The touching story of a young cancer patient and a rad tech hero
As a radiologic technologist of ten years working in radiation therapy, I had never quite appreciated the vital nature of my job until one encounter with a five year old girl named Yara.
One day in 2014, a 4-year-old child came into the radiation department for an abdominal tumor treatment. She, like every other youngster – and even most adults – was scared. We had to prepare her mentally and emotionally for the procedure. However, she remained uncooperative, refusing to remain still on the table. The doctor, to ensure that we would target the tumor precisely without causing damage to healthy tissues, decided to treat her under anesthesia. This would continue every single day up to the end of treatment session.
Over the course of the treatment, she gradually began to trust our team and feel more at ease. Yara became quite fond of me in particular. As her therapist, we would converse and enjoy each others’ company. Every time she came in for her daily appointment, she sought me out and requested that I would be the one to treat her. I will never forget Yara’s charming smile.
Two years went by, and I had not heard from her, which I believed to be a good sign. In the meantime, I had relocated to another hospital. Coincidentally, I met Yara and her family once more in our department at the new hospital. Much to my chagrin, she had come back to get treatment for a brain tumor, which is more complicated. This time around, we would need to place a mask on her face to keep her still. Nonetheless, Yara was happy to see me, and was comforted that her difficult treatment would be overseen by me. My primary concern was for Yara to suffer as little as possible and avoid daily anesthesia.
Initially, I tried to be creative for the simulation. We painted and attached some stickers to the mask, pretending it was spiderman’s mask. Now that we needed to move onto the actual treatment, would we require anesthesia? Would she be able to maintain all of the sessions without moving?
For that purpose, the doctor asked me to accompany her for the first session since she knew me well. All anesthesia staff and equipment were on standby, but I insisted on trying the treatment without anesthesia to put less of a toll on her body and mind. I took the time to explain to her the procedure in detail. I promised that if she did not move for five minutes, the session would be all over quickly – no needles, no pain! And that is what happened.
Over multiple sessions, this charming little girl would come dressed up in fun costumes, with her Spiderman mask on, ready for the battle. She left a deep mark within each of us in the department, having made a drawing as a souvenir that we have kept posted on the wall of the control room to this day.
Unfortunately, after three months of rigorous treatment, she had to go to the United States for bone marrow transplantation. After her operation, the doctor decided to follow through with radiation therapy. However, when it came time to lay on the table and await her treatment, as she had done so many times before, she refused to be treated by a radiation therapist working there, named Mike, and asked for me to accompany her.
To resolve this, her mother reached out to me and suggested that I reassure her over the phone. Though I had never met Mike before, I told her that he was a friend of mine and that I would talk to him to make sure that he would take care of her just as I would. I did in fact speak with him, while she was there. As far as she knew, we were the best of friends. In addition to this, my colleagues and I sent her a video from overseas to encourage her to complete the therapy and return home to meet us again.
She called me every day after her session to tell me that everything went well, that she missed me, and to reassure me that she was extremely quiet and did not move one inch during the session.
Sadly, after a hard battle, our charming princess passed away at the age of six. Not only was she a champion, but she managed to make an impact on everyone around her in such a short time.
From a personal perspective, I realized how important and essential my role as a radiation therapist is. We are often in the primary lines of defense to address patient comfort and emotional distress. Yara made it clear to me that it is our obligation to fill that role. The more skilled and compassionate RTTs there are in the world, the more efficient treatment we can provide to patients.
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