Tag Archive for: MIBG treatment

Leading The Way in MIBG Therapy

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Dawn Bartock

We are very fortunate to have Atrium Health’s Levine Children’s Hospital and an incredible pediatric nurse practitioner who is leading the charge with MIBG Therapy in our region.

Dawn Bartock, MSN, CPNP, CPHON, is the MIBG Therapy Program Lead at Levine Children’s Hospital. Being a nurse is all she has ever wanted to do. Dawn started her nursing career in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, including time with Pediatric Hospice, then joined Levine Children’s Hospital from 2005-2011. She obtained her nurse practitioner degree in 2011 and left LCH to further her career in Pediatric Oncology at Texas Children’s Hospital and at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where she was the MIBG Therapy Nurse Practitioner. 

After Levine Children’s Hospital got the green light to build an MIBG Therapy Suite, Dr. Oesterheld – Dawn’s mentor – tapped her to lead the MIBG Therapy Program literally from the ground up. So in 2015, Dawn returned to Charlotte and to Levine Children’s Hospital. What started as a side project while she was working clinically as a nurse practitioner on the inpatient oncology unit, has become a full-time position where Dawn oversees every aspect of planning and building the ISF MIBG Therapy Suite. 

“Being a part of the MIBG Therapy Suite construction process has been rewarding and fun,” said Dawn who is currently taking a break from the clinical part of her job, which will resume when the MIBG room opens later this year. “I feel like the jack of all trades and love been involved in this project.”

Not only does she bring her previous MIBG experience to her role and vision of what this state-of-the-art MIBG program should entail, Dawn has a connection to Isabella. During her first stint at Atrium Health in the outpatient clinic, Dawn was one of Isabella’s nurses who assisted the oncology team with writing chemo orders, scheduling scans, and helping Erin and the family with questions and concerns throughout therapy. 

“Isabella was always a sweetheart who had the sweetest little voice,” said Dawn. “One of my biggest memories of Isabella is the relationship she had with her brother, Grant, and them holding hands during clinic visits. It is very exciting to be involved in Isabella’s legacy.”

Levine Children’s Hospital will be 1 of 20 hospitals to have a MIBG Treatment room in the U.S. and the only location in the Charlotte region. The two-room MIBG suite will provide targeted radiation to pediatric neuroblastoma patients with minimal side effects. This will impact kids fighting cancer beyond the greater Charlotte region and will eventually expand to include adults with rare tumors.

“It is very important that we tailored the suite to the patient and the family while keeping safety for the patients and staff the top priority,” said Dawn.

Patients will stay in the MIBG room 3-7 days after they get their injection. The suite is designed with an adjoining room for parents to stay and to be more involved with the day-to-day care of the patient. The MIBG room will have a giant viewing window and a close-circuit monitor for staff to have constant video access – and even remote access – to the patient. Area organizations and businesses are helping fund items such as parent gift baskets, iPads for the patients and specialized sheets that patients can choose upon their arrival. 

“There is a lot of support in Charlotte with the Isabella Santos Foundation, other wonderful organizations and from throughout our community to create a welcoming, positive and comfortable experience for the patients,” said Dawn. “This is an exciting time for the Isabella Santos Foundation and Levine Children’s Hospital.”

We are looking for individuals who want to be part of providing comfortable care for the kids/families that go through MIBG Treatment. Our MIBG Ambassador Program gives you the flexibility of raising $5,000 the way you want to raise it… 100% of funds raised through this program will be distributed very specifically through our LCH partnership with this very targeted MIBG purpose. {You do not have to be located in Charlotte to participate, contact Tia for details}

 

MIBG Construction Update #5, Levine Children’s Hospital

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MIBG Therapy Room, Patient/parent room dividing lead brick wall with ISF signed brick

25,000 lbs of lead bricks… that’s a whole lot of lead. But that is the necessary requirements to protect and manage MIBG Therapy safely for patients, family and staff.  Construction of the ISF MIBG Treatment Suite at Levine Children’s Hospital is progressing on schedule.  We got another peak at the room and how far it has come since we were there in early July and got to talk with MIBG Therapy Program Lead, Dawn, about her MIBG training and mock trial plans once construction wraps up. We are getting close!

10,000 pounds of lead brick has been installed in the adjoining wall between the patient and parent room.  Back in March when we announced the Therapy Suite, many of our 3 Wish Circle Members and sponsors signed a lead brick to commemorate the significance of their part in bringing this type of therapy to our region.  What was also special, doctors and nurses who treated Isabella during her time at Levine Children’s Hospital were in attendance and signed the brick.  We were excited to see where the ISF signed lead brick will be placed in the patient/parent room dividing wall (white brick in photo)… drywall goes up next week and it will become a lasting print in Levine History!

