Adrienne only has a few memories of her treatment for leukemia at St. Jude because she was very young when she was diagnosed. She says it was a welcoming place, where she got to spin around on doctor’s stools. But the long-term effects of chemotherapy stayed with her for years.
Adrienne struggled in school. She had trouble understanding math and fell behind in reading. St. Jude helped her get caught up by suggesting a school that could help. Making artwork relieved the anxiety she felt about school.
“When I started having issues in school, the only thing that I found that I was fairly good at was art, she says. “There was no grade, and I just found a peace with it.”
She nurtured that love of art as she got older, and she graduated with a degree in graphic design. Now, more than 40 years after treatment, Adrienne has two kids who are nearly grown up, an art studio at home, and she works to tell the story of St. Jude through patient artwork.
“I love watching them paint or color,” she says. “It just takes their mind off of whatever's ailing them that day. I love watching what they can create.”
Donate to St. Jude: www.stjude.org/donate
Credits Host: Joel Alsup
Recorded by: Andres Garcia and Nathan Black
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Executive Producer: Louis Graham
This podcast is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
