Synthesis a Publication of UC Davis Cancer Center

Mind – Body – Spirit
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Once inside the medical center, the family got help from the Child Life program, where child life specialists, music and art therapists work with kids to make hospital stays more friendly. "Being in a hospital is like being in a foreign country," says child life specialist Cindy Jones. "Medical people speak in a different language, and children hear it from their unique perspective. It helps to form trusted relationships with someone in the hospital to distract them from feeling sick or in pain."

Ann Lynn came to Sacramento every three weeks, staying for at least a week - longer if Joe was too sick from treatment to go home. His music therapist brought in a keyboard to let him express himself when words were too hard to speak. An art therapist showed Joe how to make a mask of his face that he could paint anyway he liked. Joe's mask was so striking, it was used on a postcard promoting an exhibit of children's art organized by UC Davis Medical Center.

And most times, when Joe had to undergo an uncomfortable or scary procedure, Jones was there to hold his hand.

"He did so well having a person there, holding his hand and saying encouraging words," recalls Jones. "He knew he could get through anything if we were there with him. So we were."

Joe's last chemotherapy treatment was in April 1996. He came home on Easter. He has since caught up with his studies at school and holds a part-time job at a credit union. His prognosis, at four years past diagnosis and three years out from treatment, is very good, says Ducore.

The Lynns are grateful for the treatment Joe was able to receive at UC Davis Medical Center.

"The staff were just wonderful," says Ann. "After the last course of treatments, they gave him a party with a cake and presents and balloons."

"We couldn't have gone to a better place," echoes Jerry Lynn. "The nurses and the staff on the pediatric unit became our second family. You could just see the concern on their faces every time we came in."

And that's just the way it should be, says Ducore. "Pediatric cancer is best cared for by trained pediatric cancer specialists - not just oncologists, but radiation therapists, social workers, and nurses. You have to be able to deliver complex, intensive chemotherapy and provide psycho-social support for a family that doesn't live in the area.

"You can't ask them to move to Sacramento - but you also can't write them a prescription for chemotherapy and send them on their way. You need coordinated care. That's what we do best."

Dr. Jonathon Ducore is chief of the division of pediatric hematology/
oncology.