Cancer Centre becomes more child-friendly (4 photos)

Cancer treatment for children like Karrissa Kruk should be a bit easier at the Northeast Cancer Centre thanks to recent efforts to make the pediatric oncology unit more child-friendly.

Karissa was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2012, when she was eight years old.

She and her family spent 10 months at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children where she received chemotherapy.

On April 1, 2013, they were able to return to Sudbury, where Karissa is on a low dose of oral chemotherapy and in remission.

“She's doing really well,” said her mother, Terra Kruk.

Thanks to support from the Smilezone Foundation, the hospital unit Karissa visits on a regular basis is a bit more welcoming.

After an extensive makeover, the unit was revamped to include child-friendly art, play spaces, new toys, and electronics including a large-screen television, video game systems, and tablets. Hockey jerseys from the Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury-area NHL players Derek MacKenzie, Nick Foligno, and Marcus Foligno are also mounted on the walls.

“The space is just beautiful,” said Karissa's mother. “It just pops. I'm sure it makes a difference for all the kids that come here.”

Examination rooms that featured plain colours are now painted with different themes, including Dora the Explorer and the Little Mermaid.

Former NHL player Adam Graves, helped launch the Smilezone Foundation in 2012 to create child-friendly spaces in hospitals and other pediatric care settings, to improve the lives of children facing illness, disabilities, and physical and emotional obstacles.

“Having children myself, I know how important a smile can be,” Graves said.
The makeover at the Northeast Cancer Centre was also made possible thanks to a $10,000 donation from the the Burgess and Edwards families, who own the Sudbury Wolves.

So far this year, the pediatric oncology unit has treated 65 patients, including 16 new referrals. There have been more than 1,000 patient visits to the unit, and 30 admissions to hospital.

Steffany Bourque, the Northeast Cancer Centre's manager of systemic treatments, said the pediatric oncology unit currently treats 150 children. Forty of those children are receiving chemotherapy, while the remaining 110 have finished their cancer treatments, but continue to visit the unit for follow-ups.

Bourque said the recent makeover lets the children forget about their cancer treatments for a bit.

“If we can allow a child to be a child, there's nothing more important than that,” she said.