Child life specialist says hope at St. Jude is contagious

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — KSN has partnered with St. Jude again in the fight against childhood cancer with the 8th Annual Wichita St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway. Our mission is to raise over $1,300,000 for the kids of St. Jude.

Libby has worked at St. Jude for five years as a certified child life specialist.

“I always knew that I wanted to work with our hematology-oncology, infectious disease population,” said Libby. “And so I felt like what better place to really, you know, dive deep into that than a hospital that specializes.”

Libby says her role is to help patients and families cope with their hospital stay. She says she does that through education and preparation.

“Going up to the floor, that means they’re going to spend the night in our inpatient floor, but ‘going to the floor,’ like, what does that mean?” Libby said. “So being able to really break that down allows patients a sense of control and mastery and understanding of what’s happening to them.”

Building a relationship with patients and their families is how Libby says she approaches her duties.

“Meeting families in a setting where I can explain my role that I am a part of the medical team, but it’s also my job to get to know you on this like personal level,” said Libby. “If you tell me that you right now would be playing with Play-Doh at home, there’s no reason why we can’t be playing with Play-Doh here together.”

Libby says she has a sense of gratitude for her patients that have allowed her to walk alongside their journey.

“Walking alongside their journey is such a vulnerable position,” Libby said. “They leave their homes often to come here to us and in a really scary, challenging time. Families are so gracious and open to support, and … I’m so grateful for every patient interaction.”

Libby says being able to see success stories and kids feeling proud of themselves is what keeps her going to work every day.

“Getting to see them kind of develop that sense of like, ‘Oh, I know where to go, I’ll walk to the cafeteria by myself,’ and you know that feeling of this is a place that feels safe to families and getting to see them feel like, ‘I actually can do this, I can hold my body still for my radiation. I can do my port access,'” said Libby.

Libby says although patients are going through incredibly challenging things at St. Jude, there is an overwhelming sense of hope and joy there.

“I think it’s impossible not to feel it when you’re here that you know, families have a lot of hope and it’s contagious,” Libby said.

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.