By Erin Wood
When young writer and Nashville, Arkansas, native Kaden Peebles should have been preparing for a high school cheerleading competition, she was knocked out by debilitating pain. She was eventually diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
This diagnosis marks the start of her book, Chemo and Good Eyeliner: A Cancer Memoir (forthcoming spring 2023). Peebles eventually completed 35 rounds of chemotherapy, 32 localized radiation treatments, 8 total body radiation treatments, and 2 bone marrow transplants.
Her siblings, Bre and Andrew, remained steadfast through it all. Not only do they appear throughout her book, but last month Kaden and Bre (a nurse) started a nonprofit, The Unseen Faithful.
Kaden shares, “I often noticed how overlooked my younger siblings were when I was in treatment. They had to sacrifice a lot while my parents were with me in the hospital. Many saw my struggles, but few saw theirs. I had an outpouring of support while sick, and I wanted to give back when I was healthy. Bre and I had been sending small treats to siblings we knew from the hospital and eventually it turned into wanting to do more.”
Through “Happy Mail” (treats, gift cards, and small gifts), the Peebles sisters are providing hope and recognition for siblings of childhood cancer patients with the belief that they are key components to these patients’ treatment, recovery, and quality of life.
Want to nominate a childhood cancer sibling or help support siblings? Join the Facebook group or visit www.theunseenfaithful.com,
and look for Kaden’s memoir next year.
Hot Springs native, Erin Wood is a writer, editor, and publisher in Little Rock. She owns and runs Et Alia Press (www.etaliapress.com). Wood is author of Women Make Arkansas: Conversations With 50 Creatives (April 2019) and editor of and a contributor to Scars: An Anthology (2015).
