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Young patients, survivors "get away" from cancer

eaving a beach vacation for a hospital visit is not what most 5-year-olds would consider an ideal summer Sunday activity. When Maggie Parisi saw her Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) nurse Elisa Frederick, RN, MSN, PNP, earlier this month, however, she didn’t mind at all.

Rather than meeting in an exam room, the two encountered each other in a much more celebratory environment—the Jimmy Fund Clinic Summer Festival. They were among some 1,400 current and former pediatric patients, family members and staff from DFCI and Children’s Hospital Boston who attended the 12th annual event at the Noble and Greenough School in Dedham on August 1. Undeterred by on-again, off-again rain showers, attendees enjoyed amusement and horse rides, a petting zoo, barbecue lunch, swimming and more during an afternoon that underscored the special relationship that Dana-Farber/Children Hospital Cancer Care’s youngest patients have with their caregivers.

“We enjoy coming back and seeing the other families and people who took care of us. It gives the kids something to think about besides cancer,” said Laura Kitchen, whose 11-year-old son Adam still gets six-month checkups as an acute lymphosytic leukemia (ALL) survivor. “Adam saw his nurse and said to her, ‘Do you remember who I am?’ She did, of course.”

In addition to a terrific time, the event was also a perfect manifestation of the giving spirit so often associated with the Jimmy Fund. The day was co-sponsored by Kessler Financial Services and the Howard family; volunteers from participating companies helped run the activities and check-in guests, as did many DFCI and CHB staff and friends. And as they do every year, police from throughout the state came by to offer the kids souvenir badges and cruiser rides complete with the chance to try out the sirens and megaphones.

“These kids have such tremendous spirit; it really picks you up,” said Sgt. Paul Sicard of the Westwood Police Department, as he chauffeured another young passenger. “It makes you realize the things you grumble and mumble about all year don’t mean much.”

 

This article was reprinted from Inside the Institute, a publication of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.