In our January’s blog post, we mentioned a publication called Wavelength. Developed by teens and for teens, Wavelength is the brainchild of New York-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and its’ Poet-in-Residence, Thomas Dooley. The first issue of the magazine was released in the fall of 2016. Teens in treatment shared their powerful and heartfelt experiences through art, poetry and creative writing. Many of
Celebrate National Children’s Craft Day
Today is National Children’s Craft Day. Celebrated in connection with National Craft Month, this day raises awareness about the infinite, imaginative possibilities of arts & crafts. We think today is the perfect opportunity to show off some creative art from our patients as we highlight the great work of the Alfano Family Arts in Medicine Studio here at Columbia.
New Year, New Resolutions
Happy 2017! It’s a new year and with it comes new resolutions. For many, resolutions are a way to develop new habits, improve their lives or to achieve long-standing goals. For some, resolutions are all about reaffirming their commitment to a belief or an ideal. At Hope & Heroes, we fall into the latter category
A Mom’s Thoughts on Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
As we come to the end of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we want to share with you a message from Alison Meletta Kucich. Ali, a writer, is the mom of three wonderful boys including Xander, who is a pediatric cancer survivor. The Kucich family is a part of the Hope & Heroes community, and we are
Why I Do What I Do
At Hope & Heroes, we are surrounded by doctors who love what they do, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy- their days are long and the work is never over. However, they know that what they do changes the lives of the patients and families they treat. We want to share with you a
A Family Fight Against Sickle Cell Disease
Three years ago, Dr. Monica Bhatia came to our office and told us she had a family in the clinic that had starting fundraising for Sickle Cell Disease, but needed a charity partner to help, and would we like to meet them. The answer- of course! Little did we know that meeting Jayden Salomon and his family
Our Nurses are MVPs!
There is not one patient family that we talk to that doesn’t tell us about the impact of the nurses in the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation here at Columbia University Medical Center. Today, we want to share with you the above and beyond efforts of our nursing team, and invite
A Columbia Patient at the Top of Her Class
Natalia Famous is already living up to her last name. This 21 year old is living with Sickle Cell disease and just graduated Summa Cum Laude from Mercy College with a BS in Speech Pathology and as Valedictorian of her class. Her nurse practitioner, Maureen Licursi, said Natalia is a “testament of hope, strength and courage” and
My Eight Year Old Taught Me to Love Fundraising
Since 2010, Team Sienna has loudly and proudly raised over $100,000 for the Hope & Heroes Walk. People may see that number and assume we’ve gotten there through large donations, but it’s exactly the opposite. We’ve learned that lots of little things can go a long way. I’ve been actively fundraising for pediatric cancer since
Time For A Change
The last words I heard on my first day at Hope & Heroes were “We’ll make it up – it’ll be fun!” The date was April 28th, 2005, and my new colleague was Heather Maloney, then the Executive Director. She was completely right; not only has it been fun, it has also been some of