USA

22 December 2015  

Skyler Ware leans against her hospital bed. It’s a standard-issue white-on-white-on-white contraption, but she’s added a few colorful accents in the weeks since taking up residence on the 14th floor of Texas Children’s Hospital. There’s the fuzzy, Seuss-like stuffed animal she picked out at the gift shop and a smattering of craft projects, including two purple and red pillows she made weeks ago at the hospital.
The bursts of brightness help bring cheer to what can be a dreary place for a 13-year-old with cystic fibrosis.

“I like crafts,” Skyler says, staring at her fingers as she fiddles with a sheet of smiley-face stickers.

That’s why the hours between 6:30 and 8:15 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays have become a highlight of her week. During that time, volunteers host a radio show on the 16th floor. Skyler and other young patients can call in with requests (Justin Bieber requests are Skyler’s specialty) or tell a joke. At the beginning of the program, the deejay announces a craft project for the evening, and volunteers carry baskets of supplies through the hallways, filled with construction paper, glitter and other materials.

The goal is simple: to provide care, comfort, play and entertainment to sick children in hospitals around the globe.

The Houston chapter of Radio Lollipop launched at Texas Children’s in 1999. The program was founded in the United Kingdom in 1979, and now includes 26 stations across five countries. Houston’s chapter is one of two in the United States; the other is in Florida.

“This is something that gives the kids a voice,” said Debbie Prout, head volunteer at Houston’s Radio Lollipop. Globally, more than 10,000 volunteers have participated in Radio Lollipop since its inception.

Prout is Houston’s only original volunteer from 1999 who still is involved. During that time, she has met thousands of kids. Some only stay for a day or two, while others need longer term care.

“They get a kick out of adults coming down to their level and acting silly,” said Prout, who wears a nametag that says “Dingy Debbie” and a silly hat during her rounds.

For Skyler, who spent 25 of November’s 30 days in the hospital – including Thanksgiving Day – Radio Lollipop is a welcome break.

“They entertain me when I’m feeling down,” she said. “They make me feel better.”

Though she’s undergoing special care for her disease, Skyler is a regular teenager, too. She wears cute new boots her Mimi bought for her on Black Friday and says Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” is one of her favorite songs – especially because its music video also features Selena Gomez.

Skyler’s mother, Crystal Gill, spends much of her time perched on the spare bed set up in the corner of Skyler’s room, working on her own crafts or taking a nap. But she has to find somewhere else to go at Radio Lollipop time.

“Mommy gets kicked out of the room,” Gill says, laughing. “I have to walk in the hallways, talk to the nurses so she can do her craft and everything.”

Gill is thankful for the program.

“As parents, it makes us feel better knowing they’re doing things for the kids … and that it’s just not all about the serious treatment things going on,” Gill says.

While Skyler prefers working on crafts in the privacy of her room, other patients slide into their slippers and take the elevator to the 16th floor to spend time in the studio, introducing songs and telling jokes.

Logan Myers, a 9-year-old from Conroe, shuffles into the studio wearing Storm Trooper slippers. He climbs into a chair at the deejay’s table and pulls on a pair of headphones. Logan already has completed his craft for the evening: drawing red polka dots on an elephant cut from yellow construction paper.

“It was my uncle’s idea to come up here tonight,” Logan says, pointing to his uncle sitting a few feet away on a bench tucked into the corner of the studio.

Clad in blue-and-orange camouflage pajamas, with a surgical mask hanging just below his mouth, Logan starts off shy. But after a few minutes of banter with deejay Kelly Williams (who goes by Cowboy Kelly on the air), he’s out of his shell, requesting “The Gummy Bear Song” and telling a joke about a family of tomatoes.

By the time 14-year-old Kenneth Harris sits down next to him, Logan and Williams are having a contest to see who can yell “Yeehaw” into the microphone the loudest.

Kenneth is no stranger to Radio Lollipop. When he was younger, he spent dozens of nights in the hospital for treatment of a heart condition. But on this Thursday night in December, Kenneth is in the hospital for moral support, visiting his older sister who is staying for an operation. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pop into the studio that had brought him so many smiles over the years.

“The show gives people who are sick something to do and something to listen to,” Kenneth says, after barking along to the chorus of “Who Let the Dogs Out” with Williams and Logan. “It gives them something to wake up to if they can get up. And it makes things better. It gives you something to look forward to.”

The show provides relief in other ways, too. A 2009 study found that after participating in the Radio Lollipop craft activity, patients reported a significant decrease in their overall anxiety. The study also showed a reduction in perceived pain.

“It really does a lot for the kids,” says Prout after finishing her rounds for the evening. But it takes a big team to make it happen.

Most nights, the station is staffed with close to a dozen volunteers. But with patients scattered across 10 floors – and the need for volunteers in the studio – Prout says “about 20 volunteers” would be ideal.

“It’s the highlight of my week,” says volunteer Greg Van Sickler, who dons a silly hat and walks crafts from room to room on Thursday nights. “You’re making kids smile, you’re making them happy. I mean, what’s better than that?”

MORE INFORMATION

Volunteer

For information on volunteering on Radio Lollipop, call 832-824-2257, email volunteerservices@texaschildrenshospital.org, or go to https://waystogive.texaschildrens.org/volunteer.

(original story by The Houston Chronicle)