/Portals/2/logos/__TFMF_ldnhgg45wj2xwquykpicisav_4f04c9fe-49d3-4502-b43e-e1158be09d19_0___Selected.jpg en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:16:42 GMT 15 By Sarah Urick
Staff Writer Childhood cancer is truly devastating to patients, their families, and friends. Luckily, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility anywhere. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the single largest center in the United States for the treatment and research of pediatric cancer, and other potentially fatal childhood diseases. It is the first and only institution created for the sole purpose of conducting basic and clinical research into catastrophic diseases. Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude dreamed of a day when no child would die from cancer or other potentially fatal diseases. Thomas opened St. Jude over forty years ago, and his dream remains the motivation for all work and success that occurs every single day at St. Jude. Some of the world’s top scientists and doctors work at St. Jude, but everyone there dedicates their lives to treating childhood cancer. Since the opening of the hospital, the cure rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is the most common type of childhood cancer, has gone from less than four percent to more than 80 percent. Children with catastrophic diseases aren’t treated with regard to race, religion, or ability to pay at St. Jude. Once a patient is accepted into the hospital, all medical costs beyond those covered by health insurance are taken care of. Families who do not have insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude also provides transportation, lodging, and meals for one parent and child. ALSAC, the hospital’s fund-raising program, pays for all additional costs that are incurred. About forty four hundred patients are seen at St. Jude every year, and most are seen on a continuing outpatient basis as part of ongoing research programs. To date, the hospital has treated children from across the United States and sixty foreign countries. Extensive research is done at St. Jude in the areas of basic biological sciences, biochemistry, microbiology, and virology with a heavy concentration on pharmacology and immunology. Naturally, many instruments are used to conduct research at St. Jude, some examples are the electronic microscope, radioisotopes, various high-tech electronics, cultures of living cells, liquid nitrogen, and test tubes. At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital it is believed that some of life’s biggest medical questions have yet to be answered, but that the answers are waiting to be found. They believe though, that this can only be done through careful yet detailed inquiry. The researchers attempt to translate knowledge acquired through basic research into novel approaches to clinical diagnosis and treatment. The current basic and clinical research at St. Jude is amazing. It includes work in gene therapy, bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy, the biochemistry of normal and cancerous cells, radiation treatment, blood diseases, resistance to therapy, viruses, hereditary diseases, influenza and pediatric AIDS. The daily life for a patient at St. Jude can be very different than what they were used to before they were diagnosed with a life threatening disease. They may have had to leave some of their family members behind which can be devastating on its’ own. The Child Life program strives to minimize the stress and anxiety than many children face when they are in the hospital. The program tries to give patients and their families a sense of normalcy during their stay. Which is done by providing patients with opportunities to gain a sense of mastery, play, learning, self-expression, family involvement, and peer interaction. School programs are also provided to children at St. Jude. You’ve probably seen or maybe even participated in some sort of fund-raising for St. Jude, whether it be coloring a pepper at Chili’s or running in a marathon. ALSAC annually raises over $285 million annually to support the lifesaving work that goes on at St. Jude. This money is absolutely crucial in all aspects of the hospital. There are many ways that anyone who wishes to can help. If you live near Memphis, you can volunteer at St. Jude or donate blood. You can donate some of that cash you were given over the holiday season or even buy St. Jude merchandise; all proceeds will go directly to the hospital. If you choose to do any of the above, you may find out more information at the website . St. Jude employs over twenty eight hundred people. Every day dedicated doctors, nurses, researchers, medical staff, other staff members and volunteers continue their mission to help children. They all give hope to patients and their families, while continuing to search for cures. Finding the cure to cancer is something that has always been very important to me. My mother’s brother died at the tender age of 16 from leukemia. I myself, watched a child who attended my church survive a brain tumor. I hope to someday work as a pediatric oncology nurse in order to improve the lives of children who have to life with cancer everyday. As Danny Thomas once said “Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It is what you do for others.” ]]> Thu, 27 Apr 2006 01:04:00 GMT