CEO message

“When children are free to play, they play naturally at the ever-advancing edges of their mental and physical abilities.” — Peter Gray, Ph.D. How wonderful it was to see children at camp this summer — playing, learning, growing.

As they return to school, it comforts me to know that the memories and friendships of summer will sustain them on their journey.

When we first established Kids Cancer Care, we developed a holistic mission to help children affected by cancer survive and thrive in body, mind, and spirit. Thanks to you, we are achieving this. Your support helps kids to strengthen their bodies through play and physical activity at camp and PEER.* It helps them to develop their minds through educational programs. And all of this nourishes their young spirits. Every child has different edges and limits. Different gifts. Our mission is to nurture the whole child regardless of limits and abilities, so they may reach their unique potential.

I hope you can see how you are helping kids to survive and thrive in body, mind, and spirit in our Back-to-School Issue. I see you in every story we share. Thank you for your generous support.

Sincerely,

Christine McIver, M.S.M., LLD (Hon), CFRE Founder and Chief Executive Officer

When Scarlett’s parents first noticed that she waddled like a pregnant woman, they weren’t overly concerned. They assumed she would outgrow it. But they took her to a chiropractor just in case. When the chiropractor felt a large, firm mass under her ribcage, everything changed.

The next day, Scarlett and her mother Amy were at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. An X-ray, ultrasound, and CT scan revealed that a 10 x 14 x 7 cm tumour was the cause of her waddle.

Scarlett underwent chemotherapy to shrink the tumour and an eighthour surgery to remove it.

With regular monitoring, physiotherapy, and therapeutic exercise, she is now on the road to recovery. Thanks to you, Scarlett could safely exercise at our PEER* program.

PEER is an evidence-based therapeutic exercise program developed by health researchers at the University of Calgary and Alberta Children’s Hospital. It is designed to help kids like Scarlett stay active and manage the side effects of cancer treatments.

Working one-to-one with our Ph.D. exercise specialist, Scarlett is steadily improving her gait, balance, and flexibility. Your support is also helping her to restore her confidence and make new friends during PEER group sessions.

Amy is seeing a big difference in her daughter: “Scarlett is more mobile and doesn’t waddle anymore. She is more coordinated and can squat easily. She can hop and balance on one foot and has more range of motion now. When we saw our physiotherapist two months later, she was shocked. Pretty much everything had been corrected.”

Thanks to your generous support, our PEER exercise specialist Carolina Chamorro-Vina, Ph.D., integrates the latest research into the program. Collaborating with researchers around the globe through the International Pediatric Oncology Exercise Guidelines (iPOEG), Carolina is helping to measure the efficacy of health-related fitness and exercise to establish best practices for children affected by cancer.

As a Ph.D. researcher working in the community, Carolina feels privileged to see the direct impact of new research at PEER: “What I find most exciting is regularly applying new knowledge from the latest research into my clinical practice. PEER is literally research in action.”

Thank you for helping kids like Scarlett regain their mobility on their cancer journey. Special thanks to the Calgary Flames Foundation for making our evidence-based exercise program possible.