Along with Robert Goldsby, MD, another staff member of the UCSF Survivors of Childhood Cancer program is participating in San Francisco's Swim Across America relay in the San Francisco Bay.
Aimee Sznewajs will be among those swimming on Saturday, Sept. 23, to raise funds for their program.
This is the first year Swim Across America, an organization that has been raising funds for cancer research, treatment and prevention for the past 20 years, is sponsoring an event in the Bay Area.
The organization chose UCSF Children's Hospital as a beneficiary not only because of its commitment to making the event a success, but also because of its unique Survivors of Childhood Cancer program, which gives each child a record of the type of cancer, treatment received and any therapy-related risks to that treatment.
Unlike Goldsby, Sznewajs is an experienced swimmer who has competed in triathlons and is a member of the Dolphin Club in San Francisco. Like Goldsby, until recently, she had never swum in the bay. To remedy that, she and Goldsby did a "test swim" recently, and both feel they are up to the challenge.
"It was a lot of fun," Sznewajs said. "I'm really looking forward to the day of the event. This is a small undertaking to help so many cancer survivors. And a wet suit helps!"
Sznewajs began at UCSF in 2001 as a student in the Master's Entry Program in Nursing for those who have a baccalaureate degree seeking to enter the field of nursing. She started out as a pediatric oncology nurse and now she is a clinical nurse with the survivors program.
Sznewajs is about to leave for Geneva to make a presentation about the survivors program to the International Society of Pediatric Oncology. "We think the program is incredibly helpful to patients and their families," she said, "and I hope that by presenting at this conference, more hospitals will adopt similar programs."
Szewajs will return from Geneva the night before the event, but she is confident she will be ready. "I plan to sleep on the plane and go right to bed when I get home," she said.
The Swim Across America San Francisco Swim to Fight Cancer could still use additional swimmers and, as always, more donations. To register or to make a donation go
here.
Links:
Pediatric Oncologist to Swim for Children with Cancer
UCSF Today August 8, 2006
UCSF Children's Hospital
