Almost all children also go to a shared care center during their treatment. Shared care is joint care. This allows them to receive care close to home in case of acute complications, sudden fever, acute illness, blood transfusion or a feeding problem. Pushes or short (day) clinical courses of chemotherapy are also given in the pediatric unit of a shared care center. The pediatric departments of the hospitals with which the Princess Máxima Center collaborates are located in Amsterdam (UMC), Ede, Eindhoven, Enschede, Delft, Den Bosch, Deventer, Goes, Groningen (UMC), Hoorn, Leeuwarden, Rotterdam (UMC), Venlo and Zwolle. Thomas and Fenna are two of the many children who also attend a shared care center. What do they and their mothers think about it?
Transfer
Thomas (9) enjoys playing a game of air field hockey with his mother Sanne. The air hockey table is in the middle of the playroom in the pediatric ward of Hospital Gelderse Vallei in Ede. Thomas is right at home there because he has been under treatment for ALL by pediatrician Charlotte Drykoningen and pediatric nurse Karin Achterberg and her colleagues for a year and a half. His mother Sanne explains, ‘We are regularly in Ede for blood tests. The lab technicians know him, he doesn't care when he gets a finger prick, because that has happened so many times here.' Just today Thomas has a full stamp card (3 times pricked) and he picks a pencil and eraser from the gift box. Mother Sanne: ‘It saves us little travel time, but in acute situations it is nice to be as close as possible. We are very well taken care of in Ede, the pediatricians and the pediatric nurses know us. Everyone is so friendly! We also like to come to the Máxima Center because this is the main location for treatment and the parent-child rooms are very pleasant. But the most important thing is of course good care and good transfer. That everyone knows who we are and what is going on with Thomas, both in the Máxima Center and in Ede. Thomas: ‘It doesn't matter to me where I have to go, to the Gelderse Vallei or to the Máxima Center. Mom or dad always go with me. I like the playroom in Ede and I think Koos Kikker is pretty funny. In the Máxima Center I love going to the Muziekids studio, but also to other things.'
Feeling at home
Fenna (10) walks into the pediatric ward with her golden booties and is immediately greeted by Rebecca Verstijnen, one of the pediatric oncology nurses, Suzan Baken, child life specialist, and pediatrician Carien Miedema from the Catharina Hospital. To top it off, two Cliniclowns come around the door with their heads and look very jealously at the golden booties. Fenna knows her way around the children's ward, grabbing the craft drawer, the bubble wrap drawer and something from the games shelf. She recently celebrated the end of her two-year treatment for ALL in Eindhoven with the whole team and a delicious cake. Her mother Marianne says: ‘We come from Helmond, so the Catharina Hospital is much closer to us than the Máxima Center. It is very convenient for blood tests. We were also here every other day for seven weeks for an infusion (Erwinase) and once for admission when Fenna developed a fever. Partly because of the small size, the atmosphere here in Eindhoven is very good. Everyone is friendly and helpful. On Wednesday afternoons, Fenna often brought her friend and we tried to make it as comfortable as possible. The appointments between the Máxima Center and the Catharina Hospital were usually well arranged. As a parent, you get very worried when you can't rely on that. Fenna mentions other advantages of the Catharina Hospital: the visiting dog, the Cliniclowns and the handicrafts. And the big advantage of the Máxima Center? The sweet baristas. We had a nice tradition at the Máxima Center to get a nice coffee and a babychino (children's coffee) at the coffee bar in the morning,’ say Fenna and Marianne in unison.