How can I meet Leukemia patients/survivors?
I'm currently part of a community awareness team for leukemia and we would like to meet actual patients. The past month, we've currently fund raised and donated money to UTMD Cancer Center's Fund for Pediatric Leukemia Patients. Now, we want to give more. We want to meet actual patients and maybe hear their story and even give them a little gift from us. We want to spread hope and it would be an honor for us to meet actual survivors or patients.
If anyone could help us in any way, please let us know! We live in Houston, TX area.
- Ron
Since you already have a relationship with UTMD Cancer Center, why not talk to them about it? I'm sure they'd appreciate it.
- Jissica
I suggest going to the closest hospital with a leukaemia treatment ward and simply asking the doctors or nurses. I think what your doing is wonderful and many other people will too.
Maybe you could set up a website where leukaemia sufferers could post there stories and there wisdom to other survivors and patients?
You could advertise the website in hospitals and get heaps of people involved! I know I'd support!
Is there any way I could get involved in the charity &/or ways to donate?
Hope I helped <3
- wusta
I don't know if you heard of Dance Marathon at the university of Iowa, it's held in feb. to raise money for cancer patients
here is the website for donating information and other FAQ
http://dancemarathon.uiowa.edu/
- Waytootiny
Spread Hope? It sounds like your intentions are very honorable and the fund raising is definitely appreciated but most of the kids sick with leukemia can not visit with the outside world too much due to their super compromised immune systems, they are very prone to infection and are usually kept away from too many people until they get better. Call your local hospital pediatric social worker and ask her/him what you could do as a volunteer for the children staying there for treatments. Good Luck.
- TrueSnapdragon
While I think it's great that you're raising money for this fund, please understand that it may not be possible to interact with patients. You can call your local children's hospital and ask (this generally goes through the child life department or social work), but don't be surprised if they say no.
This is for a couple of reasons. The first is simply infection control. We cannot have visitors. Our patients are very immunocompromised and usually need to be sheltered from a lot of people. Even if you're not sick, you may have been exposed to something (a cold, or one of the most dreadful things in pediatric oncology- chicken pox) and pass that onto the children before you even show symptoms.
Another reason is confidentiality, and I'm going to be blunt here, because we get this question frequently. Quite frankly, the patients feel like they are put on display when donors want to meet them. They often feel like zoo exhibits. Not everyone is willing to talk about their illnesses and experiences. Patients and families deserve privacy and confidentiality.
Patients- especially children- don't necessarily get much out of strangers coming in and "spreading hope" to them. They have hope. They also have reality. To be honest, the only visitors we allow are Santa (reason is pretty obvious) and the local pro sports teams (because they're not coming to spread hope... they are celebrities who the kids are excited to meet.)
If you'd like to do something more, contact the child life department or social worker in the pediatric oncology department at the hospital and ask them what they need and what helps them. They will probably be fine with you donating gifts for the kids, but you probably won't be able to hand out those gifts. They may say that handmade cards with inspiring messages are helpful, or maybe they need blankets or hats. But please understand that while meeting them may fulfill something for you and your group, it may not have the same effect on the patients themselves.
Leukemia — Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, causes, risk factors, treatment of this blood-related cancer.
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