Where Miracles Happen
Kaela Teho is living proof of the great things that happen at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, thanks to the Children’s Miracle Network. Hawaii loves a celebration. From baby’s first luau to sister’s graduation party to tutu
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Hawaii loves a celebration. From baby’s first luau to sister’s graduation party to tutu and papa’s 50th wedding anniversary, we always look for a reason to gather with family and friends to have a good time.
This year is no exception at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. For starters, 2008 marks the hospital’s silver anniversary of making miracles happen through the Kapiolani Children’s Miracle Network (KCMN). That’s 25 years of raising both awareness of and funds for Hawaii’s sole pediatric specialty hospital and high-risk maternity center.
“If we weren’t here, our children wouldn’t have access to all the types of specialized care we have here,” states Martha Smith, Kapiolani’s COO. “We don’t just take care of children here, we take care of families.”
What first began as a televised fundraiser created by Marie Osmond and John Schneider in 1983 has grown into a nationwide success. Kapiolani became a CMN hospital the following year, going on to raise more than $8 million. The good news keeps on coming, as 100 percent of that money stays in Hawaii to support not just the medical needs of Hawaii’s keiki, but to pay for medical equipment, assist with Neighbor Island travel, educate the public and fund research.
“The neat thing about Kapiolani is that we do not refuse care regardless of race, religion or ability to pay,” says Stacy Acma, KCMN coordinator. “We will do whatever is necessary to take care of a child.”
That open-arms policy makes Kapiolani feel more like a warm, inviting home rather than a hospital. At least that’s what it felt like for Kaela Teho, this year’s Champion Child who is representing the state of Hawaii as part of CMN’s Champions Across America, presented by CO-OP Financial Services.
“Everybody’s nice, and they made it a lot easier. Every staff person, every nurse we’ve ever encountered has been really kind, really good with the kids,” remembers Kendis, Kaela’s mother.
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“That’s why I sorta like it here,” interjects the excited Iolani second-grader. “It can be fun sometimes, and Dr. Bob (Robert Wilkinson, pediatric oncologist at Kapiolani) is funny. I got to sit in the playroom, that’s a really fun part. And I got to eat whatever I wanted!”
At 8 years old, Kaela has a gusto for life and compassion for others most adults never obtain. Maybe that is because she’s had to face challenges most of us never will. When Kaela was just 5 years old, she began having high fevers and severe abdominal pains.
Kaela explains, “I had what they thought was the flu for a few months ... it wasn’t really the flu.”
What her pediatricians at Kapiolani discovered was that her liver and spleen were enlarged, and after referrals to various specialists at the hospital, Kaela was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
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While this blood cancer is the most common form of pediatric cancers, Kaela still faced health hardships such as infections, several bouts of pneumonia and difficult side-effects from the chemotherapy regimen. After more than two years of treatments, she completed her chemotherapy this past September - just in time for her birthday, and Halloween.
“What’s great is some of the things she remembers about a terrible experience of going through cancer treatment are some of the fun things like the nurses and the playroom,” smiles Acma. “I think the hospital’s doing a great job of taking the experience of a terrible, uncontrollable thing and making it something that both the family and the little one can bear.”
So how did Kaela celebrate being cancer free? By hosting (for a second year in a row!) a special trick-or-treating fundraiser for Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps children with cancer and their families. Kaela and volunteers ended up raising close to $10,000 that night, 10 times more than what she had originally anticipated. Kaela also transformed her 7th birthday party in 2006 into a beach cleanup where party-goers were told to bring donations for the World Wildlife Fund in lieu of presents. She is already making plans to volunteer with the Hawaiian Humane Society and, when she is old enough, Kapiolani Medical Center.
“Not everyone does recycling and volunteer work and work toward animals and making things better,” Acma says. “So even though she wasn’t feeling very good, and things were kind of hard when she was going through treatment, she still wanted to help others. I think that’s a big part of what makes her a champion - she’s been through a lot of challenges and
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