Less Fearful. More Friendly.
Part of seeing children fully means understanding that living with a disease can be overwhelming, confusing, and more than a little frightening. Cohen Children’s Medical Center is proud to have a Child Life program with trained specialists who strive to reduce anxiety and fear by helping children and their families understand medical procedures and hospital routines for both inpatient and outpatient visits. Through medical play, preparation, and a full agenda of fun events and activities, our Child Life Specialists allow our young patients to not let the fear of illness prevent them from being a kid.
Kid Patients. Grown-up Problems.
Dialysis and the search for a kidney donor can be a lengthy and difficult process, even for an adult. At Cohen Children’s Medical Center, we aim to make the diagnosis of renal failure as manageable as possible for children and their families, who often need to travel for the care they need. That’s why we’ve opened our first pediatric kidney transplant program. We see more than 1,100 patients with kidney disease each year, including 50 with end-stage renal failure and 13 undergoing dialysis. The result? Our kids with kidney failure get to spend less time getting to their treatment, and more time enjoying being kids.
The Real Story: Zara Dipu
Zara was born with chronic kidney disease. As an infant, she required up to 12 hours of dialysis each day, leaving her and her family emotionally drained and desperate for relief. Shortly after she turned 2, her father received the call – a matching kidney was found!
Zara was brought to Cohen Children’s for a transplant and it was a complete success. Upon returning home, she asked, “Is it time for dialysis?” Her ecstatic parents replied that for the first time in her young life, it was not. And now, the smiling toddler is living her childhood to the fullest – trying new foods and dancing through life.
Fundraise with us today. Be a Champion of Childhood and help Cohen Children’s Medical Center care for our littlest patients and their families.