Caring for kids with cancer

CARING for child cancer sufferers is challenging, but a calling Professor Michael Weintraub (pictured) of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem has devoted his career to.

It is a labour of love involving support services for young patients and their families, said Weintraub, head of Hadassah’s Department of Paediatric Haematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation.

Speaking to The AJN ahead of his visit to Australia, the Israeli professor was hesitant to compare the emotional suffering of families whose children are victims of terrorism and those whose children have cancer.

But he said preparing parents to live with their child’s cancer is a formidable task.

“It’s an age where life is limitless, in theory, and you present [families] with both the facts of the diagnosis and the fact that their [child’s] life is at risk, and with the fact that you can also treat them and that you’re very likely to cure them, but at a price that seems a heavy price in terms of side effects that can cause pain and discomfort,” he told The AJN.

These can include anything from nausea and hair loss to prolonged stays in hospital and an impact on future fertility, said Weintraub. “It’s a challenge even for adults, but worse for children.”

He said children are provided with “a large support circle”, involving medical, social and psychological support, including Hadassah’s acclaimed medical clowns that boost young patients’ morale.

Hadassah’s policy is to accept children not only from within Israel but from the West Bank and Gaza, even if treatment of Palestinian children involves political, financial and security hurdles.

“Children are children and illness is illness,” reflected Weintraub.

Professor Michael Weintraub will speak at a public event in Sydney. For more information, call Hadassah Australia on (03) 9272 5600 or contact australia@hadassah.org.

PETER KOHN

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