Shining Stars; Winter 2015

THE MAGAZINE OF THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL FOR THE HUDSON VALLEY

winter 2015

when a child needs a new liver babies & MOMS who beat the odds acetaminophen: a-OK for children?

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violet’s heart surgery miracle

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A Lifetime of Beautiful Smiles

For many families in Westchester, we’re the only dental office they’ve ever used. We’re proud of this fact. We believe the reason so many of our original patients bring their own children to us can be summed up in one word: trust. Advanced Dentistry of Westchester has been creating beautiful healthy smiles in Westchester County for more than 4 generations of patients.

Throughout the years, our patients have received top quality preventive and restorative treatments—all while enjoying the personal touch of a family dental practice offering the latest in advanced technology.

• Westchester Magazine “Top Dentists” 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 • Fellow of the International College of Dentists • Consumer Research Council List of “Top Cosmetic Dentists” • Listed in “Westchester’s Leading Plastic Surgeons and Cosmetic Dentists” • Professor of Esthetics NYU College of Dentistry • Dr. Sabrina Magid-Katz chosen by Westchester Magazine as one of the top 22 People to Watch in Westchester County & as a “Rising Star–Westchester’s 40 under 40” by the Business Council of Westchester

Kenneth S. Magid, DDS, FICD Sabrina Magid-Katz, DMD If you want to learn about the advanced technologies we use or the comments from our patients visit our web page at www.ADofW.com and visit us on

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welcome

from our physician–in–chief a s w e sta rt ou r sec on d

inside:

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welcome letter

It’s the constant mission of Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital to provide young people with the ver y best in health care.

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help for the littlest livers

A world-class innovator’s team meets the challenge of pediatric transplant surger y.

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if these walls could talk...

They’d give a rousing cheer, just as their upbeat images now cheer young emergency patients.

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parenthood triumphs

What do you call women whose cancer made giving birth unlikely? These two are now called “Mom.”

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decade working with the three million people of our entire region to improve health care and quality of life, our focus at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center of course remains on the children of the area and their families.

The stories in this issue of Shining Stars reemphasize that goal as it is demonstrated in our treatment of the most complex types of medical and surgical conditions (see stories on liver transplantation and open-heart surgery in infancy, page 6 and page 12) and in our continual effort to provide a unique, nonthreatening environment of care (see emergency room story, page 8).

As it has for the past 10 years, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital will continue for the next decade and beyond to stand for the highest quality of medical and surgical care for the children and families who need it most. It will also continue to provide individualized care, in which each child’s entire hospital experience is considered an essential part of the treatment program.

In addition, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital staff at all levels will continue to serve as advocates for improvement of the lives of all children, those healthy and those medically challenged, both locally and nationally. Every child deserves the opportunity to reach maximal potential for a happy and productive life, and it remains our dedication, with your ongoing support, to help them achieve that goal.

halfhearted?

That’s not how you’d describe this spirited toddler, but that—literally—is how she was born.

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Michael ge wit z, M. D. p h y s i c i a n - i n - c h i e f, m a r i a fa r e r i c h i l d r e n ’ s h o s p i ta l at w e s t c h e s t e r m e d i c a l c e n t e r

holistic help for kids with cancer Complementar y ser vices such as massage, guided imager y and the “emotional freedom technique” can enable young patients to feel—and heal—better.

S h i n i n g S t a r s i s p u b l i s h e d b y Wa i n s c o t M e d i a , M o n t v a l e , N.J. © 2014. All rights reserved. Material contained herein i s f o r i n f o r m a t i o n a l p u r p o s e s o n l y. I f y o u h a v e m e d i c a l concerns, seek the guidance of a healthcare professional.

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Liver surgeon Youmin Wu, M.D., (front), transplant coordinator Jennifer Reilly, R.N., B.S.N., and Richard Rosencrantz, M.D., bond well with children.

b e ing a n a d ol e sce n t i s to ugh e no ugh — i m agine a dding ca nce r to t he mi x. b u t t hi s pa ir t riu mphe d.

Help for the littlest Fortunately, children don’t often need liver transplants. But when they do, it’s reassuring to know that there’s a surgeon available who is a worldwide leader in the field. That’s the case at Westchester Medical Center’s Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.

