Vanderbilt Celebrates 10 years of Chemo Duck

Chemo Duck turns 10

For ten years Chemo Duck has helped thousands of children treated for cancer across the globe.

Organizers of Chemo Duck held a birthday party to mark the milestone with nearly 50 party goers at the hospital where he was born – the Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Each guest enjoyed cake and cookies from Cakes Against Cancer for Kids, decorated rubber ducks and Chemo Duck bandanas.

Lu Sipos, the founder of Chemo Duck, said the plush toy is more than a stuffed animal – it is an educational intervention that serves as a therapeutic tool to help children better understand the various treatments they will experience while undergoing therapy.

Chemo Duck turns 10

Chemo Duck turns 10“Over the past decade there have been many changes to Chemo Duck,” said Sipos. “The program has grown into far more than just a stuffed duck. We have come up with a variety of resources, games, videos and other educational tools to help kids cope with cancer.

“He gives parents a view into their child’s mind and he gives children a way to express themselves. Our focus has always been to guide families through that initial, brutal first few weeks and then provide them with much-needed comfort and companionship.”

Chemo Duck turns 10Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital is where Chemo Duck held its first launch party which made it very fitting to mark a decade of service at the very same place, smiled Sipos.

“I am so thankful for Vanderbilt and the support shown to us over the years,” said Sipos. “It all started right here and look at where we are now.”

Chemo Duck turns 10

As part of the birthday celebration, Chemo Duck donated six rainbow loom kits – one of the hottest crafting projects on the market – to the hospital. The kit consists of two plastic template boards, a hook, 24 plastic clips and 600 multicolored mini rubber bands – typically used to make friendship bracelets, rings and more.

Chemo Duck Celebrates 10 Years

Ten years ago, what started as a light-hearted way for one family to cope with the harsh introduction to cancer, has become an international educational tool for patients, families and health care providers.

Chemo Duck, the bright yellow, hospital scrubs and bandana-wearing stuffed animal, has come a long way since it made its first unofficial appearance in 2002.

Lu Sipos’ son, Gabe, was diagnosed in 2002 with rhabdomyosarcoma, a tumor of the muscles that is attached to the bones. For Gabe, the cancer was in the right side of his jaw and sinus passage.

“When I made Gabe’s duck, I was looking for a way to bring some comfort to my child,” said Sipos. “It was also a way to show a little humor for the nurses and doctors,” said Sipos. “I really thought it was a prop that would make them all laugh and then when we went home I’d put it away on a shelf. Fortunately, that is not what happened. The duck ended up becoming a source of comfort for my son as well as a valuable tool used to show Gabe what was going to happen to him during treatments.” 

In 2004, Sipos founded the non-profit called Gabe’s My Heart to mass produce Chemo Ducks.

“I never pushed Chemo Duck to grow,” said Sipos. “It grew on its own. It grew out of necessity. Others saw our duck and wanted one. And that led to my making a few and it just caught on.”

Little did Sipos know that the stuffed animal she sewed as an icebreaker during her son’s first visit to the pediatric oncology clinic at the Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt would grow into the lovable, source of comfort her then nearly one-year-old son craddled throughout his cancer journey.

Chemo Duck has served as a therapeutic agent for newly diagnosed pediatric patients all across the globe. There have been 2,300 ducks produced.

Chemo Duck is much more than the stuffed animal. Each duck has a catheter sewn into its chest to resemble the line that is central to a chemotherapy patient’s treatment. The educational program comes with a video and two books. The website features cartoons, printable activities and a song. This fall, Sipos expects to launch a Chemo Duck app.

What makes celebrating the ten-year mark with Chemo Duck more special, says Sipos, is that Gabe is taking a very active role in the program that was initially created for him.

Recently, the 12-year-old received regional recognition through the Kohls Kids Care Scholarship for his volunteer work.

“I am really proud of his becoming more a part of the program,” said Sipos. “I feel so glad that he is getting recognized for the work that he is doing. The idea that he wants to be a part of this and wants to give back makes me proud as a parent.”

As a voting member of the board of directors for Gabe’s My Heart, Gabe has had several opportunities to interact with the public and explain the Chemo Duck program.

“He has taken a real interest in our events and especially working with the kids,” said Sipos. “That is an area where he excels. He is a natural when it comes to interacting with people.”

