating

Others.

Ahhh…the mind of a 7 year old. I once again told her it was a wonderful idea, but really, we had to wait till the New Year before giving it much more thought.

You would think that as a 7 year old this idea would leave her sweet little brain as easily as it had arrived. But it didn’t. Over the next two months Michelle continued to talk about it, to make lists of what we would need to put in the bags, to draw designs to use for our logo and to think of ways we could raise funds and get donations. As I returned to the world of the living and began regaining my strength and sensibilities I realized that this idea she had was actually do-able and her excitement over her idea became contagious. I talked to a few people about it that were willing to guide and assist me and late on Dec. 31, 2012 I wrote on my private Facebook wall that Michelle had this idea, that we were going to do it and that we needed help getting started. I asked my Facebook friends if they would be willing to donate or help in anyway….

….5 minutes later The CHEMO Bag had raised $1,000. No joke. And since then we have raised $400 more. 15 days later we had a website, a Facebook page and most importantly, we had a plan.

Many, many items have been donated to help fill the bags. We have hats for men and women, neck pillows, hand sanitizer, tissues, angel pins, puzzle books, pens, socks, hard candies, prayer shawls, cards of encouragement, bottled water, Biotine toothpaste and mouthwash, candles…the list goes on. There is a fundraiser planned for April, another one in the works for the fall, a CPA willing to donate his time to get us official nonprofit  status once tax season is over and a professional fund-raiser donating her time to help us market and reach a bigger audience.

The bags were purchased, a friend made a silk screen for us, the logo was chosen and some bags have been made. And filled. And one was sent to CA and one was given to a friend for a co-worker.

But the plan is to bring them to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg Campus where I am undergoing my cancer treatments, where I had my chemo. If we can, if we maintain the help and generous donations of so many wonderful people, we will expand.

Today I received some statistics from LVH-M. 1,590 people received chemo there last year.

Staggering number isn’t it?