LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Healing people who are sick from the most threatening illnesses happens every day at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute on the UAMS campus in Little Rock.
How someone responds to learning they have cancer is as individual as the person themselves, but it's difficult news to bear without a good support system.
UAMS's cancer institute is home to a support group available to all Arkansans that's only one of two in the state meant to heal the family members of patients receiving treatment for cancer.
Conway resident Kesha Baoua explained that her journey with cancer goes back much further than her diagnosis.
“My story actually begins when I was nine because my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was nine. And so, from the time of her diagnosis, I always wondered, would it be me one day,” Kesha explained.
Her question was answered in August of 2022 when she learned that she did have the same disease that her mother fought and beat. It was an aggressive form of breast cancer that required chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation.
As a wife and mother to her -ear-old son Boukari, she had been smart in getting regular mammograms, so doctors were able to catch it early.
Kesha's sister is currently fighting breast cancer too, which helped her explain the diagnosis to her son. She said that when she sat him down to tell him, he reacted in a way she never expected.
"Like Aunt Lisa, I have breast cancer now too,” Kesha explained. “The very first thing he said to me, because I was expecting, you know, are you going to be okay? Are you going to die? He said, 'Well, Mom, how is this going to impact your life expectancy?' And I was like, you're only six years old?! My response was 'Baby, we are a family that believes in God. We don't know what the future holds, but we believe that He knows, and whatever happens, it's going to be okay."
During the flurry of activity related to her treatment, Kesha received a phone call from a UAMS Social Worker who invited the whole family to attend a series of classes meant to help family members of cancer patients cope with the emotions and concerns they have.
The program is called CLIMB, which stands for “Children's Lives Include Moments of Bravery". It’s modeled after a national program that helps children cope with a loved one's cancer diagnosis.
According to UAMS, theirs is one of only two programs like it, in Arkansas. Each weekly 90-minute session focuses on one emotion or feeling.
Counselors split up, some working with parents while the others work with the children. By incorporating art and pictures, social workers can draw feelings and fears out of the children, some of which the parents were not even aware of.
“When you're going through something like cancer, you have to be really focused on yourself. But CLIMB was all about focusing on the impact on our children, and it was really nice to be able to sit with other parents and hear the experiences they were having with their children," Kesha said. "It allowed me to see things that were going on with him, that I didn't even know about."
When she asked her son how much he understood about cancer, he responded, “I know there's many types of cancer and stages, and it can affect people in different ways."
Kesha added that the program taught her more about her son by being able to see her journey through his eyes.
“What I realized later is that he was trying to protect me. There were some things that he was not telling me about, that he was concerned about, because he didn't want to bother me with it. He wanted to protect me," she said.
The CLIMB program is entering its fourth year at UAMS. Sessions are free, with all expenses paid by an anonymous donor. To find out more, visit their website here.
