Community Corner
J-School Project: Child Life Specialist at SBU Cancer Center
Melissa Chan offers view into life of Jordan Sharaby and her patients.
This is the first installment in a series of profiles on Stony Brook University journalism students' senior project submissions. They range from Latina teen pregnancies to craft breweries on Long Island. Check back every day for further editions.
For her project, Stony Brook senior Melissa Chan chronicled the life of Lauren Sharaby, a 27-year-old child life specialist at the Stony Brook University Cancer Center.
Like many of the children she works with, Sharaby is familiar with frequent hospital visits as a patient, having been born with a craniofacial abnormality called Crouzon syndrome. Thus, she can recognize the value of companionship during a long-term stay at a hospital. She knows it can make a significant difference.
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Sharaby holds a strong relationship with 6-year-old Jordan Thomas, who was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, or a soft-tissue muscle tumor, in his thigh, necessitating several rounds of chemotherapy and resulting hair loss and other challenges.
Child life specialists - there are four at the center - comfort their patients and ease their fears. Specialists coordinate activities throughout the day, whether it's arts and crafts day or lugging out toys with which they can play.
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Read more about child life specialists at SBU by visiting melissalichan.com