January 26, 2010
At the Jimmy Fund Clinic, teen support is a click away
With the help of Jimmy Fund Clinic Adolescent Specialist Jennifer Noonan (right), Ryan Hathaway (left) and Mack Spangenberg check e-mail and Facebook and play computer games while in treatment.
R.J. Sutherland's fingers are quick. Without looking, he types a long text message to his girlfriend, then slaps his cell phone shut and tucks it in his pocket. "I send a million of those a day," he says with a laugh, while reaching for a laptop. Opening his Facebook page, he smirks and adds, "Let's see what my friends are doing."
Sutherland may seem like any other technology-crazed 18-year-old, but he's not your average teen. At Dana-Farber for his second round of rhabdomyoscarcoma treatment, he chats and texts from his hospital bed in a Jimmy Fund Clinic infusion room. "Having my computer makes this more bearable," he says, glancing at the IV in his arm. For him, the tools are more than just a link to friends; they provide a connection with a normal adolescent life that cancer has caused him to miss out on. "My friends all went off to college this year," he says. "But I can look at their pictures online."
Sutherland is just one of many teens turning to technology to get through treatment. According to Jennifer Noonan, the Jimmy Fund Clinic's adolescent specialist, access to technology helps teenage patients feel better connected. "While their friends are in school, they have to be here," she says. "Technology keeps them in the loop, so we incorporate it into their day by providing laptops in the infusion rooms." Patients can also go online before their appointments on one of the desktop computers in the Just-for-Teens corner of the Jimmy Fund Clinic waiting room.
For Mack Spangenberg, 18, access to a computer during his three-week hospital stay allowed him to "virtually attend" high school activities he had to miss. From his bed at Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber's partner in pediatric care, the varsity hockey player found a way to be at the rink for practices and games. "There was a camera that streamed live video online, so I could watch everything as it was happening," he explains. "I could still be part of the team."
Technology can also serve as a way for loved ones to maintain contact with patients. Sutherland's mom, Michele Haley, says that online communication is the easiest way to keep everyone in their extended family informed. "There are days when R.J. doesn't feel up to talking, so it's nice that people can check in with him online," she says. Spangenberg, who updates his CaringBridge Web page weekly to keep loved ones up-to-date on his progress, agrees. "It's easier than making a million phone calls," he says. CaringBridge, similar to a blog, offers free, personalized Web pages to people facing serious medical conditions. Visitors to the site can read updates from the patient and post their own messages of encouragement.
While staying connected during treatment is important to teens, they say the support they discover means even more. When Sutherland was first treated, his friends set up a Facebook group, "Stay Strong R.J. Sutherland," where they could post messages of encouragement to him. Sutherland says he looks at the page every day, and loves reading the notes his friends write to him.
"When I found out the cancer was back I got 60 comments in one day," he says. "Those mean a lot."
Spangenberg also looks online for comfort. "Support-wise, being able to go to my Web page and see so many people rooting for me really helps."
– Amanda Collins
