Alex Smith: A Four Diamonds child pays it forward
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Treatment outcomes for children with cancer have made tremendous improvements over the past 50 years, but the reality is one in five children with cancer will die of their disease within five years. Four Diamonds is on a mission to change this reality. Join Four Diamonds as a Partner In The Fight to conquer childhood cancer by raising awareness and taking action. Visit FourDiamonds.org and #GoGoldFTK. Below is Alex’s story and her family’s experience with childhood cancer and how Four Diamonds has helped them.
By Jade Kelly Solovey
Aleksandra “Alex” Smith is, in many ways, your typical 14-year-old.
Upon meeting her, you quickly realize that she’s also unique. Alex was adopted from Russia when she was 7 months old and now lives in Carlisle with her parents and little brother.
She is funny and artistic and her mother describes her as delightful, engaging and entertaining. Although she has autism, she is mainstreamed and attends Carlisle Christian Academy.
All of that is part of the uniqueness that makes the avid Hershey Bears fan “Alex.” One thing that really sets Alex apart from her peers is that she is a Four Diamonds child, dealing with pediatric cancer.
September 13, 2017 at 1:58 pm pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
Carrots for Candy: The Great Boy Scout Experiment
How Penn State PRO Wellness is helping scouts make better food choices
By Heidi Lynn Russell
Summer camp can be rife with memories of telling ghost stories by crackling campfires, hiking through shaded trails, gliding in a canoe across a sparkling lake – and candy – lots of candy – at the camp “trading post.”
It’s that candy that is a concern to the Boy Scouts of America. As rates of childhood obesity increase in the United States, the Boy Scouts organization wants its members to enjoy their camping experiences with wholesome, delicious meals and snacks.
How can they convince children to want to make healthy eating choices? (more…)
September 5, 2017 at 11:23 am pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
Dr. Mack Ruffin: A career dedicated to research
By Heidi Lynn Russell
Most people may not consider their family doctor to be a cancer prevention researcher. But Dr. Mack Ruffin IV balances one-on-one patient care with scientific sleuthing. When he’s not attending to patients and instructing medical residents at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Ruffin is pursuing mysteries about how people’s daily habits and decisions can lead to deadly consequences.
Recently, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine – the Curtis G. Hames Research Award. It honors those whose careers over the years exemplify dedication to research in family medicine. Ruffin, professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, came to Penn State College of Medicine last year from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. He has 27 years of experience as a physician-scientist. (more…)
August 23, 2017 at 3:37 pm pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
Pediatric cancer research thriving thanks to Four Diamonds
By Jade Kelly Solovey
While outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer have improved greatly over the past five decades, one-in-five children will still die from their disease. In the United States, more children die from cancer than any other disease.
Investigators at the Four Diamonds Pediatric Cancer Research Center at Penn State Children’s Hospital are working to change that.
August 16, 2017 at 12:28 pm pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
Physician Assistant Program students package 14,000 meals to combat hunger
By Jennifer Vogelsong
A parade of physician assistant students filed into the University Conference Center at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Friday afternoon with sacks of soy flour and rice slung over their shoulders. Others lugged plastic tubs filled with a dried vegetable mix, vitamin packets, funnels and digital scales.
In a matter of minutes, they set up stations for scooping and sorting, weighing and sealing more than 14,000 nutritionally complete meals to be distributed in some of the world’s neediest regions.
It is a tradition the students began last year as a community service project and looked forward to repeating. (more…)
August 1, 2017 at 11:33 am pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
‘Read me a story’ – Bringing books to the youngest patients
By Heidi Lynn Russell
With three children ages 2, 5 and 8, Dr. Daniel Schlegel has many-a-time answered a wistful call to “Read me a story, Daddy.” There is “nothing better” than snuggling with a child and a book, as tiny, chubby hands impatiently turn its pages into a world of imagination, he says.
“It does wonderful things for the parent-child bond,” says Schlegel, assistant professor of family and community medicine.
Inspired by a request from Dr. Sukhjeet Kamboj, Schlegel and Dr. Julie Radico, psychologist and assistant professor, were excited to hear about an innovative program out of Boston called Reach Out and Read. Medical providers hand out free books at well-child appointments, which opens the door to discuss the importance of literacy with moms and dads. Reading to a child aids in brain development, social interactions and emotional health, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. (more…)
More than medical needs: Four Diamonds provides social support
Social worker Greg Baiocchi with Four Diamonds child Colton. (Courtesy of Four Diamonds)
By Jade Kelly Solovey
When a child is first diagnosed with cancer, the family may be scared and wonder how they will make it through. It’s during that time that the dedicated psychosocial team at Penn State Children’s Hospital introduces them to Four Diamonds.
In addition to the financial support offered to families of children with cancer, Four Diamonds provides holistic, family-centered care by addressing not only the physical but also the mental, emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their families.
