Hancock County Journal - Pilot
Carthage, Illinois
Wednesday
March 7, 1979
Page 5
Columns 1 - 6Munsons: prayer reason for daughter's life
By Lynn Larkin
If you ask John Munson, or his wife, Sharon, they will tell you, "there is no doubt in our mind that there is definitely a God." And the Munsons have had plenty of reason to believe that their prayers and those of their fellow church members are some of the reasons their daughter, Shelley Sue, is still with them.
Shelley Sue, now 2½, is suffering from embryo carcinoma, a rare form of children's cancer. She has been under treatment since its discovery nine months ago and the Munsons believe that the chemotherapy, which is expensive, combined with a lot of prayer are the reasons Shelley is alive today.
The Munsons took Shelley to the doctor last year after she began complaining when she fell. She had been born with a cyst on her tailbone, but it had been benign. A year later a tumor developed.
At the time of the operation the doctors found Shelley's cancer far advanced but kept their pessimism hidden from the Munsons until after she began such a good recovery. The cancer cells have now disappeared from her lungs and the tumor is not noticeable on x-ray but the treatments must continue for two more years. "She could live a full lifetime, Munson said he has been told, if she doesn't become immune to the chemotherapy."
Chemotherapy
The Munsons take Shelley to St. Louis every three weeks for one or more of four kinds of chemotherapy. In between visits, she goes to a local hospital for blood tests because the chemotherapy disturbs the blood count and makes her prone to infection.
While she has some after effects of the treatments, Shelley is basically a happy, smiling, active little girl who seldom complains.
The treatments are expensive and insurance is paying part of the expense, but the rest must be met by the Munsons. To help defray part of the cost, a series of benefit dinners and raffles were held at the Y-Not Tavern in Hamilton Saturday and raised $1,350. They were initiated by Larry Hoppe. The Warsaw VFW cooked the food for the meals.
Faith reestablished
Religion has always been an important part of the Munsons' life. Fellow members of their Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, have held fast days of prayer for Shelley's benefit and the Munsons both agree that if it wasn't for their religion that they would have a hard time accepting Shelley's illness.
Munson, who works at the water and sewer plant in Hamilton, said his employer, the city, has been very understanding about their monthly visits to St. Louis and have let them take days off in the middle of the week and make them up later.
They are pleased with the response from their Hamilton neighbors to the problems.
"We weren't expecting a day set aside to help us and we are overwhelmed." they concluded.
Hancock County Journal - Pilot
Carthage, Illinois
Wednesday
April 22, 1981
Page 12
Column 1SHELLEY MUNSON
Funeral services for Shelley Sue Munson, 4, of Hamilton, were held Saturday in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints in Nauvoo with Bishop Newel Rogers officiating. Burial was in Elvaston Cemetery.
A memorial to the CURE Foundation has been established.
She died Thurs., April 16, in Fort Madison Community Hospital. She had been ill for some time.
She was born Sept. 5, 1976, in Keokuk, a daughter of John R. and Sharon Burgess.
Her parents were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.
She is survived by her parents; a brother, John Russell at home; two sisters, Angela and Christal, both at home; grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Munson of Elvaston and Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Burgess of Keokuk.
She was preceded in death by her great-grandparents and a half sister.
