How St. Jude Uses Dogs to Help Comfort Patients During Therapy
A majority of the stories we share throughout our two-day St. Jude Radiothon with Kasey Grey State Farm Agent rightfully focus on the patients, their diagnosis, the impact cancer has on their families, and how St. Jude works tirelessly around the clock to help them get better. What you don't hear as much about is the team behind the scenes who are putting in the effort day in and day out to to help those patients get better, and offer support to their families going through the most difficult time of all their lives. All of which are vitally important to the process. That includes two adorable staff members. Let me introduce you to Puggle and Huckleberry.
As you can see from the photo above, Puggle and Huckleberry are therapy dogs St. Jude uses to help comfort young patients who are without a doubt worried about their situation, and anxious about going through treatment.
While both serve the same purpose, providing comfort to patients, the two work in different departments of the hospital. According to St. Jude, Puggle spends a majority of their day at the inpatient Solid Tumor and Neuro-Oncology units while Huckleberry works in Diagnostic Imaging.
Despite working in different departments, both dogs provide support during procedures, help patients comply with taking medication, motivate patients to move after surgery or long hospital stays, take part in mock-scanner sessions to reduce sedation, and help with end of life needs during those unfortunate times when the hospital has exhausted all its options and a patient can't be saved.
Whatever they're called upon to do, there's no doubt having Puggle or Huckleberry around to snuggle with provides a sense of calm, and a huge amount of comfort to the patients who need them.
By becoming a Partner in Hope for only $19 a month through one of the ways listed below, you help St. Jude provide services like these to their patients and families.
Check out the St. Jude website to learn more about Puggle and Huckleberry, and follow their adventures on Instagram.