Grateful patient

Family raises money to add hospital comforts

Psychologists say a “flashbulb memory” is a vivid, detailed snapshot of a consequential moment. For the Radel family of New Hartford, that moment was Aug. 26, 2021. That’s when they heard the words “Hodgkin lymphoma” applied to their otherwise healthy 17-year-old son, Luke.

Priorities shifted in an instant. College visits were replaced with chemo treatments. Senior portraits gave way to PET imaging scans. Instead of cross-country practices, Luke focused on clinical trials.

“When your child’s future is on the line, the questions are innumerous regarding treatment, symptoms, side effects, longterm effects — the list goes on. We were (and are) so grateful for the obvious skill and consideration the entire team at Upstate gave to our questions and to Luke’s treatment,” says Mary Radel, Luke’s mother. She had her own battle with lymphoma as a teenager.

She says the family relied on a supportive network of family and friends, along with the pediatric cancer care specialists at the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital — and the families they bonded with that were on similar journeys.

“Once you have slept by your child’s hospital bedside, you share a common experience that can be hard to describe, difficult to endure, impossible to forget,” Patrick Radel says.

Luke finished chemotherapy Feb. 4, 2022, and celebrated by ringing the bell at the Upstate Cancer Center. He’s a student at Syracuse University now.

“Just because I finished my battle with cancer in the medical sense does not mean that my struggle is over. Far from it,” he writes on a blog about his experience.

ARE YOU GRATEFUL?

“In the 365 days since my bell-ringing moment, I’ve come to understand that the fight has only just begun.

“All my scans have been clear since May 2022, and my quarterly checkups with the fantastic oncology team at Upstate have all been positive. I am incredibly blessed to have made it one year out from the end of treatment, still in remission.”

The Radel family wanted to give back, by helping to improve the sleeping arrangements for parents staying overnight in the hospital with their child. They established the #LimeforLuke Pediatric Cancer Fund at the Upstate Foundation, because lime is the symbolic color for lymphoma awareness. Money collected will be used to make a child’s hospital room a more comfortable place for family members to rest and restore themselves as they provide reassurance to their child through the night.

A gift of gratitude is a meaningful way to express appreciation to caregivers and help patients during their time of great need. To donate, contact the Upstate Foundation at 315-464-4416 or go to upstatefoundation.org/donate