For Childhood Cancer Awareness month, we want to honor the families facing the difficult journey of childhood cancer and #GoGold to raise awareness. We’re connecting with real families, who have found babywearing helpful during their fight against cancer, and we are sharing their stories on our blog. Today, Krystal shares her son, Brayden’s, story. Continue reading to also learn how we are supporting childhood cancer awareness with our fully printed Tula Baby Carrier, ‘Beacon’.
My son, Brayden, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on May 21, 2015. We were told that morning at his pediatrician’s office and went to the hospital immediately after. We brought our Tula carrier with us like we usually do because, part of the symptoms that lead us to finding out he had cancer, was that he wasn’t walking. During this time, we wore him everywhere because he hated the stroller and loved being carried. We had just came back from a trip to Mexico. With a toddler that couldn’t walk, our Tula saved us on that trip!
Once we were at the hospital, he was feeling terrible and would only want to be in our arms. We had to wait for a room, so my husband and I took turns carrying him in the carrier for hours. When we got to a room and he was hooked up to an IV, he was so scared and still wanted to be held. We also wanted to keep him close after finding out the scariest thing you can imagine was actually happening. During treatments, carrying a heavy toddler in our arms almost 24/7 would have been tough without our Tula carrier.
When we were able to finally go home, we continued to use our Tula carrier often. The only way to keep a mask on him to protect him from germs was to wear him on the front and hold his arms. When taking him to get blood drawn, I was able to wear him to try and comfort him. Weekly appointments for 8 months meant wearing him in and out of the hospital to keep him close, make sure he had his mask on and help when his legs hurt. We moved to the maintenance phase of his treatment in January. His treatment will be over 3 years long and we have to go monthly. I recently had a baby and I still wore him every time to the hospital for all visits till I was 30 weeks pregnant.Our Tula has meant a lot to us. It made keeping our baby close to comfort him so much easier. I wish all parents who have to be in the hospital could have one!
Thank you to Krystal and her family for sharing Brayden’s story! We hope you will join us this month and #GoGold to help conquer Childhood Cancers. For every ‘Beacon’ Tula carrier sold, we will donate 10% of proceeds to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation so they can continue funding the fight against childhood cancers. Help by purchasing a Tula ‘Beacon’ Baby Carrier, or donating directly to St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
‘Beacon’ expresses the connected love, care and hope that surrounds each child and family facing cancer: each element coming together to offer strength and support. ‘Beacon’s’ geometric pattern, in a bright yellow gold color, covers the body panel, waistband, and shoulders straps. ‘Beacon’ is lined with light gray canvas and comes with a light gray hood.
