Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2002. Mattie was 7 months old, and though he never crawled
that did not stop him from trying to learn how to walk when only a couple of months old!
This was one of Mattie's favorite things to do.... standing on his feet and walking with assistance! That day we received this cute zippered sweatshirt in the mail. It came from my mentor at Union College. He wanted Mattie to have something from his parent's alma mater. We snapped this photo and sent it to my immunology professor (Dr. Twitty Styles), who I still keep in contact with and he is also a Foundation supporter.
Quote of the day: You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt.
Peter sent me a link to an article entitled, Animal-Assisted Therapy For Childhood Cancer Reduces Stress, Improves Communication. Which is right up my alley. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like for Mattie to have the support of a dog while in the hospital. When Mattie was in treatment, NO DOGS were allowed into the units. That has since changed. When I look at Sunny's demeanor, which is calm and gentle, I can actually picture him visiting children in the hospital. As long as there are no threats of squirrels around, Sunny is basically very compliant, follows direction, and loves attention and engaging with people.
I attached the link to the article below, but basically the article discusses a 7 year old clinical trial that took place at five hospital sites around the country. The researchers followed 106 pediatric patients, aged 3 to 17 years, who were newly diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy in an outpatient clinic. Sixty children received regular visits from therapy dogs and 46 children received standard treatment (no dogs).
The article mentioned that the animal-assisted therapy program used a variety of dog breeds, ranging in shape and size. The canines were screened to ensure they were able to perform these duties. I love that it was noted that these dogs typically had a calm demeanor about them.
Children in the treatment group received 20-minute sessions with a therapy dog about once a week for four months, in addition to their standard care. They found that pediatric patients who received animal-assisted therapy remained stable in regards to their disease-related concerns, whereas the control group showed increases in quality of life concerns. Additionally, parents in the treatment group reported that their children had significant improvements in school functioning.
I find it particularly interesting that the results showed an improvement in communication within families and between parents and medical staff. This actually doesn't surprise me. In this study they had dogs, but when Mattie was undergoing treatment we had Legos. I realize these things don't equate with each other, but the point is, I saw how positive Legos were and helped Mattie communicate and relate to his professional caregivers. When a nurse or doctor entered into Mattie's hospital room, his reaction was typically to shut down and hide under the covers. Or literally ask them to leave! But if someone started talking to him about his Lego creations, this would immediately capture his attention and change his whole feeling about the medical visit. I have to imagine that having the assistance and presence of a dog provides this similar sort of distraction and provides an ability for everyone in the room to bond over something NOT cancer!
Bond over something NOT cancer! Which is similar to our Foundation's tagline.... It's not just about the medicine! There is something to be said about connecting with patients, not as numbers or a task, but over human concerns, commonalities and fears. I really think when health care professionals allow themselves to be human in their caregiving practices, small miracles can happen!
Animal-Assisted Therapy For Childhood Cancer Reduces Stress, Improves Communication:
https://www.curetoday.com/articles/animalassisted-therapy-for-childhood-cancer-reduces-stress-improves-communication
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