Patients walked the hallways of the Texas Children’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit for the annual “Be The Match” walk, which raises awareness for the global bone marrow registry.
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Christian Spear puts on her headphones and closes her eyes as she stands next to a purple microphone. The former American Idol contestant is not on the stage performing in front of thousands, and she’s not competing in a television program anymore, but she is performing with all of the same passion. She is singing from the heart inside the Purple Songs Can Fly studio at Texas Children’s Cancer Center. It’s a song she wrote and composed along with Anita Kruse, founder and executive director of Purple Songs Can Fly. The program gives patients in the cancer center the chance to compose their own songs and Spear has signed on to be a songwriter for the year, helping children with their tunes.
“Coming back to Texas Children’s has been nothing short of a full-circle experience for me,” said Spear. “It is always so humbling to be amongst children and families who are enduring the very things I endured years ago.”
Spear is a 15 year cancer survivor. She received her treatment right here at this very hospital, and now she is proud to be here hoping to inspire each child she meets. Today, her personal experience and the kids’ battles have inspired the lyrics to her latest song, No One Fights Alone. The song is about uniting in the fight against cancer and it’s dedicated to children at Texas Children’s Cancer Center and beyond. It is in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. When she opens her mouth and the song lyrics spill out, the emotions are palpable.
“Cancer can’t steal away your joy or ever dim your light,” Spear sings with raw emotion. “Cancer can’t break your spirit or take away your will to fight.”
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She said having survived cancer inspires so many areas of her life, especially her songwriting.
“I was able to grow with a completely new outlook on life,” said Spear. “I try to find joy in everything around me and it’s inspired my songs to always have a message of hope.”
“Because Christian is a childhood cancer survivor herself, she embodies the spirit of hope, courage, resilience, creativity, connection and love that we all seek,” said Kruse.
Spear’s time at the hospital is spent with the children, and it’s clear she relates to them on a different level. Being a survivor gives her a special connection with those who are still fighting the disease. Her former physician, Dr. ZoAnn Dryer, is among her many fans.
“Stories like Christian’s are what help all of us get up in the morning with a smile on our faces and literally a song, usually hers, in our hearts,” said Dryer. “Christian is a blessing to all, and I am so very proud to introduce her to my patients undergoing therapy so they can truly begin to believe there is light at the end of the ‘cancer tunnel.’”
Spear recently sang her song at a ribbon-tying ceremony which brought together patients and staff to tie more than 600 gold ribbons, each signifying one patient diagnosed with cancer at the cancer center over the last year. Nationally, more than 15,000 children will be diagnosed in one year. The cancer center also provides supportive care to children with cancer in five African counties: Botswana, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania and Swaziland.
“Our patients serve as our inspiration to provide the best quality medical and psychosocial care, conduct state-of-the art research and train our future leaders in the field,” said Dr. David Poplack, chief of Texas Children’s Cancer Center.
The ribbons will be on display all month at the children’s playground on the first floor of Abercrombie Building. It’s a small reminder of the universal message that no one fights alone.
View photos from the event
“‘No One Fights Alone’ means whether I’m battling a disease, or just having a bad day, I will never be without the love and support of my friends and family,” said Spear. “That’s what I hope to leave each listener with, love and support to bring them joy.”
Texas Children’s Cancer Center’s Making a Mark art exhibition is showing on The Auxiliary Bridge until Friday, October 3. Sponsored by the Periwinkle Foundation, this exhibit showcases art created by children ages 3 to 22 who have been affected by cancer and blood disorders. This exhibit will travel to five other Texas locations.
A kick-off party was held in the clinic September 5, prior to the exhibit’s opening September 7.
A panel of judges selected purple ribbon pieces of art they felt most effectively represented Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Young Mia Spargo clutched her stuffed animal from her seat to the microphone stand where she gently placed the stuffed cat on the floor, picked up a purple microphone and began to sing. She looked out at the audience filled with her doctors, nurses and other staff from Texas Children’s Cancer Center and sang with emotion. Her first song was titled, “God help all the kids on the planet.” The lyrics portrayed a day without cancer and a time without mothers’ tears.
“I want the staff to know they helped save my life,” said Mia in an interview before the concert.
If it weren’t for her beautiful bald head, you would never know little Mia was a cancer patient. She seems strong and energetic. Prior to the concert she was running around at full speed. She said she will never forget her doctors and nurses. Several other cancer survivors joined Mia for the Purple Songs Can Fly staff appreciation concert. The Concert was organized by the Purple Songs Can Fly group which allows children to record songs during their hospital visits on the 14th floor of the Clinical Care Center. Stephen Makia is a nine year cancer survivor who took the mic next.
“Every time I heard the word cancer, I heard death,” said Makia who credits the staff and his grandmother for helping him through the toughest days of his life.
Former American Idol contestant Christian Spear now works for Purple Songs Can Fly in a fellowship. She was a patient at Texas Children’s and dedicates her days now to the patients and staff here by using her talent of singing to bring small moments of joy.
“The work of the doctors and nurses at Texas Children’s is what saved my life 15 years ago,” said Spear who brought the audience to tears with a song dedicated to the staff.
The concert concluded with all the participants standing up to sing to the staff that has helped them make it to today followed by a standing ovation by all of the parents who stood up to thank the staff. A room filled with happy tears for the survivors who have so much to be thankful for.
Since 2008 more than 500 Texas Children’s Hospital patients with cancer and other life-limiting disorders have been photographed by Flashes of Hope. The non-profit organization hopes to change the way children with cancer see themselves and it’s doing just that here at Texas Children’s. Now those photographs will be displayed for hundreds of people who visit this year’s Fotofest at The Health Museum.
