02/09/2026
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. 🎗️
A month that, this time last year, meant almost nothing to us.
This time last year I was completely oblivious to the world of childhood cancer. I thought chemotherapy was basically “one drug.” I thought childhood cancer itself was rare, and I thought losing a child to cancer was even rarer.
Now, after spending most of the last 11 months inside hospital walls, September carries an entirely different meaning.
We have pinned our child down for procedures while he screamed and fought us. We have handed him over to strangers again and again, putting his life completely in their hands. We have watched his little body be pumped full of drugs that we knew would make him sick, because they were also the drugs we were told might save his life.
You learn things no parent should ever need to learn.
You learn medications, blood counts, scan results and medical terminology you never knew existed. You learn how quickly “normal” life can disappear.
But one of the biggest things you learn is that you aren't alone.
Inside those hospital walls you meet other families living the same nightmare. You build friendships in circumstances you wish none of you had ever met through. You celebrate each other's wins, sit beside each other through the setbacks and become invested in children who aren't your own.
And then there are the emotions that are almost impossible to explain.
Watching another child ring the bell and finish treatment is beautiful. You are genuinely so happy for that family, because you know exactly what that moment means.
But at the same time, when your own child is still fighting, there can be this little ache inside you wondering whether your family will ever get that moment too.
Then you watch other families leave the hospital without their child.
You watch children you have seen in the hallways, playrooms and wards suddenly no longer be there.
Childhood cancer stops being a statistic when you know their names.
When you've met their mums and dads.
When you've watched them fight.
When you've watched your own child fight beside them.
September isn't just about wearing gold for us anymore.
It is about the children still fighting.
The children who finished treatment.
The children who never got the chance to ring that bell.
The brothers and sisters whose childhood is changed alongside them.
And the parents who would give absolutely anything to trade places with their child.
Before Talen, I didn't understand this world.
Now I wish I never had to.
But because we do understand it now, we will never stop talking about it.
This September, wear gold. 🎗️
Learn their stories. Say their names. Support the families. Donate to childhood cancer research when you can.
Because behind every childhood cancer statistic is a little person who should have had an entire lifetime ahead of them.
I miss you darling boy 💛💛
🎗 💛🎗
