One of the many things I take for granted as a busy working mum is my good health. I’m thankful that my body enables me to live life to the full. Like any family, my husband and daughters rely on me a lot. Not because I’m a super woman, but because as a mum, thinking and planning ahead are second nature to provide a seamless and happy family life.
So how do families cope when mum finds out she has cancer? I know there are families who are struggling right now trying to fight this disease to keep their mum alive.
Being a part of a church I have been to too many funerals for women who have passed away before their prime time because of cancer. They leave behind a grieving husband and children. They don’t get to see their children go to school or graduate or go to University or get married or meet their future grandchildren. It breaks my heart when I hear and see this happen.
Cancer has no favourites and it can strike at any time to anyone and it doesn’t care if they have a family to look after.
Every day there are 13 families in Australia that find out mum has cancer. THIRTEEN a DAY!
Where do families turn when they get told the terrible news? I didn’t know until I heard about Mummy’s Wish.
Mummy’s Wish is an organization that believes in protecting the family unit when they get forced to face their greatest challenge of helping mum fight cancer. They don’t get involved in the clinical side of cancer care but they help minimize the stress mum feels when she’s diagnosed so that she can focus on her recovery.
Mummy’s wish offers practical support to families with mums battling cancer by offering financial assistance, house cleaning, memory making for mums who have terminal cancer, child care, free hire of Ipads so that mum and kids can skype each other from hospital to home. They also provide each young child with a signature Comfort Bear so that they can hear mum’s voice when they need comforting. Young children find it really hard to be away from mum when she’s getting treatment and these bears offer comfort to children when they are missing their mummy.
Mummy’s Wish assisted 250 Queensland families last year and by the end of this year they would have supported 730 families in QLD and NSW. By the year 2016 they expect to offer practical help to over 3500 families.
The costs associated with supporting each family averages to $2,500 so fundraising is a major part of bringing in the funds to provide assistance to these families. The easiest way to support Mummy’s Wish is to buy a voice recordable, cuddly Comfort Bear for someone you love for $40 plus $10 postage (1 to 3 bears can be sent with the one $10 postage fee within Australia). The money you spend on purchasing a bear will also buy a Comfort Bear for a little one missing their mum who is battling cancer this Christmas.
If you have no one to buy a Comfort Bear for, you can still make a $40 donation which will provide 2 Comfort Bears for kids who need some cheer this Christmas.
My hope is that Mummy’s Wish will be able to provide a Beary Merry Christmas to all the families they come in contact with whose mum’s are fighting cancer this season. Your purchase or donation can make that happen. If you would like to get more information in relation to donations or if you know of a family that could use the assistance of Mummy’s Wish, head to their website for more details.
This is not a sponsored post. I was sent a Mummy’s Wish teddy bear and information about Mummy’s Wish.
