St. Jude beyond what one mom could imagine for son’s brain tumor treatment
6 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — While thinking about going back to graduate school to become a social worker, Mary saw a St. Jude commercial highlighting the position.
Now, 19 years later, she is a top transition oncology program social worker there.
Mary says her current role is to help patients transition back home after being at St. Jude.
“So a lot of our families are here for an extended period of time. They may be here for several months, they may even be here a year or more, and so the transition back home can be overwhelming,” Mary said. “So I meet with families, assess what are the concerns, what do we need to work on, and then try and help that happen.”
Mary says she feels very grateful to work and be a part of the St. Jude family.
“I get to be a part of a really great mission. The mission of no child should die in the dawn of life,” said Mary. “But there’s also returning back to life back at home, and how can we ease that for that and make them better, and so being a part of that is very rewarding.”
Mary said it is the children that keep her coming back to work every day.
“That’s an easy one,” Mary said. “Sometimes they come in, they look so sick, and you just your heart breaks for them and then they return, and they’re going to college, and they’re voted homecoming queen, and they’ve been able to just do some great things; go on a church mission trips and travel internationally. You think, ‘Wow, you wouldn’t have been able to do this without the donor dollars and the treatment at St. Jude.'”
Mary says she appreciates St. Jude donors and everything they do to help the children of St. Jude.
“We are in Memphis, but what we do really we share with the world,” said Mary. “It’s not like you’re just helping a small little hospital in Memphis. You’re really helping because we share everything really globally. And the medical advances we make and the things that we learn, even the mental health things that we’re learning, those things are shared around the world. And so it really impacts, it makes a big impact, and we really appreciate our donors.”
By reserving a ticket for the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, you can help St. Jude’s mission of finding cures and saving children.
For more information on the 2023 St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, click here.