Helping Kids Get Their Childhood Back
“Being a pediatric social worker makes me know what it is to be human every day.” -Linda Lee, LMSW
Studying overseas in Korea, Linda saw for the first time the amazing advocacy work that social workers can do. She was always interested in helping others but had a particular interest in social justice. Witnessing for herself how social workers were able to be both “on the ground” with families and work to advocate for benefits and policies, her heart was set.
Today, she works as a Pediactric Ongology Licensed Social Worker, her specialty being brain and spinal cord tumors. “In oncology, I work with families right from the emergency room to survivorship, so I am privileged to go through the journey with our patients and families,” she said. “I have the opportunity to share and join in their challenges and resiliencies, tragedies and joys.”
Linda referred Jayda for her wish for a shopping spree
One of those joys being Make-A-Wish.
“When patients and families approach a treatment, wishes are always part of the discussions up front,” Linda said. “They give families so much hope and help them balance their quality of life amidst a new diagnosis.”
For all too many, that diagnosis is the start of a new life filled with anxiety, isolation and uncertainty.
“Depending on the illness, a child’s normal functioning and development can be compromised and require rehabilitation. So, sometimes children must physically and emotionally have to re-learn the way they move, process, and identify,” she said.
And oftentimes, a wish helps children with this “re-learning” process. “I have seen my medical team work out their treatment schedule and appointments around the wish to make it happens, because it is seen as important in a child’s care,” said Linda. “It can unite the patients, families, and providers with a goal to make something seemingly impossible happen,” said Linda.
Levaughn visited Paris with his family on his wish, made possible because of Linda's referral
For one little girl Linda worked with, her wish did exactly that.
One of the first Make-A-Wish referrals Linda was sent was a little girl who had immigrated from French-speaking Northern Africa. She wished to see her grandmother, who had moved to France. Her grandmother had raised her but when she immigrated, she had not been able to see her.
“Culturally her family was very close with all of the extended family, but it was difficult to afford a trip,” Linda said.
When her wish was granted to be reunited with her grandmother in Disneyland® Paris, suddenly she felt like anything was possible, like she was regular kid again.
That is a feeling Linda says she sees in all of her patients who receive a wish, no matter what they choose. “They sound like a child. They’re bright and energetic and they don’t hold back,” says Linda. “It is so refreshing to see this brightness in them.”
Because of Linda's referral, Joseph was able to have the trip of his life with his family.
This brightness comes from a specific place, something that medicine alone cannot always give them. “Wishes give them a space to dream and believe in something larger than themselves. It gives them hope,” says Linda.
And often, it brings families closer together and helps them see that they have a community around them, supporting them. “The wish allows children and families to focus on everything that was important to them before they faced their diagnosis and maintain a sense of familial identity throughout their medical journey,” she said. “Often they talk about these experiences for a lifetime.”
This Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Linda hopes to show these families just how many people are in their corner rooting for them. From those like herself, who kickstart the wish journey, to the volunteers that support wish discovery, and ultimately the staff, partners and donors that make the magic happen.
“There are so many lengths to go to, to make these wishes possible. Before you know it, there is a huge team supporting a child’s goals.” But for the kids themselves, Linda says, “Make-A-Wish just offers children the chance to be children.”