PEORIA MAGAZINE May 2022

School and career support assists kidswithschoolwork, educates teachers and students about their diagnosis and treatments, teaches social and adult living skills, and aids with college and career planning. Nutrition and wellness expertise educates families on how to create healthy diets, prepares families on how to handle treatment-related side effects in taste and toxicity levels, assists with specialized feedings and more. The adolescent and young adult pro gram offers peer activities, mentoring, education and career support. The long-term follow-up program provides health screenings, referrals, wellness education, assistance with life skills, insurance coverage and the transition to adult care. Supportive and palliative care sup ports families with end-of-life discus sions, hospice and bereavement care while helping families tomake decisions at every stage of their journey.

“In 2021, we experienced not just one grandson, Hendrix, but also his brother, Lakota, being diagnosed with, a form of kidney cancer called Wilms tumor within three months of each other,” said Helen Saxby, grandmother to Hendrix and Lakota Porter. “The Heller Center is a priceless resource on its own for the unexpected issues that arise when a child is going through cancer. “While Lakota, age 7, had hospital stays or chemotherapy treatments, The Heller Center made sure he had a teacher to keep him caught up with his schoolwork. Both boys enjoyed their time with the exercise physiologist. It was very important to keep muscles moving due to damage caused by chemotherapy. Dieticians were also provided by The Heller Center to make sure the boys’ nutrition issues were being addressed. Having The Heller Center in central Illinois definitely makes a very difficult time easier.”

You can get involved and/or learn more about The Heller Center for Cancer Research at: www.osfhealthcarefoundation.org/ heller-center.

TOM HAMMERTON is President of the OSF HealthCare Foundation

STACY LITERSKY is the Foundation Fundraising Development Coordinator for Children’s Hospital of Illinois.

MAY 2022 P EORIA MAGAZINE 73