The Pediatric Oncology Program of Yale Cancer Center is supported by a multidisciplinary clinical team

comprising physicians and highly skilled advanced practice nurses with expertise in all aspects of childhood
cancer care. The team is focused on the delivery of optimal care to our current patients and the advancement of
new methods to diagnose and treat patients of the future. The team cares for children with all forms of
childhood cancer, including leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, and solid tumors such as Wilms tumor of the
kidney, bone tumors, and neuroblastoma. The team also provides care for complex and challenging benign
tumors in all locations. Multidisciplinary care is generally orchestrated by a pediatric oncologist, but depends on
smooth collaboration with many other services, including pediatric surgery, pediatric neurosurgery,
orthopaedics, pediatric pathology and neuropathology, radiation therapy, and pediatric diagnostic imaging. The
team meets weekly to discuss new and ongoing cases and to develop individualized treatment plans for each
patient.

Every effort is made to deliver care on an outpatient basis, however, there are times when the child's acute care
needs can only be met by the 24-hour services available in a pediatric hospital. Fortunately, Yale-New Haven
Children's Hospital is available to meet those needs for all children. The goal is to provide the best medical care
while optimizing the environment for pediatric patients and their families. In keeping with our philosophy of
family-centered care, inpatient care for all pediatric cancer patients is provided by a single team on two adjacent
hospital units. The units include a specially designated pediatric bone marrow transplant area, which houses the
only pediatric bone marrow/stem cell transplant program in Connecticut. In addition to the superb oncology
expertise provided by the Pediatric Oncology Team, the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital is one of only a
few in the country to provide 24-hour pain management by pediatric anesthesiologists. Many supportive care
services are available, such as social work and child life (play therapy) support, clown visitation, and music and
massage therapists help both children and families cope with hospitalization. For families coming from a
distance, the nearby Ronald McDonald House serves as a home-away-from home, and the Kohl's Family Center
on the seventh floor of the hospital provides a respite area for parents with showers, washing machines, and a
kitchenette.

Outpatient treatment facilities also focus on providing a friendly and supportive environment for the days when
children are in clinic. Treatments are administered in an infusion room, which has individual TV/video stations,
computer access, and support from child life specialists. Our pediatric oncology patients can be seen Monday
through Friday, with separate clinics for patients with brain tumors and for pediatric cancer survivors. The latter
is the only clinic in Connecticut devoted to survivors of childhood cancer. The Connecticut Challenge bike ride,
led by local notable Jeff Keith, supports this unique effort to provide services to pediatric cancer survivors.

All team members are also active members of the Children's Oncology Group (COG), an international
organization dedicated to curing childhood cancer by providing national and international clinical trials for
these rare diseases. Childhood cancer patients followed in either the Yale practice or in the Guilford practice
(Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Associates) are regularly offered enrollment onto COG-initiated clinical trials.
Team members not only enroll patients on clinical trials at Yale, but also contribute as leaders in COG.

http://www.yalemedicalgroup.org/YMG/directory/public/organization.asp?orgID=109348
Your donations: Art, Music, and Pet Therapy for the kids at Children’s Hospital Seattle
Posted on January 22, 2010 by tfarman
One of many ways your donations are working for lives affected by cancer…. The $24,000 grant by John
Wayne Cancer Foundation and Kiteboarding 4 Cancer from donor funds provided over 600 hours of art and
music therapy for child cancer patients in 2009! That is approximately 29 weeks of Art and Music Therapy
support for cancer patients at 21 hours per week!
About Art & Music Therapy :
Music and art therapy are extremely beneficial programs to have in a pediatric institution. They can provide
many different kinds of intervention and support that meet a wide range of developmental needs. Art and music
can be passive, as you would see with the child drawing on their own or the patient listening to music on
headphones while resting quietly, or active, as you would see with a group of patients all contributing their
talents to create a sculpture out of medical equipment, or a patient playing an instrument along with the music
therapist. In an institution like Seattle Children’s Hospital that promotes family centered care, art and music
provide opportunities for patients, siblings, caregivers and other family members to engage in pleasurable
activities together that promote adjustment and coping for the whole family.

Some patients may find it difficult to express themselves with words. The process of making art or music offers
other, sometimes less threatening, avenues to share their thoughts and feelings with those around them. Having
highly trained professionals provide these interventions ensures that Children’s is adequately assessing the
needs of individuals, providing the optimal creative experience and appropriately understanding and
interpreting the work. In addition, art and music can provide comfort, recreation and distraction. Patients
working with the music therapist may choose to just listen to soothing music as a way of relaxing, or they may
choose to beat on a drum to release energy or anger.
Art projects can take many forms. For example, one patient chose to make a mobile with pictures of Hawaii
that she cut from magazines. She used this mobile to provide distraction when she was having medical
procedures, saying that when she looked at it she was able to remember fun family vacations in Hawaii instead
of concentrating on the treatment that was happening. Both art and music are often used with patients who are
dealing with a terminal illness as a means of “legacy building”. Many beautiful items, including artwork,
music, and scrapbooks have been made and given to family members as a remembrance. Children’s music
therapist was able to have one teenage cancer patient’s original piano music professionally recorded on CD.
Awesome! The music was given to the family and played at the young man’s funeral service.

http://kb4c.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/your-donations-art-music-and-pet-therapy-for-the-kids-at-childrens-
hospital-seattle/