Peyton Richardson knows what it feels like to be the child in the hospital bed.

She knows the fear that can come with a cancer diagnosis. She knows the challenges of chemotherapy and what it means to miss the parts of life that used to feel normal, like school, friends, dance classes and other activities she loves.

Now, Peyton also knows what it feels like to walk into that same hospital room as a nurse.

Today, she works on the same floor where she received treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, when she was 12 years old.

“I looked up to the nurses and still do,” Peyton said.

A diagnosis that changed her life

In January 2015, Peyton was diagnosed with ALL, a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. ALL is the most common type of leukemia in children.

Before cancer, ballet was a big part of Peyton's life. She had danced for years and was preparing for another performance of The Nutcracker. When she became unusually tired and weak, her family knew something wasn’t right. Soon after, Peyton was sent to to began chemotherapy.

Her treatment lasted until May 2017.

Cancer changed much of Peyton’s daily life. For a time, she couldn’t dance the way she had before. But her care team helped her stay connected to the person she had always been. Her nurses became some of her closest friends.

Care that doesn’t end after treatment

Peyton is still followed through the Long-Term Survivor Program, which helps childhood cancer survivors understand and manage their health after treatment.

For Peyton, survivorship is both hopeful and honest.

“It’s a special club you don’t want to be a part of,” Peyton said.

Even after treatment ends, childhood cancer can still shape a person’s life. Survivors may need follow-up care to watch for late effects, including health problems that can appear years after treatment. They may also carry anxiety that cancer could become part of their lives again.

Peyton has learned how important it is for survivors to care for their bodies, stay active and attend follow-up visits.

“The reality is cancer is always something that’s there,” Peyton said.

At Kinder Children’s Cancer Center, that long-term view is part of the care. Because cancer can continue to shape a person's life for years after therapy, children with leukemia have access to survivorship programs designed to support their long-term health and well-being.

Returning to the same floor as a nurse

Peyton’s experience helped shape her future. She wanted to become a nurse because of the people who cared for her. Now, in her first year as a nurse, she sees care from a new side. What surprised her most was how much planning happens outside the patient’s room.

There’s so much that patients and families don’t see, Peyton said, and that’s intentional. The care team is always thinking ahead, trying to make the experience better and less stressful.

Peyton said being a former patient gives her a different kind of empathy. Sometimes, when a child is scared or frustrated, she can say, “I know.”

And she means it.

She also remembers the small things that helped her get through hard moments. If a child doesn’t like the taste of a pill, she may suggest wrapping it in a Fruit Roll-Up, a trick she used during treatment. If she knows something might hurt, she thinks ahead about pain medicine.

Helping children feel seen

Peyton doesn’t believe every hard moment needs to be met with forced positivity. Sometimes children need someone to admit that what they’re going through is hard.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Peyton sometimes says to her patients. “I know it stinks.”

Then she helps them move forward.

“We’re going to get you through it,” Peyton says. “We’re going to be laughing.”

That may mean finding simple ways to brighten a difficult day, from sharing a favorite snack to playing a favorite song or starting a dance party. Those moments may seem small, but they can help bring a sense of joy and normalcy when a child needs it most.

The doctors and nurses who cared for her are still part of the hospital community. She still has a close relationship with ZoAnn Dreyer, MD, the pediatric oncologist who treated her and who is now the Clinical Director of the Long-Term Survivor Program.

“It’s so fun to work with and learn from the people who took care of me,” Peyton said. 

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is especially meaningful to Peyton. She hopes more awareness leads to more research and better treatments.

“We hope there’s a day no child gets cancer,” Peyton said.

Until then, she’s caring for children the way her team cared for her — with skill, honesty and the kind of understanding that can only come from having been there.

Learn more about the Cancer and Hematology Center or request an appointment today.