As Chemo Duck celebrates 10 years of providing necessary information for patients, families and practitioners, Sipos shares one of her dreams:

“Now, I want Chemo Duck to be to kids with cancer what Mickey Mouse is to all kids – something that creates a smile on a child’s face.”

As part of the anniversary celebration, Chemo Duck will host a birthday party at Children’s Hospital on August 6 at 2:30 p.m. at the stage. Fans are also invited to submit birthday greetings by posting a creative, fun or inspiring photo or video message to Chemo Duck’s Facebook page. Post between August 5 and August 10 at midnight. A winner will be announced on the Facebook page on August 13 (the actual 10th birthdate) and will receive a $100.00gift card to Amazon.com and have 10 Chemo Ducks donated to a hospital of their choice.

Zack’s Mirror Image

Ian Hughes doesn’t mince words.

“Chemo Duck is pure genius,” he said. “In a nutshell it is absolutely fantastic.”

Ian, is the father of nine-year-old Zachary and has been very pleased with how his son was able to use Chemo Duck to communicate during his nearly four years of cancer treatment while a patient at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in England, UK. 

Zack, pictured left, with his younger brother Toby.

In December 2007, Zack was diagnosed with ALL. Soon after he received Chemo Duck, which the Hughes family carried with them to all of Zack’s clinic and hospital stays, which he simply called ‘Duck’.

“Duck gave my child a chance to understand what was happening or at least be able to rationalize what was happening,” said Ian. “It didn’t make things go away, but it did make going through some of the daily routines a bit easier.”

Chemo Duck comes outfitted with either a central line or a port-a-catheter, depending on the cancer diagnosis and treatment required. The Hughes’ decided to add a few other elements to Zack’s duck in an effort to provide their son with an even more realistic picture.

In the UK, the central line catheters are called wigglies. Zack’s grandmother made him a wiggly bag to hold the lines safely when not in use. Duck also received his own wiggly bag.

When Zack required a naso-gastric tube (ng), Duck got one too. Duck became a mirror image, so to speak of Zack, which was essential as the Hughes’ discovered that their son was dealing with more than a cancer diagnosis.

Within months they found that he had Klinefelter Syndrome, a set of symptoms resulting from additional X genetic material in males, which is characterized by signs developmental delays, speech and language deficits, and learning disabilities.

An autism diagnosis followed one year later.

Designed as a therapeutic tool to assist parents and medical personnel better prepare children for chemotherapy, Zack’s duck had a few unexpected advantages, said Hughes.

“Because of the Klinefelter’s, he has very little expressive language and cannot tell us that he is pain for instance,” explained Ian. “He couldn’t explain things or even talk. So we found that Duck was a good thing because it helped him with his frustrations and anger. We saw him either imitate what the doctors were going to do or if he was angry, he would take it out on Duck.

“For special needs kids like Zack,” said Ian, “Chemo Duck gave him play therapy and a way to rationalize what was going on. That was very useful to us as his parents to see that he knew what was happening.”

Now in remission, Zack’s last chemo was in 2011, Duck watches over him from a shelf in his room.

Get to Know Kare Krates

Providing cancer patients with loving care packages is now just a few mouse clicks away at KareKrate.com. Designed to help patients cope with the most common side effects of chemotherapy treatments, Kare Krate care packages provide a convenient way to support friends or loved ones diagnosed with cancer.

We are proud to partner with Kare Krate for a special package featuring Chemo Ducks, furthering our mission to support little ones diagnosed with cancer.

Kare Krate’s current products include a Basic, Comfy and Complete Krate. Every single care package includes items that address the most common side effects of cancer treatment like:

  • Anti-nausea pops, mints, and ginger teas to ease nausea
  • Toothpaste, toothbrush and mouthwash to alleviate dry mouth
  • Moisturizing lotions and creams to keep skin hydrated

The Comfy and Complete care packages include the basics plus extra comfort items that help make treatments at the hospitals or at home a little more cozy.

“While get well cards and flowers are nice, Kare Krates provide comfort with essentials to help offset the side effects of chemotherapy,” says Chris Keller, founder of Kare Krate. “Kare Krate conveniently packages and ships the items that health care professionals suggest will help patients undergoing treatment — allowing loved ones more time to offer support in other ways.”

Learn more at KareKrate.com

Sarah’s Six Funds a Flock

Sarah Bonnell, at age 7, and Gabe Sipos, then age 1, had chemotherapy in the same clinic at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital every week for nearly a year. The two small children bonded, as they shared the same rare cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma.

