Day 16 of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month with Bill and Dr. Aziza Shad - Late Effects

What a profound day in the Childhood Cancer Awareness realm. As usual, we left early and encountered the usual snail-paced DC traffic from our house to Georgetown. In fact, en route, Dr. Shad, who was giving her lecture on the Late Effects of cancer treatments on children, called us to say she would be about 20 minutes late. She wanted Bill and me to start the lecture with our/Ryan’s story until she arrived to take over the reins. I think it worked out well for us to go first this time.

The M2s, or more aptly, second-year medical students, seemed entranced by our story, as well as Dr. Shad’s lecture following our presentation. We purchased and distributed 60 Childhood Cancer Pens to the students, as well as 10 copies of The Focused Fight: A Childhood Cancer Journey: From Mayhem to Miracles (and a big shout-out to our dear writing friend, Louise Karch, for inspiring what to include in a presentation). I think it made an impact on the future doctors by showing how much we care about spreading our message of the power of connection, community, and the power of a chocolate chip cookie, HOPE being obvious.

What was interesting to me and Bill was that when Dr. Shad asked the students if they had any questions for her or us, not a single hand was raised. However, when she ended the hour, almost all the students ran up to the three of us and started peppering us with questions.

One young lady, Marissa, asked me the poignant question of how she might learn to deliver bad or unfavorable news to a family. That one almost sank my heart. I never quivered, but I revealed that if there were any bad news to deliver to an individual or family, I would provide it with the utmost empathy my body could muster.

Be genuine.

Look the patient(s) in the eyes.

Consider them part of the team and let them know that.

Since she was the last student in the lecture hall and we had had a deep connection and side chat about a very sobering topic, I asked her if she would tape an episode of CCAM to be shown later this month. Marissa was thrilled I asked. She was poised and professional, and I could tell she is constantly preparing herself in every way possible for a rewarding career as a medical doctor.

Although it’s tough to rehash our story in that lecture setting, our heart rates were picking up slightly as memories flooded back to us, since our story began there one month shy of 29 years ago, five stories up in the hospital. However, Bill and I put in a well-done effort on our part (which will be shared here on my blog later this month - please stay tuned).

If it weren’t for Dr. Aziza Shad and the entire Georgetown staff over the course of our two decades there, our family, friends, communities, and connections, we wouldn’t have been able to stand here today and share our family’s story so freely and confidently about childhood cancer.

Please encourage the Late Effects of any cancer patient you know (especially one who went through Childhood Cancer Treatment. You just may save their life!

Terri