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How the Germ of an Idea Spread in a Community

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Claire Slaughter

By: Dr. Jodi Rosner

The idea for the Kitchener Kids with Cancer Run/Walk came to me while I was running in my first half marathon in 2013. These races can be very inspirational. There are people cheering at the side of the road encouraging the runners with signs like, “Smile if you don’t have underwear on” and “The pain goes away, but electronic results last forever.” Although these signs put a smile on my face, my personal reasons for completing the race were all the memories of the kids I have been blessed to meet in my role as a pediatric oncologist at Grand River Hospital. If they could endure what we put them through when they are fighting cancer, then surely I could make it to the end. The idea to organize a race to raise money for children with cancer came to me that day, growing with each kilometre, and by the time I crossed the finish line, I had the beginning of a plan.

In 2014, the first Kitchener Kids with Cancer Run/Walk took place at the back of the hospital in the doctors’ parking lot. We had about 135 participants and we raised $17,000 in support of POGO and the services they provide to our young patients and their families. We thought this was a great success. Little did we know that this race would grow to be a huge event, touching the lives of many in the community.

We have since outgrown the hospital parking lot. The race now takes place at the Waterloo Region Museum, attracting close to 600 participants. To date, we have raised over $350,000 for POGO. It is incredible to see how a community can come together to fight for such a great cause. This race has turned into a way to support the kids who are currently fighting cancer and to remember those who have lost their battle. I am thankful to all of the families that I have had the pleasure of caring for and for the wonderful committee members who are the real reason that this race is such a success.

The 2022 Kitchener Kids with Cancer run takes place on Sunday, September 11. Everyone is welcome and we look forward to seeing you all there. Learn more at www.kwrunforpogo.com

Posted in Misc | Tagged Cancer Run/Walk, Dr. Jodi Rosner, Kitchener Kids, POGO

It’s a Privilege to Care for a Child with Cancer

Posted on May 7, 2021 by admin

Denise Mills, MN, NP Pediatrics

My introduction to POGO started 20+ years ago when I attended my first POGO Symposium. Back then, I craved learning more about pediatric oncology, and there were many POGO educational opportunities from which I could choose.

So, one day (and I am not sure of the exact details of how this happened), I found myself in a car with Dr. Mark Greenberg, a founding member of POGO, Corin Greenberg, POGO’s Executive Director at the time, and another staff nurse. We were on our way to the CBC to participate in an interview about childhood cancer awareness. They wanted a novice nurse’s side of the story along with Mark’s expert thoughts.

I was so nervous. Then came THE question.

“How can you work in pediatric oncology when it is such hard work?”

All of us who work in pediatric oncology either dread or welcome this question. It can be a conversation stopper or it can lead to an opportunity to educate the public about this important cause.

“It is a privilege to care for a child with cancer,” I remember saying.

At the time, I actually thought that I understood what it meant to do this work and I probably did to an extent.

I continued along in my nursing career gaining more knowledge and expertise. I felt good about my practice; I understood my purpose.

Fast forward to six years ago, nearly 15 years after that CBC interview. I found myself caring for my mom in a hospice. I spent hours there watching the healthcare providers at work, wondering, how do they do this?

One day, I was talking with a nurse.

“What kind of nursing do you do?” she asked.

“Pediatric oncology nursing,” I said.

She then shared with me that 15 years before, her daughter had neuroblastoma and had died. We talked for a little bit and on her next night shift, she brought in a photo album, sat with me, and shared stories about her daughter. After, she thanked me for listening and for asking her questions about her daughter. Most people were too uncomfortable to talk with her about her daughter or acknowledge that she had a deceased child. She said that it was always the staff at McMaster Children’s Hospital and SickKids, where her daughter was treated, who understood what she was going through the most and were the easiest to talk to.

That interaction helped me fully understand how the care we provide has an impact on families. And so, to do the best in my work I believe I need the best ongoing education.

The annual POGO symposium is a high-quality conference and—along with POGO’s one-day education events—has played a significant role in my professional education. POGO’s reputation for excellence in education attracts a broad spectrum of healthcare providers to present and learn about topics related to survivor care, standards of care at POGO Satellite Clinics and research.

And through my work with POGO I can be a champion of childhood cancer care with the general public and educate healthcare providers across the province.

To this day, I still say that it is a privilege to care for a child with cancer and their family. After all, where else can you go to work and get hugs and high fives (from the kids) all day long?

