60 seconds with…Jacqui Seaton
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. To mark it, we caught up with Jacqui searton, a Macmillan clinical nurse specialist in paediatric oncology, working on Rainbow Ward at Newham Hospital.
What does your job involve?
“As a children’s cancer nurse, I’m involved in treating children who have been diagnosed with cancer. I mainly look after children who have been diagnosed under the age of 16, but sometimes we look after children until they’re 18 if they have follow-up appointments.
“On Rainbow ward, we look after children with all types of cancer. The majority tend to be children with blood cancers, which are the most common types of cancer in children but we do have some children with solid tumours. We give them their chemotherapy, blood transfusions, help manage their symptoms – everything. Most patients have their treatment as an outpatient, so they don’t have to stay in overnight which is good.”
How did you start working in this area?
“I worked on rainbow ward as a sister early on in my career, before moving to do some community nursing. While doing this, I really enjoyed working with children – taking their blood tests, checking in on their progress etc. I made the decisions to move to Great Ormond Street Hospital where I had my first experience of working in children’s cancers which unfortunately was a bad one – a young child on the ward died from their cancer.
“I moved back to Newham Hospital and Rainbow ward, where I started working with children with cancer and their families again and decided to give paediatric oncology another chance. The team on Rainbow ward were great – they encouraged me to do it, and supported me when I was doing my courses – I’m really grateful.”
What’s the hardest thing about your job?
“Without a doubt, it has to be realising that some children won’t survive their cancer. For some types of children’s cancer, like lymphoma, survival rates are high. But for others, like brain tumours, they’re really low. And every child is different.
“At the moment, we have a few children who are receiving palliative care, so I’m working closely with my palliative care colleagues to look after them and also support their families.
“I don’t tell them but I know exactly what they’re going through. Ten years ago, my daughter died from cancer. She was diagnosed when she was 19, and died five years later, aged just 24. Even though I don’t tell the families I care for my own story, I think having that experience myself means I can really understand the support and care that they need. I can help them.”
What’s the best thing about your job?
“I really do love my job. In fact, I love my job so much that I came back to work at Barts Health two years ago, having been retired for five years!.
“The best part of my job has to be seeing a child doing well when they come in for their long-term follow up appointments. I see these children when they’re first diagnosed and not very well. So to see that the work I, they and others have done has worked and they’re better is just amazing.”
What would you like people to know this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month?
“It might not be as common for children to be diagnosed with cancer but it does happen. And it’s debilitating when it does – not just for the child going through treatment, but also for the whole family.
“Treatment can go on for months or even years and sometimes people have to travel for it, which often leads to one parent having to stop working. The diagnosis and treatment also has an impact on siblings. And the treatment these children get can often be very harsh and leave them with long-term side effects. The good news is we’re making progress, but there’s still work to do.”
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