“We want to document this time together as a family,” said co-founder of the Houston chapter, Amy Spelman.
Professional photographers come to the hospital for the photo shoots and capture smiles to preserve the courage, beauty and dignity of the difficult time in each family’s life. The photographs take focus off of the sickness and bring light to the strength and beauty of a child filled with hope. It’s a chance for the kids to see themselves through a different lens.
In 2001 the parents of a child with cancer started the organization which has now grown to 55 cities across the country including Houston. The photographs are given completely free to the families. The mission, “Flashes of Hope raises funds to accelerate a cure for children’s cancer while honoring the unique life and memories of every child fighting cancer.”
The Fotofest reception on Thursday, March 6, is free and open to everyone. It’s a chance for families and caregivers of patients to come see the photographs. Spelman said there have been instances when the family of a deceased child comes to honor their memory as they view the photos on display.
“I hope they get to see something in their child’s face that maybe they’ve never seen before,” said Spelman.
Perhaps a rare smile captured in a photograph which had been hiding during treatments; a moment in time that will stay with the families and caregivers forever through photos.
The photos will remain on display at The Health Museum until Tuesday, May 6.
The Virani family is donating $2 million to Texas Children’s Cancer Center to establish and support research efforts at the Faris D. Virani Ewing’s Sarcoma Research Center, located on the 10th floor of Texas Children’s Hospital’s Feigin Center. The gift honors their 8 year old son Faris Virani’s battle with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare disease in which cancer cells are found in the bone or soft tissue. Diagnosed in January 2013, Faris is still in treatment but does not have any active disease.
The research efforts will aim to develop better diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and for a cure to become a reality for children with Ewing’s sarcoma. At a ceremony celebrating the new center, Faris presented pediatric oncologist, Dr. Jason Yustein, with a piggy bank containing the first gift towards the new research center.
Ewing’s sarcoma is the second most common bone tumor in childhood and one of the most prevalent pediatric tumors. Over the past 30-40 years because of the lack of understanding of the biology of Ewing’s sarcoma, only marginal advancements have been made in the care and management of patients with this disease. In order to develop better diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and a cure for Ewing’s sarcoma, more research need to be conducted so that efforts can be focused on improving treatment approaches.
Unfortunately, many patients with Ewing’s sarcoma experience metastatic disease that spreads to multiple sites in their body and a significant portion of patients that do respond to therapy eventually relapse. In the last 15 years, only one new chemotherapeutic agent has been introduced to the treatment regimen for patients with this disease and currently treatments are extremely intensive and may have both short and long term effects that can negatively impact lifestyle and quality of life for these patients.
As director of Texas Children’s Simulation Center and a neonatologist at Texas Children’s Newborn Center, Dr. Jennifer Arnold is a respected health care professional. But she’s no stranger to the patient side of health care, having dealt with complications from dwarfism throughout her life.
Last year, Arnold became pregnant, and the pregnancy turned into a rare but aggressive type of cancer of the uterus. In September, Arnold was diagnosed with stage 3 choriocarcinoma. The diagnosis suddenly sent her back into the world of receiving care, rather than giving it.
“I have a unique perspective in that I’ve been a patient so many times before,” Arnold said. “But having cancer leads to a little more trepidation and uncertainty. I was in that rare position of being vulnerable and knowing all the things that can go wrong.”
Due to her short stature, Arnold’s case made it somewhat challenging for doctors to determine the correct chemotherapy dosage. Her small airway meant further complications, all of which may have been tough for an adult hospital to manage. Because of her special circumstances, Texas Children’s Physician-in-Chief Dr. Mark W. Kline decided that although Arnold is an adult, Texas Children’s should take her case.
Dr. Diaz-Arrastia of Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women and Dr. Chintagumpala from Texas Children’s Cancer Center teamed up to develop a plan that included chemotherapy and removing the primary tumor. They researched intensely to find the proper dosage and ensured there was always someone on-call who could manage Arnold’s airway. Texas Children’s Drs. Nancy Glass, Jodi Muscal, David Poplack and Kim-Phuong Thi Nguyen also played key roles in her care.
“I felt so much better than I would have at an adult hospital, because I’m a different circumstance,” Arnold said. “If I wasn’t at Texas Children’s I would have been 10 times more scared. But I know the doctors and nurses here, and I know how much they care. They were so on top of things, and I’m very appreciative of how everyone came together to help.”
The perk of being surrounded not only by family and friends, but by her work family, too, delighted Arnold. Colleagues came to visit her during treatment, dropping by to show support, and even had meetings during Arnold’s hospitalization to keep her updated on projects in the Simulation and Newborn Centers.
“I’m so blessed to have a lot of friends and colleagues at the hospital,” Arnold said. “It made me feel more connected to my life.”
Arnold also notes that it was the support of her husband, Bill, two adopted children, Will, and Zoey, and her parents, who helped keep her smiling and energized during her treatment. With six rounds of chemotherapy and the surgery behind her, Arnold is rejoicing in the news that her cancer has gone into remission. She is beginning to regain her stamina and looking forward to coming back to work in early March.
“Taking care of babies is the most physically exhausting part of my job, and I can’t wait until I’m ready for that again in a few weeks,” she said. “There are so many exciting projects that we were in the middle of when I got the diagnosis, and I’m really eager to pick up where I left off. Overall though, I’m just definitely looking forward to getting back to normal life.”