Three years ago, the Medical Center recruited Youmin Wu, M.D., to its staff as Chief of Intra-Abdominal Transplant and

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Hepatobiliary Surgery. (The hepatobiliary system includes the liver, gallbladder, pancreas and bile ducts.) Dr. Wu trained with the transplant pioneer Thomas Starzl, M.D., who performed the first liver transplant in 1963.

Dr. Wu has performed more than 1,000 liver, kidney, pancreas and small bowel transplants. In the intricate task of operating on babies and small children, he’s a

trailblazer: He once successfully completed a transplant from a live donor to a 19-day-old infant, the youngest surviving recipient ever.

The surgeon has also developed a new liver-transplant technique called cavaplasty that can reduce this sometimes 10- to 14-hour operation to less than four hours, sparing tissue and greatly reducing blood loss. As a result of his expertise the average hospital stay after surgery has

courtesy of westchester medical center; shutterstock

livers

A world-class innovator’s team meets the challenge of pediatric transplant surgery.

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dropped from 10 or 11 days to just five.

For a parent whose child may need a liver transplant, Dr. Wu’s credentials can be the answer to a tough question: how to be sure of finding the finest quality. In surgery, one key benchmark is how often a procedure is performed.

“In a year there are perhaps 200 pediatric liver transplants in the U.S., so no medical center does a lot of them,” says Dr. Wu. “I have received referrals from around the world,” he says.

It takes a multidisciplinary team of hepatologists, infectious diseases specialists, nurses, intensive care specialists, oncologists, mental health experts and a specially trained support staff to care for children who need—or may need—a liver transplant. “But most important is the surgeon,” says Richard Rosencrantz, M.D., Medical Director of

Pediatric Liver Transplant at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. “We are lucky to have someone of Dr. Wu’s caliber.”

“The surgeon is an important member of the transplant team, and I’m pleased to work with three other very talented transplant surgeons,” Dr. Wu says. “The excellent support that we receive from our own team along with other department teams is what makes our program truly first-class.” In fact, the program has one of the best pediatric transplant outcome rates in New York State.

Dr. Wu’s team meets every morning to discuss all the patients in the program and go over treatment plans.

“The team works hard to make the patients’ experience as comfortable as possible by maintaining a ‘healing’ environment, administering an effective pain management program and always

working to improve all aspects of the patient and caregiver experience,” he says. “We have a social worker to help resolve any social issues for the family, and we try to help patients feel at home.”

Since Dr. Wu’s arrival, referrals to Westchester Medical Center for both adult and pediatric liver patients have doubled. “We appreciate that referring physicians put their trust and support in our team to ensure that patients receive the best service and outcome,” says Dr. Wu. “We look forward to watching our pediatric patients grow into active adults.” ★ for more about liver services at maria fareri children’s hospital, including transplants, VISIT westchestermedicalcenter.com/ pediatriclivertransplant.

acetaminophen: is it a-ok for children?

It’s cold and flu season, and parents often treat their children’s symptoms with medications that contain acetaminophen. That’s fine—if you take care not to overdo it.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there are more than 600 over-the-counter and prescription medicines that contain acetaminophen and that are used to treat symptoms of colds, flu, allergies and sleeplessness. If children are given more acetaminophen than directed, severe liver damage may occur, possibly leading to death.

“Drug-induced liver injury from acetaminophen is a significant cause of hospital emergency-room visits,” says Richard Rosencrantz, M.D., a pediatric hepatologist who is Medical Director of Pediatric Liver Transplant at Westchester Medical Center’s Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. “Although acute liver failure from acetaminophen is rare, it is the second leading cause of acute liver failure in children overall.”

To administer acetaminophen safely to your child, advises the FDA, make sure you understand: how much the child can take at one time (dose). how many hours you must wait before giving another dose. how many times you can give it each day. when you should not give it and should talk to your doctor about alternatives.

Liver damage can happen quickly, within one to three days of beginning treatment, he says. Signs include yellowing of the skin and eyes, extreme fatigue and stomach distress. Try to alternate medicine with other treatments to relieve pain and fever, such as a sponge bath, and try to give the medicine with food, he says. “If fever lasts more than three days, see your pediatrician,” Dr. Rosencrantz advises.

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Children joined Madison Square Garden and Westchester Medical Center officials, Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino, New York Rangers, New York Knicks and New York Liberty legends, current Rangers players and MSG Network personalities for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

BEFORE AFTER

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK...

