Peter Mac is Victoria's only specialist provider of radiation therapy services for children. We know its sometimes a daunting and stressful time for children and families, so we've put together some background information about radiation therapy services at Peter Mac, especially for the parents of our younger patients.
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Radiation therapy is the use of specific types of radiation, including high energy x-rays, to treat cancer. It is a treatment that aims to deliver a high dose of radiation to specific areas of the body, but also reduce the possibility of the rest of the body being exposed to radiation. For this to be done properly, it is important that children are kept still during treatment. When children come to pre-treatment planning appointments, custom made moulds are made to help children keep still. The treatment itself is painless (just like a regular x-ray), but the treatment equipment and environment can be frightening to children.
Children (particularly small children) who are unable to keep still for their treatment will be given an anaesthetic or sedation. A specialist team from the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) come to Peter Mac to provide this service. Children having radiation therapy will often have to travel to Peter Mac every day, five days a week for up to seven weeks. In many cases, children who require an anaesthetic in the beginning adapt to the routine and may not require it for their entire treatment. Our team are experienced in helping families cope. By spending some time with our staff, we will try to make children and their families feel less anxious about their treatment.
In recent years, we have received funding from the Peter Mac Foundation as well as the community and this has allowed us to modify the radiotherapy department to improve the treatment experience for children. There are dedicated children’s waiting areas with a range of toys and activities for different age groups. A waiting area for adolescents is also being developed. We use special lighting and music in our treatment rooms to make them more child friendly. Many young patients can now watch a portable DVD player during treatment, providing distraction and reducing boredom during longer treatments. Patients must be alone when they are having their treatment, and this can be difficult for younger children. The DVD player can be connected to a video camera outside the treatment room, so the child can watch and listen to their parent during treatment, reducing the feeling of separation.
We recognise that children can become bored returning for treatment day after day. We use a sticker page “count down” calendar to encourage them to stick with it. Other examples of reducing boredom include a lucky dip, certificates and award winning balloon art created by our balloon artiste in residence.
Many children undergoing radiation therapy find it hard to explain their treatment to their friends, school mates and extended family. Two Peter Mac radiation therapists (both named Dave) are currently producing souvenir DVDs of children’s treatment. This is the first time a program such as this has been done anywhere in the world. Each DVD is customised to the individual child, including the choice of music and in some cases the “theme” of the video. Movies for younger children are often hosted by roving puppet reporter Max Von Püppét. Older children prefer “music video” style productions. If you think your child may be interested in having their own DVD made, please ask the radiotherapy staff if you can see one.
As a way of letting children understand what radiotherapy is, at Peter Mac, a new comic style information book is being developed. Acclaimed children’s author and illustrator team Danny Katz and Mitch Vane have produced “Dr. Dave and his Amazing Radiotherapy Machine”. The book is aimed at primary school aged children, can be developed for each child and easily updated. Several other hospitals in Australia and New Zealand have already expressed interest in using it. Please check back to this page soon to read it online.
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