Badge of Honor: Toddler battling cancer becomes part of Gundersen care team
Every time child life specialist Rachael Kaiser looks down at her purple tennis shoes, she’s reminded she can do hard things. That phrase is engraved on a small metal plate that’s attached to her shoelaces. She, in turn, reminds her patients that they can do hard things.
“We’re telling kids they can do hard things. I can do hard things. We can all do hard things,” says Rachael. On a typical day, Rachael and her colleagues can be found at patients’ bedsides, educating hospitalized kids about procedures and giving them opportunities to have fun.
Patients like three-year-old Lyllith Buck.
On Sept. 5, Lyllith’s mom brought her to Gundersen Health System’s Urgent Care for a swollen finger. During the exam, her nurse and doctor both noticed something – Lyllith seemed to have unexplained, unusual bruising and looked pale. Bloodwork and X-rays were ordered and confirmed that Lyllith had acute myeloid leukemia (AML). She started treatment just three days later.
Lyllith’s care team rallies to make sure she can still be a kid
Lyllith receives chemotherapy at Gundersen and then remains there for several weeks, as she has no cells left to fight infection. Meanwhile, Lyllith’s parents, Sara and Travis, continue work and care for their other two daughters at home.
Even though she spends weeks in the hospital, nurses and child life specialists – like Rachael – and volunteers have rallied together to make sure Lyllith can still be a kid.
After noticing the toddler loved to pull on employee badges, one nurse made Lyllith her very own. It proudly states Future RN.
“She put it on and said, ‘Me!’” nurse Mackenzie Rickleff says, who helped admit Lyllith to the hospital in September. “She likes to be involved in her care…she’ll hold the stethoscope or thermometer. She thinks she’s a nurse.”
‘You become their second family’
Besides learning what it takes to be a nurse, what else does a three-year-old do with her free time?
“Laps. She does laps around the unit. She pushes a lawn mower or a walker,” says Mackenzie, who knew she wanted to be a nurse from a young age. “As hard as it is taking care of patients with cancer, we’re able to get to know them well. You become their second family.”
While Mackenzie administers medications through an IV and Rachael does her rounds throughout the halls, Lyllith – proudly wearing her Gundersen badge – does her laps. And everyone who sees her is reminded that, just like Lyllith, they can do hard things.