December ended with a flurry — a flurry of activity on the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit. Erin, our Program Director, received notice that THREE childhood cancer patients would spend the holiday on the BMT Unit. Most stay on the unit for a month or more.

The BMT Unit is an adult unit with pediatric patients. Being in this adult unit can be a lonely experience for a family who hunkers down in the hospital room. Connor’s Heroes is one of a handful of nonprofits who is allowed on the BMT unit when doctors admit a pediatric patient.

When Erin learns a hero child is about to be admitted, she contacts a team of volunteers. They have the fun assignment of decorating the hospital room! Your donations allow them to shop for decorations, bedding, decor, and activities picked for that child. Because every child is different. They decorate every room differently.

You can see for yourself. Scroll through pictures of three rooms decorated for three hero patients: Alejandra (14 yrs old), Caleb (16 yrs old), and Isaiah (10 yrs old). You can see who loves Spiderman, Christmas, and music. We have to thank Juliana Martinez, Ellen Purcell and Martia Jones for taking time during the holidays to be on the unit decorating these rooms.

The good news is the care and comfort of a child admitted on the BMT Unit will change when the Wonder Tower opens in 2023.

Pediatric oncologists, care staff, nurses, researchers, and child life specialists finally will be together on the hematology and oncology floor, including pediatric BMT patients.

Connor’s Heroes will be there with them.

We will open five spaces in the new inpatient children’s hospital. The Connor’s Heroes BMT Play Room will be a fun multi-purpose space designed with the health needs of the BMT patient in mind. In The Jamie Hess Bone Marrow Transplant Lab, staff will prepare transplant supplies without having to leave the unit. This will maximize efficiency and quality of a child’s bone marrow transplant. We named the lab after Jamie Hess, who died from leukemia in 2002.
Learn more about Connor’s Heroes Rooms Filled With Hope on our website: www.connorsheroes.org/rooms-filled-with-hope/