Golisano Children's Hospital program keeps first-grader with leukemia in touch with classmates

When 7-year-old Bryan Guiffaro-Padilla began missing school after his leukemia came back this year, his empty desk left a void in his first-grade classroom.

Representatives from Golisano Children’s Hospital visited Bryan’s classroom at Golden Gate Elementary on Wednesday to fill the void with a large stuffed teddy bear. The presentation marked the launch of the hospital’s Bear in the Chair program.

As part of the program, Bryan’s classmates can write him letters and leave them on the bear. The letters are collected and delivered to Bryan, who can then write back.

The hospital will also set up an iPad at his desk so he can video chat into the classroom during lessons and catch up with his friends.

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“He’s very sweet,” said Catie Reed, a child life specialist for Golisano who helped deliver the bear. As a child life specialist, Reed helps young cancer patients understand their illness and how chemotherapy works. She also distracts them during procedures to “make it less scary,” she said.

The girls, or white blood cells, stood side by side on a carpet, or “bone,” blocking the boys, or red blood cells, from moving around to deliver oxygen. Reed then showed the children how chemotherapy works by removing the girls from the carpet, thereby allowing the red blood cells to move around but also preventing the body from fighting infections.

“That’s why he doesn’t feel good,” Reed told the class.

Several of Bryan’s classmates asked questions, such as “Does cancer hurt?” and “When is he coming back?”

“I miss him so much,” one girl said.

But the children were thrilled to have the big teddy bear, which many noted is bigger than Bryan, and a few children shook his hand and gave him a hug.

Golden Gate Elementary Assistant Principal Steven Brown noted the students lost their P.E. teacher to cancer earlier this year and expressed how grateful he is Golisano is helping them understand the illness.

“It’s important (Bryan) has an army of friends that understand what he’s going through,” he said. “You can tell those kids really love him.”