Cellfie Project: Young IWK patients with leukemia get to see disease at cellular level – Halifax

The largest children’s hospital in Atlantic Canada wants to make it easier for kids to understand their cancer diagnosis.

The IWK is giving children the chance to don a lab coat for the day and see the disease at a cellular level.

Dubbed the Cellfie Project, the initiative allows patients with a leukemia diagnosis to take a look at their blood and bone marrow cells under a microscope.

“I explain to them, ‘Would you like to see your cancer cells, would you like to see your healthy cells? Would you like to learn more about what’s happening to you?’” said Dr. Valérie Bourque-Riel, IWK Health Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist.

“Most of the time the answer is ‘Yes, I would love to go down to the lab to see my cells.’”

A visit to the lab makes the patient an honorary pathologist. They’re given a white coat and a USB drive with pictures of their cells.

“It’s a life-changing experience, and by life-changing I would say that some children are using the “Cellfie Stick” at school to explain to their schoolmates what is happening to them and show them why they have a central line, why they’re so pale, and losing their hair,” said Bourque-Riel.

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Kids are also given a new stuffy to take home with them. The crocheted buddies are donated and many of them were made by health-care staff.

“Having something to actually take home with them that’s adorable and they can show their friends and everything, it’s really quite wonderful,” said Allison Williams, a medical laboratory technologist.

The program launched in 2022 to help take some of the uncertainty out of navigating a cancer diagnosis. Since then, it has continued to grow to help more patients.

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