Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Nick Snow


As I was doing research the other day about pediatric hospice, I ran across an interesting article...

A boy named Nick Snow had been diagnosed with cancer and was known to have "flunked" hospice twice because he improved which receiving hospice services. So, he campaigned with a couple of other children to have palliative care be available to children who are still receiving curative treatments.

In April 2006, Nick Snow died from an intestinal infection. A few months later, in September, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 1745, a.k.a. "The Nick Snow Children's Hospice and Palliative Care Act of 2006.

This bill allows children to receive hospice and palliative care, even though they may be getting treatments to cure their life-limiting illnesses at the same time; however, the services cannot be duplicated. So, if a child is receiving a treatment like chemotherapy or radiation, they will also be able to get hospice care for symptom and pain management.

This bill will help children in California live longer and increase their quality of life during treatments. This legislation will be going before the Federal CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services) to go into effect as of January 10, 2009.

This article also reminded me that it is important to advocate for yourself and others as well. Nick Snow...What an amazing kid! If you want to read more about him, please visit the Nick Snow website.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm Shannon, Nick's mom and I found your blog from a Google Alert.

There is so much more to know about Nick than what is on his website.........Nick's battle and victory over his supposedly unbeatable cancer makes Lance Armstrong's journey look wussy by comparison.

I thank you for continuing the work towards more humane care for our littlest of warriors. Knowledge is power, and power gets things done.

e-me if you want to know more about the specifics of Nick's battle, or if you have any questions about his work with The Children's Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition.

snows@nicksnow.com