Advertisement What's Brewing: New long-term pediatric cancer survivor program First-of-its-kind program offered in South Florida Share Shares Copy Link Copy

This week’s “What’s Brewing with Stephanie” takes a look at a new long-term program for pediatric cancer survivors here in South Florida. It’s the first of its kind in all of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Stephanie Berzinski sat down for exclusive interviews with the experts behind this incredible program. +Download app: iOS | Android This unique program is called KITE. It stands for "knowing the importance of treatment effects" and it's only available at the Palm Beach Children's Hospital at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. The KITE program has been a passion for oncology nurse and clinical coordinator, Mary Prokop. Her daughter is a cancer survivor. Prokop understands the needs of a pediatric cancer patient both during and after treatments. "They feel things, they have emotions, they have illnesses that may or may not be related to their cancer treatment, so it's our job to help them understand what may be a side effect and what we can do to help them live the fullest life possible," Prokop said. Dr. Matthew Ramirez was specifically recruited to direct KITE. "I'm interested in this field, most especially because I'm a pediatric cancer survivor myself. I have surrounded myself with people in the clinic that also have a connection with pediatric cancer survivorship," Ramirez said. KITE is an outpatient program for children who have completed two-plus years of cancer therapy. The program also provides a dietician and social worker who develop personally tailored surveillance plans for each pediatric cancer survivor who must continue yearly checkups for the rest of their lives. "So after they're done with treatment they have to live, they have to learn how to live with their new normal and it's a different normal then what they had before," Prokop added. Ramirez and his team started the clinic in January and have seen about 25 patients. In July they are adding a second clinic and will meet every second Wednesday and Thursday of the month. For more information, click here.