In the pursuit of comfort, a surprise delivery awaits
Posted on February 1, 2019
If you had the chance to pay it forward would you?
After overcoming a major hurdle in her personal life, our associate Kristina Misiaszek did just that. In 2014 Kristina was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. As a result of her diagnosis, she underwent ostomy surgery.
Now in remission for the past three years, she decided that she wanted to help others who are currently going through the same thing she went through years ago. She recently came across the “Awesome Ollie” teddy bears and books. Feeling drawn to support children going through a similar experience, she decided to donate these bears and books to a local children’s hospital. Learning that the teddy bears cost $26 each and the books run at $11 apiece, Kristina knew she needed help to make her donation.
She reached out to her Facebook followers and asked if anyone would like to help support her mission. She was pleasantly surprised how quickly a group of her friends and family came forward to help her out.
“My heart is so full right now! Because of the generous donations from my family and friends, I’m able to donate 10 Awesome Ollie Ostomy Bear and 5 Awesome Ollie children’s books to the Baystate Children’s Hospital Pediatric Procedures Unit for kids with gastroenterological conditions. I’ll be personally delivering the gifts on January 30. Going through this procedure as an adult was rough and I could never imagine how a child feels. I hope Ollie and his story bring a smile to a little face and hope to their family.”
Upon receiving her order, Kristina reached out to Sarah Framarin, M.ED., CCLS, CTRS Child Life Specialist III, Pediatric Procedure Unit at Baystate Childrens Hospital to arrange her surprise delivery. Sarah was excited to receive this generous and thoughtful gift on behalf of the children.
Life after an ostomy surgery is a major adjustment. The support and help of others is key, according to Kristina. With the body having a major physical change, one’s mental state also needs to be addressed. Providing comfort to a child in one of their darkest moments may just be the little bit of reassurance they need to know everything will be okay.
Comments are currently closed.