THEY’D GIVE A ROUSING CHEER, JUST AS THEIR UPBEAT IMAGES NOW CHEER YOUNG EMERGENCY PATIENTS. YOU’RE A KID, AND YOU’RE SCARED. ILLNESS OR an injury has put you in a hospital’s emergency room. Does it matter how the wall is decorated?

The knee-jerk answer is “no.” And it’s true that aesthetics don’t count as much as prompt, efficient, compassionate, up-to-date clinical care—the kind that is consistently provided in the Emergency Department (ED) at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center. But it’s also been shown that atmospherics—say, a lively picture on the wall showing an athlete, an entertainer or a group of happy, healthy kids—can actually help children feel better, and feeling better helps them get better. That’s why Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital has gone into action itself—with an assist from Madison Square Garden’s Garden of Dreams Foundation.

The foundation is an eight-year-old nonprofit charity that works with the Madison Square Garden Company “to make dreams come true for children facing obstacles,” as its website explains. It has refurbished the ED with murals on themes related to Madison Square Garden in the main corridor, the waiting, triage and trauma rooms and all 12 of the treatment

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rooms. The murals, which include images of basketball’s New York Knicks and New York Liberty, hockey’s New York Rangers and the high-kicking Rockettes of Radio City Music Hall, were installed during the overnight hours over the course of several days so as not to interfere with patient care.

Other enhancements include new wall paint, handrails and guardrails. The walls are also adorned with inspirational quotes from a who’s who of athletes, artists, writers and musicians.

The project is a part of the Garden of Dreams Foundation’s newly launched Giving Program, which provides resources and aid to Garden of Dreams partner organizations and their communities in the tristate area. Through its relationship with Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, the Garden of Dreams Foundation has made it possible for many children to attend Knicks, Rangers and Liberty games, major concerts and family shows such as the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Players and other celebrities have also visited Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, and children have participated in the Garden of Dreams Talent Show on Radio City Music Hall’s Great Stage.

SHINING STARS

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At far left, mural images show the active life young patients can’t wait to get back to. At left, a hallway and an exam room were perfectly serviceable before, but now a mural and a photo of a leaping ballet dancer give them an extra kick. Far right, pop artist Charles Fazzino (at right) unveils his 3-D interpretation of the hospital and the surrounding Hudson Valley, with Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital Physician-in-Chief Michael Gewitz, M.D., helping and Westchester Medical Center President and CEO Michael D. Israel looking on.

sharing the joy of art

Physical beauty is more than just cosmetic, says Tricia Hiller, Director of Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy. It s helps decrease the stress on children and families, which is shown to increase compliance with medical care, which in turn speeds recovery and shortens hospital stays. “It gives kids a mental break, which is important because coming to the ED is very scary and unfamiliar,” she adds. “But kids are familiar with the Knicks, the Rangers, the Liberty and the Rockettes.”

Supported by a $175,000 grant, the installation was completed in November. When Hiller first saw it she was so impressed she did a double-take. “I had to stop, turn around and look again,” she recalls. “It changes the whole feel of the place.”

“The Garden of Dreams improvements provide a great escape for the children entering the ED and throughout their stay,” says Matthew Landers, Westchester Medical Center’s Clinical Director of Nursing for Emergency and Trauma Services. “The upgrades have significantly added to the beautification of the ED and will better coincide with the higher level of care that has become expected in a Level I ED.” ★

Sports- and entertainment-themed murals from the Garden of Dreams Foundation in the Pediatric Emergency Department (see main article) aren’t the only art that aids healing at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. Also brightening the environment is the colorful, exuberant work of renowned pop artist Charles Fazzino.

The New Rochelle-based artist has pieces hanging in the halls of the hospital and was commissioned to create a special piece for the hospital’s 10th birthday. “It’s an iconic piece, using the hospital’s existing logo of a star and ladder, and incorporating images from the surrounding areas,” he explains. Fazzino will also be making appearances at the hospital from time to time in the coming months. Prints of his work will be available for people to purchase through the hospital’s foundation. Proceeds from the sale of this artwork will benefit Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.

Fazzino is widely known for his commercial work with sports organizations such as the National Football League and Major League Baseball, and he created a three-dimensional piece for American Airlines that is on display at John F. Kennedy International Airport. (You can also see his work at fazzino.com.) He says he has “a really nice relationship” with Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, all the richer because of his status as a near neighbor.

