A new resource to help guide patients, caregivers, and providers was brought to life through a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health and the family of Jewell Sweat. Jewell’s Rules was created in memory of Jewell Sweat, a seventeen-year-old high school student from Rome, Georgia, who passed away in 2020 after a 10-month stomach cancer battle. The idea was conceived while the mother of Jewell and our Executive Director was attending an advocacy event on Capital Hill in the Spring of 2024.
Through tears and heartfelt conversation, it became clear that there was a void to be filled in Pediatric GI awareness and education. After a year of outreach, expert input, editing, and design, the result became the first version of Jewell’s Rules, a Patient and Caregiver Guide for Pediatric Gastric Concerns. “This vital effort could not have been possible without the blessing of the Sweat family, the input of NIH staff clinician Anjali Rai, M.D., and the design talents of cancer advocate and Illustrator Mark Hicks,” states Jon Florin, NSFC Executive Director.
No Stomach For Cancer aims to empower families and support life-giving research. Developing educational tools that patients and caregivers can use to identify risks and symptoms for early detection and improve outcomes is a cornerstone of the organization. If you’d like to share this helpful guide with your Pediatrician, you can print it at home or share No Stomach For Cancer’s contact information with your provider, and a hard copy will be mailed to their clinic.