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By Children’s Hospital of New Jersey
11/24/2009
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Meghan Gambichler’s indomitable spirit is the first thing that strikes you about this 16 year old. She has battled T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma for the past two years with the help of the Valerie Fund Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey (CHNJ), part of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. In spite of her personal struggles, Meghan continues to find ways to raise awareness of childhood cancer and the special needs of children undergoing treatment by raising funds for CHNJ’s Valerie Fund Center.
"I have great friends but I can’t expect them to really understand what I’m going through," says Meghan, who lives in Roseland, NJ. "When I go for my treatments it is important for me to have other kids there with me. We can talk, watch T.V. and play games, and before I know it my treatment is over. It makes me feel so comfortable to have other kids to talk to," she explains. "Nobody should have to go through this treatment without that sense of comfort."
To support the programs of the Valerie Fund Center at CHNJ and provide for children facing cancer in the future, Meghan has raised over $20,000 through neighborhood car washes, walkathons, selling bracelets and t-shirts, and most recently as a tribute to her grandmother who died unexpectedly in September. Among the projects the funds she has generated will help to support are transportation for children in need of treatment, new toys for the Center, and a renovation of the infusion room.
The Valerie Fund Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at CHNJ uses a multidisciplinary approach in offering comprehensive care for children and young adults with cancer. The Center provides medical and psycho-social care at the time of diagnosis, during treatment and long-term care after the end of treatment in its state-of-the-art facility. The Center is dedicated to providing everything necessary to meet the ambulatory medical needs of children and their families, and to recognize the important role every family plays in a young child’s life. Every effort is made to ensure that families are as comfortable as possible and kids are allowed to simply be kids.
Meghan was fourteen when she was first diagnosed with lymphoma. She has spent countless days in the Valerie Fund Center at CHNJ, at first on an every day basis and more recently every other week now that she is in the maintenance phase of her treatment. The ambitious high school junior has continued her education through home schooling and has even played a key role in managing her high school’s basketball team for which she will earn a varsity letter. A soccer, basketball and softball player, as well as student council member, Meghan is anxious to return to school later in the year after undergoing hip replacement surgery, required as a result of side effects of her long-term treatment.
While she has been unable to play sports, Meghan has focused on her other interests such as writing, drawing, arts and crafts and listening to music. But most notable is her resolve to raise awareness and understanding of the larger community of pediatric cancer patients through her support of CHNJ’s Valerie Fund Center. "I love proposing ideas and coming up with ways to help other children," says Meghan. "I want more people to know about the important role the Valerie Fund Center at CHNJ plays in the lives of children."
As she continues her maintenance treatment, home schooling, fundraising and hobbies, Meghan looks toward the future with abundant determination. "I’m thinking about becoming a doctor," she reflects. "After all, who better to treat someone than someone like me who has already been through cancer."
Photo above: Meghan Gambichler, 16, has raised over $20,000 to support the Valerie Fund Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, part of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
Photo courtesy of the Children’s Hospital of New Jersey
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