“I like to get involved in new areas to expose people to my artwork, but I also wanted more of a presence in my own community,” he says, adding that his work with the hospital has special meaning for him because “they do so much for very ill kids. As a human being it’s my small, heartfelt piece of helping.”

Framed miniprints of this image created in the classic Fazzino 3-D style are available for purchase through the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital Foundation at 914.493.2575.

To purchase maria fareri children’s hospital-inspired work from charles fa zzino, contact the maria fareri children’s hospital foundation at 914.493.2575.

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parenthood triumphs

What do you call women whose cancer made giving birth unlikely?

These two are called “Mom.”

when a woman has cancer, fighting that disease becomes the top priority. But cancer treatments can sometimes cause complications for fertility. Women undergoing cancer care often are told that after treatment they may have slim prospects of having children. But the two you’ll read about below beat the odds. Their stories have happy endings thanks to the care their little ones received in the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU) at Westchester Medical Center’s Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.

Double challenge, double win

Siobhan Rizzo with daughter, Julianna, and son, Jacob

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Four years ago, when she was 25, Siobhan Rizzo of Matamoras, Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Rizzo, a regional manager for a wholesale distribution center, and her husband, Mark, 29, a warehouse supervisor at the same company, had been trying to start a family for several years with no luck. They were about to begin fertility treatments, but cancer care became the priority.

Rizzo had surgery at a local hospital to remove the cancer. “I told the doctor that having kids was important to me,” she says. Fortunately, she did not need chemotherapy or radiation, but her physician said her chances of having a child were very low.

After three cycles of in vitro fertilization (IVF) failed, Rizzo had tests that revealed a thyroid condition called Graves’ disease. Her thyroid was removed, and in her next IVF cycle two embryos were successfully implanted in her uterus. “Being pregnant was scary because I knew I was at risk for preterm labor— especially with twins—from having had cancer surgery,” she says. She was referred to Westchester Medical Center, and in August 2013 she delivered at 24 weeks, by C-section. Son Jacob was just 1 pound, 7

ounces, and daughter Julianna was 1 pound, 2 ounces. “We were devastated, then optimistic,” she says.

“The doctors said that we should be prepared for the worst, but that if there were no infections they’d have a better chance to be OK.” “The survival rate for infants born at 24 weeks is about 85 percent at a Level I center like Westchester Medical Center,” says Edmund La Gamma, M.D., Chief, Newborn Medicine, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, Westchester Medical Center.

The twins spent four months in the RNICU. Siobhan and Mark arranged their schedules to take turns staying at the Ronald McDonald House of the Greater Hudson Valley until the twins were discharged.

Julianna had some heart problems that healed on their own, but is being tested for asthma. Jacob had vision difficulties and needed five eye surgeries. Both babies are still a bit small, but they’re crawling and nearly walking. Each is receiving physical and occupational therapy at home.

“To me they’re just regular kids and not preemies any more,” says their grateful mom. “They have overcome so much, everything is a blessing.” ★

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Joanna Chlistowska with son, Olivier

A boy who didn’t miss the bus Born in Poland, Joanna Chlistowska came to this country 11 years ago. Now 36, the New Rochelle resident works as a nanny because she loves children. In 2009, her dreams of having a child of her own were put at risk when she was diagnosed with lymphoma.

She was treated at Westchester Medical Center with chemotherapy and radiation for a total of six months. “The doctor said there wasn’t time to get me ready for egg freezing [which might have protected her fertility], because it takes three months, and the treatments would likely leave me unable to have kids,” she recalls.

“When a woman has chemotherapy, her ovulation stops,” says Michael Fanucchi, M.D., Medical Director of Advanced Oncology and Infusion Services at Westchester Medical Center. “In some, especially younger women, it returns. But menopause may come early.”

Chlistowska’s treatments cured her cancer but also caused unavoidable blood clotting. Doctors implanted a filter in her abdomen to prevent clots from entering her heart and put her on blood-thinner medication. She had gained 30 pounds from steroid treatments, so she worked with a dietitian who put her on a special diet to “clean toxins out of my body,” she says.

Within months she learned she was going to become a mother. “I wasn’t prepared,” she says.

Her son, Olivier, was born prematurely, at 23 weeks, in 2012.

Weighing just 1 pound 6 ounces, he spent four months in the RNICU. “I had to keep working every day from 7 in the morning until 8 at night, then running to the hospital and staying until midnight,” says Chlistowska. “Then I stayed all day on weekends.”

