Special Bonds
Pediatric patients, caregivers share unique relationships
By Saul Wisnia
As Eileen Degregorio has gone from preschool cancer patient to adult survivor, her oncologist David E. Fisher has "always been there for me."
The "no smoking" tie her doctor wore. The way he always made her feel safe in an environment filled with shots, blood tests, and other scary stuff. The college campuses her family drove by as they approached Dana-Farber, and her declaring, "I'm going to go there when I grow up," at a time when her parents didn't even know if she would grow up.
These are the earliest memories Eileen Degregorio has of her cancer treatment. Just 2 years old when diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in March 1989, she underwent aggressive chemotherapy, both then and after a relapse when she was 6. She had a bone marrow transplant and has since received follow-up care through annual visits to Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic.
Eileen and her family's challenges and concerns have changed over time, as has her role in monitoring her health as a young adult. But one thing has remained constant: her core caregivers. For nearly 20 years, David E. Fisher, MD, PhD, and Robin Griffey, RN, BSN, have been her primary oncologist and nurse at Dana-Farber.
Theirs is a not an uncommon arrangement. With more pediatric cancer patients than ever recovering from their diseases, unique bonds are forming between these nowadult survivors and their caregivers. And as physicians and researchers here and at affiliated hospitals learn more about secondary cancers and other potential health problems resulting from childhood cancers and their treatment, they can both provide stronger follow-up care and see "their kids" reach milestones like graduations, marriages, and parenthood.
"When I started here in 1981, many families still saw pediatric cancer as a death sentence," says Holcombe Grier, MD, associate chief of Pediatric Clinical Oncology at Dana-Farber and its pediatric partner, Children's Hospital Boston. "Now people are worrying not only about whether their sons and daughters will be cured, but also how they will continue to live as survivors. We're able to change our mindset from talking about cures to talking about late effects like secondary cancers, and how to monitor them over time."
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