September is Children’s Cancer Awareness Month, a time to acknowledge the real impact that cancer has on children, their families, and the community.
This month, we’re sharing some of the voices of those who walk beside families every step of the way: Imogen Riley, Paediatric Cancer Care Coordinator and Danielle Hanlon, Paediatric Nurse.
Q&A with Imogen Riley, Paediatric Cancer Care Coordinator
Q. How do you support families through treatment and hospital care?
I support our paediatric oncology patients and their families throughout their entire journey, from diagnosis all the way through to long-term follow up. I’m a local contact for families to reach out to with questions, to help them stay closer to home, and to support them through the highs and lows of a cancer diagnosis and journey. My role is often described as “one job, many roles” and that’s exactly what it is — no day is ever the same.
Q. Why is this role so important for regional families?
Previously, families would have to relocate to Melbourne for 6–12 months depending on the diagnosis. Now, we can provide supportive care locally and administer some chemotherapy here at AWH. My focus is on supporting families to remain in their own community, stay connected to their networks, and avoid the financial strain of constant travel. My role also strengthens communication with the Royal Children’s Hospital and Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service (PICS), so families can feel confident they’re receiving seamless, world-class care.
Q. Can you share examples of the impact this makes?
One of our patients, a 13-year-old girl, has been able to receive 30 of her 40 chemotherapy doses here at AWH. That saved her family 16,200 km of travel — around 180 hours on the road. Another young boy with autism faced a complex diagnosis, and our team created a personalised care plan that reduced trauma and helped him build trust with local providers. These are the moments that show why this role is so pivotal. It reinforces our commitment to providing excellence in paediatric oncology care.
Q. How important is teamwork in cancer care?
My job relies on countless multidisciplinary teams across AWH — paediatricians, nurses, doctors, ED staff, surgeons, ward clerks, allied health and more. We work together to ensure that we can continue to deliver more holistic care to our paediatric oncology patients locally. Together, we’re changing the way paediatric oncology care is delivered regionally, and I’m very proud of that.
Q. What do you find most rewarding about your role?
Celebrating milestones. I have the privilege of holding a family’s hand through their darkest times but also sharing in the joy when a child reaches milestones. The connections I form with these families provide strength, support, and reassurance, while also providing education and knowledge around their journey. My care is individually tailored to the needs of the individual families and knowing I can provide that style of holistic care is truly remarkable.
Q&A with Danielle Hanlon, Paediatric Nurse
Q. What role do nurses play in a child’s cancer journey?
Nurses are there at every stage — from diagnosis, through treatment and its complications, to celebrating the end of therapy, and heartbreakingly, sometimes supporting families at the end of life. Our role is both highly skilled and deeply compassionate. We provide hands-on care such as accessing ports, performing finger pricks, collecting blood samples, and administering chemotherapy, antibiotics, and anti-nausea treatments. Just as importantly, we walk alongside children and their families, offering education, reassurance, advocacy, and a listening ear during some of the most vulnerable and frightening moments of their lives.
Q. What is it like to support families through such a difficult time?
I don’t have the lived experience of hearing those devastating words from a doctor telling me that my own child has cancer, but I have been beside many parents when they have. I have held hands, offered hugs, sat quietly while they cried, and felt the weight of their sadness, grief, fear, and anger in that moment.
My role is to be there – not only for emotional support, but also for the many practical needs that arise in those first overwhelming hours. Families often have countless questions, and while nothing can make that day less heartbreaking, I see my purpose as helping to ease the load, even just a little. Sometimes that means sitting with siblings while parents receive the news, arranging accommodation, or connecting families with support services in Melbourne.
Q. What difference does a team approach at AWH make for families going through such a difficult time?
High-quality paediatric care is always a team effort, and in oncology this collaborative approach is even more vital. The best outcomes come from strong multidisciplinary support, with every discipline relying on one another to provide seamless care.
Here in our region, we’re fortunate to have local paediatricians who not only advocate for shared care but actively facilitate it. They commit to ongoing training, keep up to date with treatment regimes, and work closely with oncologists at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH). For example, children are supported by their RCH oncology team while local paediatricians, such as Dr Andrew Rechtman, to ensure treatment plans are followed and to write chemotherapy orders so treatment can take place here at AWH.
At the centre of it all is Imogen, our Paediatric Cancer Care Coordinator, who keeps communication flowing and ensures every child’s care runs smoothly. I share an office with her, so I see firsthand the dedication and hard work she pours into supporting children and families through their journey.
Q. How important is nursing care for children with cancer?
Children with cancer go through so much. Their whole world can turn upside down in a matter of hours. Every child’s journey is unique and depends on the type of cancer they have, but often it begins with something as simple as a GP visit because parents notice troubling symptoms like bruising or unusual tiredness. Suddenly, the family is in the emergency department for blood tests and scans, and then on the ward being told their child is seriously unwell and needs to be flown to Melbourne for urgent care in the initial phase of their care and treatment.
From that moment, children are exposed to countless medical procedures — needles, blood tests, lumbar punctures — and treatments that, while life-saving, also take a heavy toll on their little bodies. Chemotherapy and other medications can make them feel sick and exhausted, and the experiences of hospitalisation can leave lasting trauma and fear.
This is why, as nurses, our role is so important. We must listen, advocate, and support children and families to ensure their care is as gentle and as least traumatic as possible. Each child copes differently with procedures, and it’s our responsibility to adapt to their needs, showing patience, kindness, and compassion along the way. What may feel like a simple task — a finger prick for blood — could be the fiftieth one that child has endured. By then, they are sore, exhausted, and fed up. They’ve lost so much autonomy, and they just want to go back to school, play with their friends, and be “normal” again.
Yet amid the challenges, there are moments of pure joy. When children finish their last dose of IV chemotherapy, we celebrate with a bell-ringing ceremony and party here at AWH. Those celebrations are some of the most meaningful moments I’ve ever been part of. They bring everyone together to acknowledge not just the end of treatment, but the incredible strength of a child who is truly a hero.