Brain Candy! Magazine

Hello, Other Kids With Some Kind Of Brain Cancer:

My name is Cameron, and I have a kind of brain cancer called Anaplastic Astrocytoma, and it's a grade 3. I'm 13 years old, and I've been fighting this since I was 11. I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

I've gone through a 12 hour resection surgery (they removed 95% of my original tumor), radiation and three kinds of chemo, and nothing has worked. I have been overmedicated in the hospital, and now I am on two types of anti-seizure medication and no chemo. I'm doing good, and have started acupuncture treatments. We are now looking for other ways to cure me, because we have exhausted all the conventional ways. To learn more about me, read my blog at www.caringbridge.org/visit/cameron. I've been writing since the day before my brain surgery.

I am going to be doing a free magazine by and for kids with brain cancer, called Brain Candy! I am creating this magazine because I have brain cancer and I want to make a difference in the world.

When I was in the hospital, I didn't meet any other kids with brain cancer because we were all so sick, and the doctors didn't want us around other sick kids. It was very lonely, and it felt like I must be the only kid going through brain cancer. Brain cancer in kids is rare, and the kind I have is even rarer.

The longer I've had it, the more I have heard about lots of other kids who have it, even though it is so rare. With Brain Candy!, I'm looking to bridge all the kids in the world who are living with brain cancer: to let them know they are not alone, to share our stories with one another, make friends, and encourage them to keep fighting while the grownups are looking for a cure. Maybe we can even help them find a cure!

That's where you come in. Every kid around the world living with brain cancer who reads this, please reply to this e-mail, letting me know:
your name
how old you are and your grade
where you live
what kind of brain cancer you have
when you were diagnosed
if you have any siblings
and a short story about yourself.
This way I can start a list of all the kids who want to be part of the magazine, and we can begin creating the first edition together. If you can't type an e-mail yourself, ask a grownup to help you.

Keep on fighting, everybody. You are not alone, and together we can beat this once and for all!

Peace Out,

Cameron David Allen
Founder, Brain Candy!