Christina Harris’ daughter, Skye, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in 2021, aged 10. Having received little support from her employer following Skye’s diagnosis, culminating in her eventually losing her job, she explains why she’s now campaigning for parents with seriously ill children to be legally entitled to a career break while they care for their child.
During cancer treatment, children and young people (CYP) and their families will meet, and receive care from, a wide range of healthcare professionals. Mostly, these will be their consultants or clinical nurse specialists, but there are many others who will provide wider, and pivotal, support. We hear from three such people about their roles.
Sian Brown’s son, George, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma in April 2019 when seven months old. Here, she explains how she gave up work to care for George and the financial implications of this, and how volunteering work led her back into employment helping other families of children with cancer.
Nicky Webb is a Clinical Nurse Specialist and a member of CCLG who provides support for the long-term follow-up care of childhood cancer survivors.
Jeanette Hawkins and Jo Stark, Chief Nurses at CCLG, share tips on preparing for your child's medical appointments.
Hafsa Karim is a Speech and Language Therapist specialising in paediatric and adolescent oncology at UCLH and a member of CCLG. Here, she shares more about her role in working with children and young people with cancer.
Dr Lisa Russell at the University of Newcastle is leading a £100,000 research project, funded by Ruby’s ‘Live Kindly, Live Loudly’ Fund (CCLG). The study aims to identify key interactions between super-enhancers and proto-oncogenes that drive T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Mandy Berriman's son, Peter, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January 2019 when he was eight years old. She tells us how using social media to find information and connect with other families both helped her and presented challenges during Peter’s treatment.
Dr Liz Jestico is a senior lecturer in Children’s Nursing at Oxford Brookes University and researcher at the University of Bristol. Here, she tells us about a study she conducted where she talked to parents of children with cancer about how people in their social networks had supported them to make decisions.
