Alexis Padgett loved a lot of things: her family, the Dave Matthews Band, art, running, mushrooms, music, and, especially, the Child Life team at AdventHealth for Children. Since being diagnosed with Stage IV Rhabdomyosarcoma at just 12 years old, Alexis had gotten very close with her Child Life team; her dream was to be a Child Life Specialist one day, her father Eric shared: “Wary of blood and needles, she knew being a nurse wasn’t in the cards, but to be able to comfort a child—to make maybe a terrible day not so terrible—was something she wanted to do.”
When Alexis started to feel pain in her lower abdomen, her parents thought it could just be growing pains—but as it got worse, her family rushed her to the emergency department. After a CT scan, doctors found a mass in her lower abdomen. Being Stage IV, doctors recommended immediate treatment, and Alexis underwent 18 months of chemotherapy.
During the four-and-a-half years of treatment at AdventHealth for Children, Alexis made a bucket list: from meeting Barack Obama through Make-a-Wish, to walking the red carpet at a movie “premiere,” and even getting a matching tattoo with her best friend Karina, Alexis had a lot of things she wanted to do. A big one was to be a Child Life Specialist for a day—and, of course, the Child Life team made her dream come true. Given an AdventHealth polo and even an official Child Life Specialist badge, Alexis got to run bingo and hand out prizes to patients.
Now, a year after her passing and to celebrate Alexis’ birthday on May 21, her family is running a fundraiser and supporting AdventHealth for Children’s weekly bingo for all pediatric patients. “Alexis would be overjoyed to know, even now, that her reach is helping to provide for other patients and families, to help make whatever journey they’re on a little more understandable and enjoyable,” Eric shared with a smile. Despite not knowing what Child Life was before Alexis’ treatment, the Padgett family couldn’t imagine having gone through this journey without them: “To me, it's that critical, that important, of a component. It's just as important as the medical care you're getting. Being there on the weekends would suck, sometimes, because the Child Life team wasn’t there! It just made it that much more bearable. It wasn't better, it wasn't a good time, but it was a better time.”
Child Life Specialists are highly skilled, certified child development professionals that specialize in psychosocial care, developmentally appropriate education, therapeutic play, and emotional support for children and adolescents throughout their medical treatment. The Padgett family was so touched by the treatment Alexis received that they continue to host fundraisers to support the Child Life program, which is fully funded through philanthropy. You can learn more about the Padgett family’s fundraiser in honor of Alexis here: www.give.adventhealth.com/alexis
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