Jimmy Fund Clinic offers joy amid the challenges
At first glance, the Jimmy Fund Clinic may appear chaotic. Young patients and their siblings dart around in toy cars, finger paint, and play video games, while doctors, nurses, and support staff hustle about bearing charts and supplies. The phone rings constantly, and each time one family leaves, another seems to arrive.
In reality, the clinic is anything but disorganized. Teams of caregivers strive to provide coordinated and compassionate care to children treated at Dana-Farber. These babies, grade-schoolers, and teenagers are facing one of the scariest times of their lives, but the laughter heard daily in the clinic confirms that they feel safe and comfortable there.
"Watching kids run into the Jimmy Fund Clinic playroom with smiles on their faces is an incredible sight," remarks DFCI's Holcombe Grier, MD.
Such sentiments are fostered by a primary-care model that pairs each patient with a consistent group of doctors, nurses, psychosocial specialists, and other staff. Patients come to the clinic on a set day of the week, allowing families facing similar challenges to socialize.
"Kids see this as a second home filled with peers who know what they are going through," explains clinic Activity Coordinator Lisa Scherber, who oversees a well-seasoned volunteer corps in the playroom. "The kids don't have to worry about how they look, and they can say whatever they want."
This is true for 7-year-old Andrew Beals, who has acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). "I hate getting [chemotherapy] shots," he says, "but I like coming to the playroom." Adds his mother, Karen Beals, RN, "I've met two really nice ALL moms who are a year ahead of us in treatment. They help me know what's coming next."
Adding fun for Andrew and others are visits from celebrities, Massachusetts police chiefs, and furry characters like Boston Red Sox mascot Wally the Green Monster. Since joining DFCI more than a decade ago, Scherber has arranged events inside Dana-Farber and beyond, among them an annual holiday party featuring Santa (aka Dr. Grier) and his elves, played by pediatric research fellows.
Among the most popular clinic guests was the late Einar "Jimmy" Gustafson, who helped launch the Jimmy Fund in 1948 as a young (and then anonymous) patient of Sidney Farber, MD. Living into his 60s, he became a beacon of hope for surviving childhood cancer in an era when few did.
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