Special to Iredell Free News
Dr. Amanda Bailey’s daughter, WylieRae, was diagnosed with cancer three years ago when she was six months old and has been fighting ever since.
Dr. Bailey, a long-standing family physician at Lake Norman Family Medicine, and her family are using their experiences to help other families in similar circumstances. They created WylieRae’s Love, a nonprofit focused on supporting families with children ages 3 and younger who are undergoing cancer treatment.
“We want to raise awareness that babies and toddlers get cancer too. It’s important to us to share the parent’s viewpoint of their child’s journey,” Bailey explained.
In the United States, 47 children are diagnosed with cancer every day.
Through their experiences, WylieRae’s family asked themselves questions like: How do you help your child grow through some of the most important years of their life? How can a new family make important decisions when life has just started? How can we make the child feel more comfortable during all the treatments?
WylieRae’s Love supports families like Dr. Bailey’s family by providing customized care packages that include loveys/stuffies for children, educational toys, outfits that can be worn during treatments, blankets, swaddlers, etc. The nonprofit also works to provide resources for parents so that they are equipped to make informed decisions on treatments and care as well as how to navigate communication challenges.
“Our mission is to help other families so we can help relieve some of their burdens during such a difficult time,” Bailey said.
Here are a couple of ways you can show support and get involved with WylieRae’s Love:
♦ Make a Donation — The first 250 people/businesses that donate $25 or more are eligible to receive a special pin featuring WylieRae’s Love’s beautiful butterfly logo that represents childhood and brain cancer
♦ Amazon Smile – Register WylieRae’s Love via Amazon Smile and Amazon will donate 0.5 percent of your purchases to the nonprofit
♦ Participate in WylieRae’s Love Raffle
♦ Sign up for the nonprofit organization’s newsletter
♦ Follow WylieRae’s Love on Facebook
♦ Read their monthly spotlight featuring a different family each month
LEARN MORE
Visit WylieRaesLove.com for more information.