Kids Cancer Network

Young Survivor Sends Kids "A Dose of Hope"
Adapted from the Spring 2000 Cancerline of NCCF

"While I was having my cancer treatments, I struck up friendships with kids in the waiting rooms, and I wished I could be in every hospital in the country, encouraging kids with cancer. That's when I got the idea for the FUNLETTER."

Kenon Neal and her husband Matt now live in Phoenix, AZ and run Kids Cancer Network with the help of their Board of Directors who reside in Santa Barbara, CA. (see scrapbook)

The FUNLETTER, a kid-friendly publication filled with games, puzzles and cheer designed to encourage children during their cancer therapies, was published and distributed through the mail from 1992- 2000. The fun has now grown to include personalized "dose of hope" packets and all the opportunities contained in the interactive website you are enjoying!

It was when she was attending college in Santa Barbara that Kenon noticed a lump in her neck. She wasn't worried. Hadn't they voted her "Healthiest Girl in the Dorm?" The 20-year-old was a vegetarian, ate no junk foods, and did aerobics every day. But her mother, who worked in cancer research, insisted she see a hematologist. When the doctor told the optimistic Kenon she had Hodgkin's Disease, she knew her faith and optimism were about to be put to the test.

After having her treatments in Arizona, she hurried back to finish her last year at Westmont College. Then she moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, to take a very demanding job, and there she met Matt.

Her new boyfriend knew she'd had cancer, and wondered why her condition wasn't being watched more closely. He encouraged her to have a follow-up exam, and she learned that her cancer had returned.

While she was bald from chemo treatments Matt proposed to her. At their wedding, Kenon still had a catheter in her chest, and was wearing a wig while vowing "in sickness and in health."

The couple moved back to California, but Kenon was still plagued with medical problems, including an early menopause at the age of 26. Eventually her bone marrow began to deplete, and her doctor informed her that she would either have to have blood transfusions regularly, or a bone marrow transplant, if they could find a suitable donor.

Since Kenon and her only sister were complete opposites and fought like cats and dogs growing up, Kenon was amazed to learn that Dana was a perfect match!

For the transplant, she went to the City of Hope in Duarte, California, which required 40 days in the unit and 100 days on the premises. Two serious infections complicated the recovery. She didn't stop thinking about her FUNLETTER, and kept telling her doctor, "I'm publishing an issue right now. I have to get out of here."

Kenon is a 15 year Hodgkin's survivor and celebrates life with her husband, Matt, and their two sons, Tanner and Luke, both adopted at birth.

"I have better blood counts now that ever in my life!" she says. "My sister had better bone marrow than I did. I've even switched blood types, to hers. I'm so grateful for bone marrow donors!"

For more information on The Kids Cancer Network, including the board, budget and advisors, please visit Guidestar.com.

About KCN's Artist

Margot Starbuck Hausmann and Kenon met while attending Westmont College, and began brainstorming about art for the FUNLETTER a couple of years after graduation. Margot designed the original logo and all the cartoon art for each FUNLETTER for over five years. Margot, at home with Zoe and Rolly, creates custom caricatures and also produces slideshow videos from customers' photos (www.HausWorks.com). She also works as a part-time Chaplain with the disabled. Margot Starbuck Hausmann lives in Durham, NC where her husband, Peter, is a co-pastor at Blacknall Memorial Presbyterian Church.