UPDATE:

  • Patient & parent bathroom framing
  • Plumbing install
  • ISF signed lead brick placement
  • Drywall starts next week

MIBG CONSTRUCTION UPDATES & PROGRESS PHOTOS

Over $21,000 has been raised by our ISF MIBG Ambassadors.  Want to be part of providing comfortable care for the kids/families that go through MIBG Treatment?  Our new MIBG Ambassador Program gives you the flexibility of raising $5,000 the way you want to raise it… 100% of funds raised through this program will be distributed very specifically through our LCH partnership with this very targeted MIBG purpose. {You do not have to be located in Charlotte to participate, contact Tia for details}

MIBG Therapy Room, Patient bathroom framing

MIBG Therapy Room, ISF signed lead brick

 

 

MIBG Therapy Room, ISF signed lead brick. Dawn Bartock & Rachel Wood

MIBG Therapy Room, Patient lead brick wall

MIBG Therapy Room, entrance to patient room. Parent door to the left

MIBG Construction Update #4, Levine Children’s Hospital

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MIBG Therapy Room, Patient/parent room dividing lead brick wall

Look at all the lead work that has been done since our site visit on the new ISF MIBG therapy suite at Levine Children’s Hospital…

  • Lead brick walls installed
  • Lead window frame and door frames installed
  • Lead ceiling installed
  • Reinstalling overhead utilities.

MIBG Therapy Program Lead, Dawn, shared with us that a Pediatric Grand Rounds (accredited healthcare eduction) is being held on MIBG therapy and immunotherapy tomorrow.  Many residents and other medical staff have been very inquisitive about the new room and therapy it will offer.  Dawn and Dr. Oesterheld are currently working on the formal education for residents and hospitalists that will take place in the coming months.

Signed MIBG lead brick

We are excited to learn that the lead brick that was signed at the the March 9th MIBG celebration will be placed in the wall in the coming weeks.  On this day we were joined on by our 3 Wish Circle Members and sponsors who helped us make this room a reality.  What was also special, doctors and nurses who treated Isabella during her time at Levine Children’s Hospital were  in attendance. Everyone in attendance signed a piece of Levine history as the lead brick will become part of the suite during construction.

Almost $14,000 has been raised by our ISF MIBG Ambassadors.  Want to be part of providing comfortable care for the kids/families that go through MIBG Treatment?  Our new MIBG Ambassador Program gives you the flexibility of raising $5,000 the way you want to raise it… 100% of funds raised through this program will be distributed very specifically through our LCH partnership with this very targeted MIBG purpose. {You do not have to be located in Charlotte to participate, contact Tia for details}

Learn more about MIBG Therapy and what’s coming to Levine Children’s Hospital.

 

MIBG Therapy Room, Patient Room Corridor Framing

 

MIBG Therapy Room, Patient Room Viewing Window

ISF MIBG Ambassador: Creative Fundraising

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MIBG Ambassador Charity Salon Night

Our fundraisers are getting creative… and we love it! Courtney, a first-time ISF fundraiser committed to become an MIBG Ambassador this year. Last night she hosted a charity salon night at Petals Nails & Brow Boutique who generously offered to extend the hours of their salon and donate 20% of their sales for the evening. Girls night out, pedis, manis, wine, sweets and a few prizes… Courtney raised $550! Thank you Courtney for the creative fundraising idea, thoughtful touches on the evening, and thank you Petals Nail & Brow Boutique for supporting our community.

With the ISF MIBG Therapy Suite currently under construction at Levine Children’s, our MIBG Ambassadors are busy fundraising to ensure that we are preparing for the kids and families who will be entering this program. Learn more about what it means to become an MIBG Ambassador and how you can directly impact a child being treated with cancer.

MIBG Construction Update #3, Levine Children’s Hospital

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Holy cow what a cool morning. Earlier today our team visited the ISF MIBG construction site at Levine Children’s. To set foot into the pediatric cancer therapy site that your dollars support is surreal!

In the pictures you will see a couple of things. The space on the right will be the patient room, the space on the left will be the parent/guardian room… in between you will notice a large steel door frame where the lead lined door will be placed. The huge structural steel beams have been set underneath the floors and on the ceiling… these are required to hold the weight of the lead bricks that are encompassing the room to protect and manage the MIBG Therapy safely for both patients, family and staff. Lead bricks have been installed partially on one wall. (Insider scoop: the construction team may or may not have broken two elevators getting them up to the 11th floor. That’s how heavy the lead bricks are.)

It was impressive to learn that the lead lined doors and windows will be thicker than any other MIBG Therapy room doors/windows in the country which will provide the best radiation protection during this cancer therapy. Looking forward to sharing these pictures.

The LCH team is getting ready prepping. Nurse Dawn, MIBG Therapy Program Director, has been super busy creating program materials, administering the core nursing education, and have learned from support staff such as radiation safety, child life specialists and bone marrow transplant coordinators. The MIBG nursing team has had a conference call with Nationwide Children’s Hospital where they were given the opportunity to ask experienced MIBG nurses what they have learned, what they would change, their fears, ect. That’s pretty cool.

We are looking for individuals who want to be part of providing comfortable care for the kids/families that go through MIBG Treatment. Our new MIBG Ambassador Program gives you the flexibility of raising $5,000 the way you want to raise it… 100% of funds raised through this program will be distributed very specifically through our LCH partnership with this very targeted MIBG purpose. {You do not have to be located in Charlotte to participate, contact Tia for details}

Learn more about MIBG Therapy and what’s coming to Levine Children’s Hospital.