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FREE CHAPTER, CONT.
Not only was there a
plan in place for the incremental improvement of medical treatment
toward treatment and cures, but there was an incredible plan for the
creating of a marketing and fundraising arm to provide support for
families so that no child in need would ever be denied because of
money. In this day and age, benevolence comes at a mighty cost.
However, the creation of a dedicated marketing and fundraising
organization working in complete alignment of the goals of St. Jude
provides just that. ALSAC® is an extraordinary organization that
through its charter and existence allows the hospital the sole focus
of its founder’s intent.
Keep an Excellent
Forward Thrust to Your Objectives
The lifesaving work at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is
far broader than what it might seem at the surface level. When you
think of a hospital, you think naturally about a process to go from
being sick to being well. With regard to the catastrophic childhood
diseases St. Jude has targeted, there is ongoing focus and effort
for the task of finding effective therapies and cures. Much deeper
at issue is the cause and understanding of why these diseases attack
the children. The focus drills down all the way to the molecular and
biological level of the DNA blueprint. Without proper understanding
of the causes, the cures will not be complete.
The clinical research
at St. Jude includes study and focus on bone marrow transplantation,
chemotherapy, radiation treatment and surgery as therapies. There is
also an ongoing study of a wide variety of issues relating to the
desired outcome. From understanding the biochemistry of normal
versus cancerous cells, blood diseases, issues causing resistance to
therapy, viruses, hereditary diseases, all facets from cause to cure
are under the microscope. In addition, there is another ongoing
biostatistical study on adults living cancer free as St. Jude is
blessed with positive results and the first considerable population
of adults living cancer-free after having received chemotherapy and
radiation treatments as children. The hospital maintains contact
long after treatment with these former patients to conduct long-term
studies on the history of their health. This study has lead to
improvements in ongoing treatment to avoid potential additional
problems related to the initial treatment. This has a positive
effect to improve the life of future children diagnosed with cancer.
The dedicated team at
St. Jude knows specifically what they want as an outcome and take
focused consistent action toward that conclusion. The enemy in this
work is not so much in what is known or not known, but more so in
what is not known that is unknown. In simpler terms, there is a
frustrating void of knowing where to look or the right questions to
ask in a process like this. Each theory must be tested and proven
and some effects or outcomes are not known until much later down the
road. The effect of all this is a frustrating and many times dark
journey. The team at St. Jude does a miraculous job focused on what
they can do today while keeping an eye on where they desire to
progress to tomorrow.
Deal With Your
Disappointments and Setbacks
At the beginning of the hospital, St. Jude was facing an amazing
uphill battle. According to St. Jude’s website information, in 1962,
the survival rate for cancers and tumors affecting children were
dramatically low. Below is just a sample as referenced by St. Jude
faculty statistics (www.stjude.org) of the many types of cancers
treated at St. Jude and their respective survival rates at the
beginning of the hospital’s existence compared to the progress made
after 40 years of incremental improvement.
Survivability
Statistics:
| Disease Type |
1962 |
2002
|
|
Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (cancer of the blood) |
4% |
80% |
|
Ewing Sarcoma (bone cancer type) |
5% |
75% |
|
Hodgkin Disease (cancer of the lymph nodes) |
50% |
90% |
|
Neuroblastoma (cancer of the nervous system) |
10% |
59% |
|
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (malignant tumor) |
7% |
80% |
|
Osteosarcoma (bone cancer type) |
20% |
70% |
|
Retinoblastoma (type of eye cancer) |
75% |
90% |
|
Rhabdomyosarcoma (solid tumor affecting muscles) |
30% |
75% |
|
Wilms Tumor (cancer in kidneys) |
50% |
90% |
Behind the J-shape
curve of these statistics hides two distinct stories. One story is
the amazing progress and the incredible life saving advances made by
St. Jude. These advances brought discoveries and treatment
improvements to St. Jude patients as well as many other patients
across many hospitals in many countries as information and
technology was shared. The other side of the story is the amazing
people who sadly are no longer with us today and the tragic loss of
thousands of families who make up the other side of the statistics.
In 1962 96% of childhood leukemia patients died. There is no way to
look at this as anything other than tragic and heartbreaking.
Like all successes over time, St. Jude has had its share of
heartache and disappointment in the past 40 years. Unfortunately,
there is no success in this endeavor without the learning curve that
must be traveled. The positive future cumulative effect and the
value of lives saved through enduring this sometimes painful process
can never truly be measured. This sorrow and frustration can only be
contrasted by the priceless upside of children’s lives saved.
Create a Positive Support Structure
Once Danny Thomas firmly had his vision in mind in the early 1950s,
he began discussing with friends what this vision might look like.
Over time, the idea of a children's hospital came about. In 1955, a
group of Memphis businessmen agreed to help Danny. They agreed to
lend their support and leverage in the creation of a unique research
hospital to be devoted to curing catastrophic diseases in children.
The dream was to be more than just a treatment facility or regular
hospital. The dream of Danny Thomas and his support structure would
be to create a world class research center to benefit the children
of the world in treatment and a search for cures to catastrophic
childhood diseases.
In the mid 50s, Danny along with his wife, family and many
supporters began raising significant money for Danny’s vision of St.
Jude. Tapping into Danny’s entertainment friends as well as business
leaders in the Memphis area, they created all of the necessary funds
to build this great hospital and begin this worthy endeavor. Now
built, they faced an even larger undertaking of funding the annual
operation of the new hospital.
Danny looked to his fellow Americans of Arabic-speaking heritage. He
deeply believed that Arabic-speaking Americans should, as a group,
show respect and thanks the United States for the gifts of freedom
provided to their parents. Danny felt that supporting St. Jude would
be a noble way of honoring his heritage and his immigrant
forefathers who had come to America. Danny's commitment and passion
for his cause struck a resonant chord. 100 representatives of the
Arab-American community met in Chicago in 1957 to form a fundraising
arm dedicated to the support of St. Jude. ALSAC® (American Lebanese
Syrian Associated Charities®), also founded by Danny Thomas, was
created to be an ongoing positive support structure with the sole
purpose of fundraising and generating support for St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital.
Currently, ALSAC is the fourth largest not-for-profit health-related
fund-raising organization in America. Headquartered in Memphis
adjacent to the hospital and with regional offices throughout the
United States, ALSAC has 100% of the responsibility of the
hospital's fund-raising efforts. ALSAC is supported with the
dedicated efforts of over one million volunteers across the nation
and in many other countries. Together, this amazing support
structure raises millions of dollars annually through a variety of
creative methods. The fundraisers, benefits and solicitation drives
involve Americans of all economic, religious, racial, cultural and
ethnic backgrounds. In addition to the many millions of dollars
raised is the education and awareness created for the ongoing
mission of the hospital. Truly Danny Thomas created a positive
support structure to enable the dream to continue beyond his life.
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