Olivier had “the full list of problems,” says the unlikely mom. He needed many transfusions for anemia, developed heart, vision and feeding difficulties and sleep apnea and suffered a serious infection. He overcame most of these hurdles. Now, at age 2, his vision is good. He still has swallowing problems and reflux, and undergoes occupational and physical therapy. “But if you see him he looks like a normal child,” she says. He goes to nursery school, she adds, “and he’s obsessed with the bus. He always wants to stay on the bus, and he always chooses the bus over me.”

She says her son is a happy, active child who smiles all the time. “You could never tell he went through all those things,” says Chlistowska. “Having him was the best thing that could have happened to me.” ★

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After heart surgery at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, Violet (shown here in the arms of her mom, Virginia) now has a life that is pointed in the right direction.

halfhearted?

That’s not how you’d describe this spirited toddler, but that—literally— is how she was born.

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hands and feet looked a little blue, her parents noticed, but at first were not alarmed. “It was chilly, so I thought she just needed more blankets,” says Virginia, the mom.

Violet, born August 18, 2013, was the first child for Dutchess County residents Virginia and Dan, who work as writers. They were enjoying new parenthood, but soon observed that their daughter’s lips and extremities were still blue and that she was also sleeping for unusually long stretches.

“It was weird,” says Virginia.

“Something wasn’t right.”

A visit to the nurse practitioner revealed that Violet had fallen below her birth weight. The clinician checked Violet’s oxygen levels and was disturbed. She called a cardiologist who shares her office, and that doctor performed an echocardiogram. It showed that Violet had a very abnormal heart. She was rushed to a local community hospital for stabilization, and then to Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, where she immediately entered the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

Violet’s oxygen level was dropping fast—within a few hours it was down to about 20 percent, even after she had been placed on a ventilator. “We were told she had several complex congenital heart defects, and they had to rush her down to the cardiac catheterization lab,” recalls Virginia.

In the lab, Joseph Giamelli, M.D., a pediatric cardiologist, reviewed the test results. Violet was diagnosed with (1) a transposition of the great arteries, meaning that her aorta and pulmonary arteries were in the wrong positions; (2) mitral atresia, which meant that an area of her heart was

courtesy of westchester medical center

When the newborn’s

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missing; and (3) a large ventricular septal defect—a hole between the heart’s lower chambers. Essentially, Violet had just half a heart—a defect seen in only 1 in 20,000 births.

“Her oxygen saturation was exceptionally low,” Dr. Giamelli says.

“We knew right away that she needed emergency catheterization so that red oxygenated blood could get to the rest of her body, and that if it weren’t done quickly, she would die.”

Dr. Giamelli sent a catheter into Violet’s structurally abnormal heart and inserted a tiny balloon, which opened a clearer passage for oxygenated blood to get from the lungs to the body. “After that procedure, her oxygen levels immediately went up to 80 to 90 percent,” he says.

Meanwhile, Virginia and Dan “were staying overnight in the PICU,” she remembers. “Violet was so sick that a nurse was with her nonstop. She never even turned the light off.” By the next day, Violet coughed out her ventilator tube. “It was scary, but we knew she was fighting,” Virginia says.

But Violet wasn’t out of the woods yet. A few days later, she had the first of three open-heart surgeries needed to rebuild her heart. These were performed by pediatric cardiac surgeon Suvro Sett, M.D. The second was in March 2014. She will need her third surgery sometime after age 2, depending on her oxygen levels as she grows.

That operation, called the Fontan procedure, improves circulation so that the child can grow Suvro and develop.

Sett, M.D. “Her heart will

Pediatric cardiologist Joseph Giamelli, M.D., treated an array of problems in little Violet’s heart. “It is working well now,” he says.

for more on the pediatric cardiology program at maria fareri children’s hospital, please visit westchestermedicalcenter.com/pediatric-cardiology.

never look like a normal heart,” Dr. Giamelli says. “But it is working well now.”

Indeed, after spending 79 days in the hospital during her first nine months of life, Violet is meeting all her developmental markers. “She is so close to walking now, and she’s saying ‘Mama,’ ‘Dada’ and ‘Moo’ for cow,” Virginia says. “Violet loves reading books and pushing her red wagon. To look at her, most people have no idea where she’s been.”