Denise Mills, MN, NP Pediatrics, works at The Hospital for Sick Children in the  Solid Tumour, New Agents and Innovative Therapy, MIBG Program. She is co-chair of the POGO Nursing Committee and a past member of the POGO Board of Directors. She was a member of the planning committee for the 2018 POGO Multi-Disciplinary Symposium on Childhood Cancer and the Pre-Symposium Nursing Seminar.  Denise is also a recipient of a POGO Seed Grant to fund her study “Improving Quality and Consistency in Family Education Prior to First Discharge Following a Pediatric Cancer Diagnosis.”

Posted in Misc | Tagged Denise Mills, education, neuroblastoma, nursing

COVID-19 Update: What Hospitals are Doing

Posted on January 26, 2021 by admin

Childhood cancer centres and POGO Satellite Clinics across Ontario are working diligently to ensure the safety and best outcomes for children with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For children with cancer, survivors and their families, the best way to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection is to follow the recommendations outlined by the Ontario Ministry of Health, which can be found here. If you have questions about any specific precautions for your child or yourself, contact your oncologist or nurse.

Throughout Ontario, children with a new cancer diagnosis continue to be evaluated, undergo tests and start treatment with high priority and minimal disruption. POGO Satellite Clinics remain open and are an important component of keeping patients safe and the pediatric cancer system running. The childhood cancer treating centres are taking strong action to reduce the risk for cancer patients by limiting the requirement for well patients to attend the hospital by:

  • Connecting through telephone or videoconferencing and rescheduling hospital appointments
  • Deferring imaging and blood tests when possible
  • Utilizing community-based laboratories for blood tests when possible

This is particularly true for childhood cancer survivors who have been off treatment for several months or more.

If you attend a childhood cancer clinic, extra precautions may cause some inconvenience, for example:

  • Symptom screening is occurring at the hospital and clinic entrances
  • There may be limitations on the number of adults/family members allowed to accompany a child in the hospital
  • Playrooms may be closed

It is important to recognize that these measures are taken to protect survivors, your child and other children, family members, and staff in the hospital.

Your medical team understands that this a very stressful time for children, survivors, parents and families. Please talk to your team about your questions and concerns during this time.

David Hodgson, MD, FRCPC – POGO Medical Director

Paul Gibson, MD, FRCPC – POGO Associate Medical Director

Denise Mills, MN, RN(EC), NP Pediatrics – POGO Clinical Lead, Pediatric Oncology Nursing


Click here for more COVID-19 information.

Posted in Misc | Tagged Childhood cancer centres, childhood cancer survivors, COVID-19, POGO Satellite Clinics

POGO Connects Childhood Cancer Survivors to Much-Needed Primary Care

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Claire Slaughter

Many childhood cancer survivors attending a POGO AfterCare Clinic report that they do not have a primary care practitioner. In fact, survivors are concerned that because childhood cancer is a relatively rare disease, most primary care practitioners are unlikely to have expertise in managing the late effects of treatment.

The main purpose of POGO AfterCare Clinics is to provide follow-up care for survivors of childhood cancer to ensure appropriate monitoring of long-term and possible late effects associated with the original disease and its treatment. Most survivors are seen in POGO AfterCare Clinics only once a year. But for many, particularly those living in rural or remote communities, even once a year is a challenge. 

“It is critical that every survivor of childhood cancer has a family doctor,” says Dr. Stacey Marjerrison, POGO AfterCare Program Director, McMaster Children’s Hospital. “The POGO AfterCare Clinic team is focused on the late effects of the treatment, while the family doctor is focused on all aspects of wellness. If we identify any important late effects, like heart or lung problems, we need to be able to work with the family doctor to make sure the childhood cancer survivor continues to get the best care through their lifetime.”

POGO AfterCare Aims for Shared-care Partnership with Primary Care

Following an extensive consultation, POGO, through its Childhood Cancer Care Plan: A Roadmap for Ontario 2018 – 2023, defined a strategy to engage primary care practitioners and family health teams in the care of childhood cancer survivors. Beginning in 2019, the seven POGO AfterCare Clinics began a coordinated and concerted effort to make these connections. The goal is a shared-care partnership, fostering two-way communication and support between the primary care practitioner and the survivor’s AfterCare team, with the latter providing information and education about childhood cancer and its potential late effects.

“As a childhood cancer survivor, my health care is often complex,” says Kirsten, a young adult, who attends the POGO AfterCare Clinic at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, 50 kilometres from her home in Brampton, Ontario. “The long-term side effects of chemo aren’t 100% known. The POGO AfterCare Clinic team is specialized to look at the drugs that I took during my treatment and allows me to receive testing and screening that might anticipate late effects. This allows my family doctor to focus on my general health and wellbeing. Without either side of my medical team, I would not be able to ensure I’m receiving optimal care.”