“We knew the original Chemo Duck,” says Sarah’s mom, Diane.

Now 18, Sarah graduated from high school last month in the top ten in her class. She remembers those difficult days in the hospital with clarity. “I thought Gabe’s duck was amazing,” she says. Though her own stuffed toy, a special bear, comforted her during treatments, “I admired Gabe’s duck’s little port and his blood pressure cuffs,” she recalls. “I kind of understood what was happening in the hospital, but Gabe was so young, he had no comprehension about it all. His special duck helped make it seem less threatening, less scary.” 

Sarah and her family wanted to share that comfort with other kids going through a similar experience. Together with Lu Sipos, creator of Gabe’s Chemo Duck program™, they created “Sarah’s Six.” Each month, the family funds six Chemo Ducks for delivery to children at three U.S. hospitals.

“We’ve always been inspired and humbled by Lu’s work,” says Diane. “We’ve watched in awe as she’s built and devoted her life to her foundation, and though we’ve made contributions from time to time, we decided we wanted to make a commitment to do more directed giving.

“It’s a way for us to pay forward everything that was done for Sarah and the people that impacted our lives along the way,” she says. “It’s not a lot—it’s a small contribution, but we’re so honored to be a part of this organization.”

Sarah chose Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital to receive the first round of Sarah’s Six Chemo Ducks, in honor of the life-saving care she received there. Thereafter, a monthly contest sponsored by Gabe’s My Heart will invite supporters and fans to designate three hospitals to receive Sarah’s Six each month (plus all other single duck orders place that month).

“We believe God took a small piece of heaven and sat it down in the place where Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital stands,” says Diane. “When Gabe and his family and Sarah and our family were all there together, it was one small area on the fifth floor of the old children’s section. They took such good care of us. I could give you a story about each one of the doctors, nurses and staff.” Even when Sarah relapsed, she says, “they were always in our corner. Ten years later, they still are.”

“First Gabe and I had chemo together, and now to be able to team up with his organization and try to make a difference for kids, it’s amazing,” says Sarah. “It’s an honor.”

She’s grateful to be a part of helping kids better understand and gain some comfort during their treatment. “The Chemo Ducks help make cancer treatments a better experience,” she notes. “It’s awful either way, but Chemo Duck helps make it more kid-friendly, helps take a little bit of the edge off.”

“Being there from the beginning, seeing Gabe’s duck program grow and expand to 150 hospitals is awesome,” she says. “We’re honored to team with this really successful organization that reaches multiple kids.”

You can create your own personalized form of directed giving like the Bonnell family did with Sarah’s Six. To learn more, please email us at info@chemoduck.org.

The Ultimate Comfort

Soon after her son was diagnosed with a brain cancer called anaplastic ependymoma, Lisa DeYoung was scanning through a brain tumor foundation website and stumbled upon Chemo Duck.

She had no idea that Chemo Duck existed and is so glad she purchased one for her then 3 year old son.

The comfort and connection Chemo Duck brought to Jack was enormous, she said.

“He had lots of toys and things to play with and distract him, but none of them was like him,” said DeYoung. “I wanted to get him something that he could identify with and looked like him. It turned out to be one of the best things ever.”

Athough Jack, now 8 years old, is no longer in treatment, Chemo Duck is still close by.

“He had Chemo Duck with him the whole time we were in the hospital and when we had appointments,” she recalled. “Through the years he just got very attached to him. He still sleeps with him.”

The bright yellow stuffed animal not only served as an educational tool during his treatments, but became so much more.

“Chemo Duck is important for kids like Jack who are going through a lot of scary and new things,” said his mom. “Being able to show Jack and kids like him what is going to happen really helps allay their fears. He is an invaluable teaching tool and a source of comfort for kids going through cancer treatments.”

Each duck comes outfitted with a catheter sewn into its chest to resemble the line that is central to a chemotherapy patient’s treatment. Jack’s Chemo Duck has an additional resemblance – an incision to match that of his owner.

For the DeYoungs, it helped their son to be able to interact with something that was very similar to himself.

“Chemo Duck was the only toy he had that could be just like him,” she explained. “He was able to play with Chemo Duck in ways he couldn’t play with his other toys and he would hook up a feeding tube to him.”