Monsters Are Curing Kid's Cancer!

Jeanne Sager

Aidan's MonstersGet ready to change every opinion you've ever had about monsters. They're not scary creatures hiding in your kid's closet keeping you up all night.

They're the kooky creatures curing a little boy's cancer. Aidan Reed is 5 years old and suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. But he loves to do what normal 5-year-old little boys do -- draw pictures of monsters.

It's perfectly fitting -- as a mom who shaves her head each year to fight children's cancer, I tend to think of cancer in kids as a monster that sweeps in and tears families apart.

Now Aidan's Monsters are funding his cancer treatment thanks to an Etsy Shop that's selling prints of the monsters and help cover the family's extensive bills.

Are you suddenly itching to hang monsters on the doors of every closet in your house?

According to the family's site, the monstrous demand has enabled the family to "offset current medical and loss (sic) wage expense." Aidan's mom was heavily pregnant when he was diagnosed, and she hasn't been able to work since she has both a newborn and a sick child to care for.

But even though acute lymphoblastic leukemia is considered about 90 percent curable, there's still that other 10 percent. The family is going to keep the shop open with the plan that any more funds will cover the possibility of future treatment.

That's why cancer in kids is so monstrous. The long-term effects of cancer treatments, even on the kids who survive the disease, can be devastating. Because kids are still developing, the toxic chemicals used to stunt the growth of cancerous cells can cause bone growth issues, affect kids' brains, even cause heart problems. Childhood cancer survivors are also nine times as likely as the general population to develop a sarcoma -- a cancer of connective or supportive tissue such as bone, fat, or muscle.

It's always nice to kick a monster in the shins and take it down.

What better way to do it than by curing a kid's cancer?

Image via Aid for Aidan

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