Hailey Lamca of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, was a healthy, active kid who loved to play soccer and excelled in school, but in 2017, she was diagnosed with a hypothalamic juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (JPA) at the age of 12.
Since her diagnosis she has had 11 surgeries and 6 weeks of proton radiation therapy and is now living with the side effects of her treatment.
Last weekend, the Raymond A. Wood Foundation (RAWF), a brain tumor patient advocacy nonprofit organization, hosted the Pituitary Brain Tumor Virtual Conference in partnership with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The event brought in an audience of brain tumor survivors and caregivers from around the globe.
On October 30, 2020, the White House issued a proclamation that November 2020 is National Caregivers Month, in recognition of the import role of caregivers, stating that “America’s heroes have earned and deserve our respect and gratitude, and their caregivers deserve the same.”
Hypothalamic obesity (HO) is a devastating condition that can come from treatment of a tumor …
Virtual, hybrid, synchronous, asynchronous — there are a lot of terms floating around about how the school year is starting under the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. Uncertainty looms large among students and parents as a whole, but for special education students with IEPs, there are many question marks as to how to navigate the upcoming school year to ensure that our children receive the appropriate education and services they need to be successful.
Registration is now open for the Pituitary Brain Tumor (PBT) Virtual Family Conference hosted by Raymond A. Wood Foundation (RAWF) in partnership with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes. Originally named the Pituitary Brain Tumor Day to be held this past May at CHOP, the event was postponed until November in light of COVID-19 and is now officially going virtual. The PBT Virtual Conference is slated for Saturday, November 14th and Sunday, November 15th via Zoom and includes keynotes, breakout sessions, roundtables and virtual family networking.
There are some visits that may involve testing or hands on that just can’t be done online, but it seems that when it is possible for more consultative visits, most doctors seem to like it as well because it gives them more time to focus on patients with less distractions.
Today’s Medical Monday highlights a recent podcast produced by RAWF board member and mom-advocate Eugenie Hsu who interviews Maria Picone of TREND.
Last week, we discussed the subject of compassion fatigue in the healthcare industry with Jessica Dale, a parent of a brain tumor survivor or “brain tumor mom” and expert on the subject.
This week, we discussed her personal experience as a parent of a child, that is now a young adult, survivor of a pediatric brain tumor. We asked for tips on how to avoid pitfalls that families of children and adolescents with special health care needs face.
Have you run into a doctor that just seemed to not care? Maybe you felt rushed, received difficult news in a less than empathetic manner or felt like you just aren’t being heard. What you could be experiencing is healthcare compassion fatigue. It is a mental health situation that occurs in healthcare providers in clinical settings to caregivers of loved ones with chronic conditions or special needs. It is a subject worth exploring both in how to manage it in a caregiver role and how to handle a situation where a healthcare professional just seems to lack interest while we are desperate for solutions.
