Monday the 29th of July

Today was our first full day at the hospital. Upon arrival, the children have to get blood drawn and some other checks to make sure that their bodies are okay to get the chemo later in the day. After they finish their initial tests, they make their way to the procedure room, which is where we are. 4 kids ended up coming today, between the ages of 4 and 8 of which three were in the maintenance phase where they only have to come into the hospital once a month to avoid the cancer coming back. There was one child that was in ongoing treatment so we will be seeing her again on Thursday. Along with the Kythe representatives in the hospital and an intern, we started the day with a ‘playdate’ where there was a presentation about nutrition with a story and a dance. We then moved on to making fruits out of playdough, trying to make it as colourful as possible. After a while, the children started to do their own thing, so we would play with them and make sure they were having fun. It wasn't always easy to interact with the kids due to the language barrier so they would understand what we said but reply in Tagalog/Cebuano leaving us in a bit of a mystery, nonetheless, we still managed to have a good time with them and communicate in other manners.

A large part of the day for these kids consists of waiting. First, they have to wait until they are given their treatment which can take anywhere from 1 to 5 hours. We were there to try and make them as comfortable as possible but it was hard to see the discomfort that they were feeling while getting their treatment, and knowing that we couldn’t do much to help. Despite the difficulties, the sense of community and positive spirit in the room was beautiful and allowed for the kids to still be kids despite being in the hospital the whole day.

What was particularly difficult however was when they took one of us to see one of the terminally ill patients, he had relapsed and chemo wasn't working for him anymore. His parents made the hard decision to focus on the quality of life that he had

left and stop giving him treatment. It was hard seeing him in so much pain and seeing the worry in his parents' eyes. He wasn't responsive to the toys we brought him, and understandably so, he only said he wanted to go home. He was getting discharged from the hospital that day so he could spend some time at home rather than in the hospital. The walk back was quiet and gave us some time to reflect. 

For a first day, it went really well and we are both delighted to have come here as now we truly can see that Kythe makes a big difference in the lives of these children. If you look into the adult chemo rooms, it is completely sterile and silent, without Kythe, the children would be forced to spend their whole day sitting in a chair with almost nothing to do. The foundation allows them to still be children in the hospital and it is lovely to see the joy on their faces knowing all the hardships they have and are going through.