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Physicians & Other Providers

Teens With Cancer Share Lasting Impressions

Julian Ruffin chats with Kristen Darby and Tyesha Gary

Julian Ruffin chats with Kristen Darby (left) and Tyesha Gary at a Lasting Impressions monthly support group meeting.

Snap a digital photo to capture a typical teenager. Would it be taken at a pep rally or on a part-time job? How about in a French class or at a football game?

It certainly wouldn’t show 16-year-old in a hospital bed. Yet introduce a cancer diagnosis in a young person’s life and the picture changes dramatically. Suddenly diagnostic procedures, treatments and medical appointments overshadow the everyday routine of science, study hall and soccer practice.

“One of the biggest factors in dealing with cancer as a teenager is the sense of being different. They are in a phase of life when they want to fit in,” said Julian Ruffin, Ph.D., a clinical associate professor of pediatrics and Coordinator of Psychosocial Programs for the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Palmetto Health Richland. Isolation is another difficult pill to swallow. “During the early phases of treatment it’s often difficult to attend school regularly because of the intensity of the treatment and its side effects,” he explained.

Yet teenagers in the Midlands and throughout South Carolina don’t have to go it alone, thanks to a program provided through the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Named Lasting Impressions by the initial group of teenagers in 1986, the program addresses the unique needs of these patients and their parents.

Monthly support group meetings (separate sessions for teens and parents) are held to coincide with a Thursday clinic day when many teens are scheduled for medical appointments. Teenagers can also attend quarterly retreats and participate in projects like the Teen Link newsletter and a memory book that chronicles various activities. As the Lasting Impressions members enjoy a ski trip, a weekend at a ranch and sailing in the Chesapeake Bay, Dr. Ruffin, notes, “it’s not where we have gone, but what happens while we are there.” What happens is that teens open up to each other, sharing a gamut of feelings about the disease that has invaded their lives. Strong, supportive bonds form. “I’ve often heard teens say, ‘It’s hard for me to relate to even my good friends. With this group I don’t have to explain about my blood count or my treatment,’” said Dr. Ruffin, who serves as the program’s coordinator.

Because these teens are facing life-threatening illnesses including leukemia, brain tumors and bone cancers, a harsh reality is that some of them do not survive. “When you become a part of this group you are choosing to get to know people more intensely. One of the possible downsides is that they may not live,” said Dr. Ruffin. “Yet we see it as an upside that you got to know them,” he explained.

When there is a death, all of the members are notified, and it’s not uncommon for a number of the teenagers to attend funeral services. Teens are encouraged at the next monthly meeting to write something about the deceased member to send to his or her parents. “There is always something you can do to reach out to other people, even in death. You may have memories of someone which may really bring a laugh or a tear to a parent’s face,” said Dr. Ruffin.

Outreach is an important component of the group. Over the years the members of Lasting Impressions have provided encouragement and direction to other teen cancer groups that were just getting started. They’ve also helped raise funds for cancer research and make it an annual tradition to go Christmas caroling at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital and the Palmetto Health S.C. Cancer Center. “Like their name says, they have clearly made a lasting impression in many, many ways” said Dr. Ruffin.

While teens build camaraderie with their peers, other relationships develop at the monthly parent group meetings. “Childhood cancer is a rare thing with only 150 kids in South Carolina diagnosed with cancer a year. So the odds are that when your son or daughter is diagnosed you don’t know another child that has cancer. One of the first things these parents need is a sense that they are not alone and that there is hope for their child,” said Dr. Ruffin. As children start down the long road of treatment, parents find the group to be a helpful resource for managing the myriad of medical, family and social issues that can accompany a serious, long-term illness. “Not only do parents find they are not in the boat alone, they find comfort in that the ship is not sinking. When they hear someone say that their daughter was diagnosed in 2002, completed treatment and is doing great, they think that their child can make it too.”

As teenage patients make their way through their particular regime of surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation that their cancer requires, Lasting Impressions also helps them manage the transition back to the lifestyle they left behind. Teens may find that the day-to-day concerns of their peers seem petty or have a hard time trying to connect with old friends. Yet time and again Dr. Ruffin has seen many group members emerge from their ordeal with a new strength and maturity. “Even with lost limbs and bald heads I’ve seen them go back with a much higher degree of confidence in themselves. They are proud of what they have gone through and how they managed it,” he said.

Reprinted from Connections newsletter, February 2006

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