UPDATE: Dedicated staff across the POGO AfterCare Clinics have completed discussions with 131 primary care practices about accepting a survivor. Many of the participating primary care practices serve northern, rural and remote communities.


Caring for Survivors Increasingly Important as Population of Survivors Grows

Researchers tell us that up to 80%1 of childhood cancer survivors will experience at least one or more chronic health conditions by age 45 due to treatment they received to cure their cancer. As early as the 1950s, clinicians began to see that many more children were beating cancer, but that was only half the battle. Children treated for a childhood cancer were surviving only to develop significant therapy-related health problems later in life.

With the increasing success of childhood cancer treatments, caring for the growing survivor population with their unique healthcare needs becomes even more important. From the POGO Surveillance Report, we know that as of 2017, nearly 20,0002 children and youth in Ontario are survivors of childhood cancer. And right now, about 1 in 460 adults between the ages of 20 and 39 years is a childhood cancer survivor. As this population ages, their health care needs related to treatment late effects will rise.

The History of POGO AfterCare

In early 2001, POGO launched a network of survivorship clinics located in London, Hamilton, Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa for pediatric and adult survivors of a childhood cancer. POGO AfterCare Clinics, staffed by oncologists, nurses and allied health professionals, provide long-term follow-up care, including clinical examination for signs and symptoms of late effects, recommending tests such as an echocardiogram for possible heart problems in patients who received certain therapies, and referring survivors for breast and/or colorectal cancer screening based on clinical practice recommendations that take into account their cancer treatment history.

1Nathan PC, Agha M, Pole JD, Hodgson D et al Predictors of attendance at specialized survivor clinics in a population-based cohort of adult survivors of childhood cancer. J Cancer Surviv 2016

2Alive at least five years, or close to 5 years, after diagnosis.

Posted in Misc | Tagged AfterCare, childhood cancer survivors, POGO AfterCare Clinics, survivorship

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information

Posted on March 16, 2020 by admin

POGO continues to actively monitor the COVID-19 situation to keep our teams healthy and informed, and to ensure continuity of our work on behalf of children with cancer, their families, survivors and the childhood cancer care system. Healthcare teams working in our partner hospitals and within POGO Satellite Clinics, POGO AfterCare Clinics and in the POGO Interlink Program continue to follow the guidelines of their respective institutions, keeping POGO updated about any modifications to their practice. Families registered in the POGO Financial Assistance Program should continue to submit their claims as usual. While the precautionary measures being made at this time may not be convenient, we appreciate everyone’s continued patience, understanding and cooperation.


For the latest COVID-19 information:
– Toronto Public Health
– Ministry of Health – Ontario
– Public Health Agency of Canada


POGO Office Staff Working Remotely 
In line with the advice of public health authorities in response to COVID-19, and to ensure a safe and secure environment for POGO staff, clients and partners, all POGO staff continue to work remotely and POGO’s office at 480 University Avenue remains closed until further notice. During this time, POGO staff can be reached by email. Please refer to the POGO Staff List.

POGO School and Work Transitions Program Continues to Operate
POGO Counsellors are dedicated to supporting their clients through this challenging time and The POGO School and Work Transitions Program is continuing to operate with some modifications. POGO Counsellors are available by phone, Zoom or email as follows:

  • In most cases, POGO Counsellors will not be travelling to their offices so will not have immediate access to all of their resources. This may mean a delay in getting information to you.
  • Counsellors and clients can only meet in person in accordance with regional public health safety measures.
  • In keeping with hospital directives, POGO Counsellors may not be in attendance at POGO AfterCare Clinics. We ask that you please be patient when awaiting a response following a clinic visit and know that your POGO Counsellor will get back to you as soon as possible.
  • Our Survivor to Survivor (S2S) Network Workshops will all be delivered virtually starting in June 2021.

Education Events are Now Virtual
We are excited to be in the midst of planning our 2021 roster of professional development opportunities after postponing our in-person events last year. Multi-disciplinary healthcare professionals can look forward to our 2021 roster of events which will be available in either virtual or hybrid formats.

Donations
The need to raise funds in support of our programs and services is no less great during this challenging time. As always, it is possible to make a secure, online donation to Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario at this link. Thank you for your consideration.


Click here for more COVID-19 information.

Posted in Misc | Tagged Coronavirus, COVID-19, POGO Update

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@POGO4Kids

May 12, 2022

Take your Half Marathon, 10k or 5k training one step further! @POGO4kids builds a childhood cancer care system for children, youth, families & survivors affected by childhood cancer. TWRS runners can support POGO with their own fundraising page.

For more: https://www.towomensruns.com/fundraising/

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