Over 60 guests and families attended the Hyundai Hope on Wheels award ceremony at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. The event featured remarks from Bryan Thompson (Hyundai Senior Manager, Merchandising, Eastern Region), Kara Kelly (Chair, Department of Pediatric Oncology and Waldemar J. Kaminski Endowed Chair of Pediatrics), Larry Schreiber (Hyundai Dealer and Principal of Northtown Hyundai), and Victor Filadora (Chief of Clinical Services Roswell Park Cancer Institute).

Guests also had a chance to hear touching, first-hand testimonies from those affected by the Roswell Park pediatric wellness program including patient Jillian and mother Karen.

KAREN (Mom)

When our daughter, Jillian, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, we were frightened and overwhelmed. Thankfully Roswell guided us through the entire process. We were surprised by and have been grateful for the support the Pediatric Clinic provides to the whole family for so many aspects of the cancer journey.

Doug McDaniel and the Integrative Wellness Program started halfway through Jillian’s treatments. She needed four 21-day cycles of chemotherapy.   The first two rounds prior to the start of the Wellness Program were very difficult for her. She experienced many unpleasant side effects and was losing weight rapidly.

JILLIAN  (patient/daughter)

I began to tolerate my treatment a lot better after Doug introduced acupressure and other integrative techniques. The side effects from chemo were significantly reduced. As I received therapy, Doug would listen to my symptoms and even take into account my test results in order to use techniques that were personalized just for me. Because I felt immediate relief from the acupuncture that I was given as I received chemo, the dread of going for my treatment was lessened.  Doug even helped to change our attitudes toward chemotherapy. He explained that the drugs were what would  save my  life and that I shouldn’t feel negatively toward them, but accept them for the good they were doing, and to use the integrative techniques to help the therapy work effectively and restore my whole body throughout treatment.

KAREN (mom)

The collaboration between the expert medical staff and Doug McDaniel and the Integrative Wellness Program brings the traditional medical protocols and holistic methods together in a complementary way that we did not think was possible. Roswell provided our daughter with a treatment that not only eliminated her cancer, but addressed all of her mental, physical, and emotional issues and continues to help her heal in her post therapy months. We’d both like to thank Hyundai for their gift which will enable Roswell Park to continue offering this valuable program to patients and survivors like my daughter.  Thank you

Despite heavy rain and a nationally publicized acrobat stunt across Niagara Falls, the team secured coverage from local Buffalo stations WKBW (ABC), WIVB (CBS) and WGRZ (NBC) who interviewed with a few of the patients and Hyundai representatives on site. Due to the weather, patients participated in the handprint ceremony indoors while the Hope on Wheels vehicle was visible through the oversized windows in the lobby which provided a nice backdrop to the event.