Where she’s going is almost unlimited. Her heart may not have the stamina to allow her to play competitive sports, Dr. Giamelli says, but recreational activity should be no problem. She currently can’t travel on

airplanes because her oxygen counts are still far below 100 percent, and she is susceptible to respiratory infections because her lungs were damaged, so she is kept out of routine day care. But the Fontan procedure and continuing lung healing should alleviate those problems. Even now, she is taking swimming lessons, going on hikes with her dad and learning how to fingerpaint, like a typical toddler.

In the future a heart transplant might be a possibility, but even with that Violet has a good outlook. “Until recently, babies almost always died from this condition,” says Virginia. “Today our doctors can give Violet a full life. That’s mind-blowing.” ★

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Holistic help for kids with cancer with services such as massage and guided imagery, children can feel—and heal—better.

When medicine battles cancer, the gloves are off. Treatments—including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation—sometimes produce unavoidable discomfort added to the pain of the disease itself. In children that can be especially poignant, because they may not fully understand what’s happening to them. But Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center leaves no stone unturned in its search for ways to help children feel better. That’s why it goes beyond traditional medicine to embrace “complementary” services aimed at relieving the physical pain and emotional stress of both cancer and cancer treatments.

These services, funded by a grant from the Pediatric Cancer Foundation, include holistic therapies administered by certified professionals to help relieve disease symptoms, mitigate treatment side effects and contribute to young patients’ overall well-being. Among them are massage therapy, guided imagery and the “emotional freedom technique,” which consists of tapping the body in places thought to release healing energy—it’s similar to acupuncture, but uses finger taps instead of needles. These services are offered to the hospital’s pediatric hematology and oncology patients to complement traditional patient care. And there’s growing evidence that they’re good not just for the spirit, but for physical healing too.

The hospital has offered the program since 2012, and it reapplies for the grant every year, says Linda Hurwitz, R.N., Vice President of Patient Services. The services “put patients into a calmer, warmer space,” she explains.

“They help kids relax and have a pain-free moment, and they may also help decrease longer-term pain.”

Parents can be taught some of the tech-

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niques so they can perform them for their children themselves. “If you have a sick child and feel helpless and someone teaches you a skill that may help that child feel better, that’s a great thing to learn,” says Hurwitz.

The services, available on request, are explained in brochures in the hospital’s Hematology and Oncology unit. “The therapists are all lovely individuals who enjoy doing what they do,” says Hurwitz. “The child benefits, and families find it instrumental in aiding their tolerance to therapy and speeding their recovery.”

The services include: Emotional freedom technique/tapping (EFT). Here the child’s body is finger-tapped at meridian points, which are the same parts of the body stimulated through acupuncture.

EFT, which offers anxiety relief, can become a tool the child can use on his or her own.

Massage therapy. The therapeutic rubbing and kneading of soft body tissue to induce relaxation has been offered to patients at leading hematology and oncology centers for some time. Says the American Cancer Society: “Some studies of massage for cancer patients suggest that it can decrease stress, anxiety, depression, pain and fatigue.”

Guided imagery. Here the concept is to use visualizations of a happy, peaceful environment to relax youngsters and guide them through anxious feelings of fear and emotional discomfort. The participant works with an instructor who uses voice direction, sound effects and music to create an atmosphere of relaxation. ★ For more information on hematology and oncology care at maria fareri children’s hospital, please visit westchestermedical center.com/ pediatric-oncology.

pediatric services at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center is the children’s hospital for the Hudson Valley and Fairfield County. Our list of advanced care pediatric specialty services includes:

Medical • Adolescent Medicine • Cardiology • Developmental Pediatrics • Emergency Services • Endocrinology • Gastroenterology and Hepatology • General Pediatrics/Hospitalist Medicine • Hematology/Oncology and Stem-Cell Therapies • Infectious Diseases • Medical Genetics and Metabolic Diseases • Nephrology • Pediatric Intensive Care Unit • Psychology • Pulmonology/Allergy/Immunology • Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit • Rheumatology • Sleep Medicine

SurgicaL • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Burn Cardiothoracic Craniofacial General and Minimally Invasive Hepatobiliary Neurological Ophthalmology Organ Transplant Orthopaedics Otolaryngology Pediatric Gynecology Plastic Trauma Urology

To schedule an appointment with one of our pediatric specialists, dial 877.WMC.DOCS. Learn more about Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at westchestermedicalcenter.com/mfch.

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