Why St Jude's Children's Research Hospital is So Amazing

St. Jude's Children’s Research Hospital

Why they are so successful with children and their studies

St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital has the biggest Brain Tumor science program in the country. They have an Oncology program which requires everyones help. Kids who live in this hospital are put under intensive care but at the same time they have a unique children’s programs that help kids feel more at home.

Kids at St. Jude’s Research Hospital are given three different therapy programs that help children get through surgical procedures and Chemotherapy. Kids have access to Music Therapy and Child Life Specialist. Music therapists bring many different instruments to the hospital bed or even into surgical rooms. Music is studied to help calm the children down. They sing songs, play instruments and even sometimes dance around. Music Therapy doesn’t always require children participating. The certain arrangement of sounds calm the children down. Child Life Therapy is a normal therapy but in hospitals, there is a difference. In hospitals they encourage play. Sometimes this play is normal everyday play and sometimes it is medical play. Medical play is a sort of play where the child gets to play doctor on a doll. But in real life, that is what is going to happen to them. They prepare for long MRI’s, surgeries, port access changes, chemo and side effects for chemo. In the long run it helps children live as close to a normal life as possible.

Another way they help keep the children feel good about their lives is their visitors. Their visitors come and make the children feel good. Some visitors are old friends and some are famous people. The famous people come and sing, dance, play or even spend the day with the kids. The celebrities come and hang with the kids to make them feel good and they become long fast friends. On September 25th, 2012 a group of celebs helped make a music video with the kids. They sang the song Hey Jude. The kids had smiles from ear to ear. St. Jude’s also has a pen pal program where kids from all over the country can be pen pals with kids in their living facilities. They are given the opportunity to gain back hope. St. Jude sends people part of the pals program window clings, bracelets, etc. In St. Jude they have another program called Play 60 come into their facilities to play 60 minutes of sports with the coaches. Kids have a blast with their guests!

At St Jude, They have many toys and activities to do. They have a playroom with art materials, board games, Electronics, legos,  and more! They give kids the chance to be a kid instead of just a kid in a hospital. They also have decorated rooms such as the lunch room. In the lunchroom they have great food, a balloon on every chair and they have a happy healthy environment. Even the people who wash the windows are cool. Say hello to Spider Man. The hero comes to St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital to wash the windows and warm children’s heart. It is every boy's dream to be or meet a hero. This brings the children back to their old lives. At St Jude, they believe that there is a song in everyone. They give children the opportunity to make a song  in their recording studio. All the Cd’s are kept and are constantly being listened to. They make children feel at home by letting the children decorate their own rooms with posters, beads, pillows, blankets pictures, flags, drawings whatever they want. They have great decorations that help keep kids at home.

People at St. Jude take their jobs very seriously. They have non stop research programs that are contribute to the cure. They do this by monitoring children very carefully and documenting the progress. Also they take samples of medication, cells etc. They  put all these cells in water and put them on a microscope slide and then examine the cells for connections. A cure has not been found yet but it is expected to be found. They have many different therapies for all sorts of cancer such as brain tumors. Such as ice therapy. Ice therapy is the second choice of therapies after chemo. Chemo is toxic and it causes people to feel sick to the stomach a lot. People want a therapy that is not toxic. The main goal is to find a cure and we will get there with help from St Jude.

St Jude lets children continue their lives by having different classes or programs. They have a normal school or tutors to help children get the education they need. Depending on the child, they can get a personal tutor or a group class. They have all the normal classes and activities but not as much as kids in normal school. Some kids are not able to attend school until they regain speech, ability to walk, the ability to use your body and complete daily activities. After all the skills are re-learned, they can begin school. They keep the school at the child’s level to keep them on the right track. They also have after school or activities during the day or the week such as Martial Arts. Kids at St. Jude get the opportunity to attend this activity. They also have event to raise money involving martial arts. This teaches children it is ok to be a kid. Lets kick cancer in the butt!

In school, there is a different class that most kids don’t have. It is called Cure4Kids. This teaches children about what is going on in their body and how it can be helped. It is an interactive site that gives information that is easy to understand and that does not make kids sad. It teaches kids through games, reading, vocabulary, and videos. It also lets you ask question about some of the information. This helps kids develop a vague definition of what is going on with them and how the doctors, nurses and Oncologists are helping them. It also teaches them new vocabulary words that help them reference what the doctors are saying.

Their medical program has very high standards. If you go to St Judes Research Hospital, you have a 90% survival rate. They have very accurate studies and have the biggest brain tumor science community in the country. Dr. Scott Howard is the head Oncologist at St. Jude. He watches patients very carefully for symptoms such as Nausea, Trouble Breathing, Depression Etc. By doing this, the keep the children on the path to remission.

St Jude has a big process for remission. They have a lot of resources for remission. A remission is when the doctor doesn't find any more cancer cells in that targeted area or the area of the tumor. At St Jude, this is something to party about. Everyone gathers to the child’s bed and the party with confetti and signs.