Doctors and staff at the Alberta Children’s Hospital continue to look for ways to improve the treatment and care of children with cancer.
One of the biggest developments in the past decade involves the approach to killing cancer.
“Kids did suffer a lot of sickness, spent a lot of time in hospital, and then had a lot of long-term issues,” Dr. Victor Lewis said. “The words I always used is, ‘we pushed them to death’s door, then brought them back.'”
Despite an 80 per cent cure rate, Lewis and his team wanted more. They set out to maintain the success but with less toxicity and side effects.
“We’re there,” Lewis said. Part of that approach includes post-treatment checkups at the patients’ own home.
“The increased support here, without all the chaos of putting everybody in the car, hauling them to the hospital, spending hours in waiting rooms. Just a bit of normalcy for families is like a lifeline,” registered nurse Shelaine Sebbens said.
Efforts continue to lessen the impact on a child with cancer during treatment in hospital, and to speed their recovery in the comfort of their own home.
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