美国国家公共电台 NPR Pain Rescue Team Helps Seriously Ill Kids Cope In Terrible Times

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Living with constant pain is difficult, especially for young children. Studies estimate that 20% of children worldwide suffer from chronic¹ pain. This ranges from frequent stomach aches to debilitating² pain from cancer, and research shows that their pain isn't managed very well at all. NPR's Alison Kodjak reports on one hospital that's taking an aggressive and creative approach to treating pain in its youngest patients.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE³: I'm at the Benioff Children's Hospital at the University of California in San Francisco. It's a new, slick building with state-of-the-art facilities where the sickest children go for cutting-edge treatment, which is why it might seem odd that I'm meeting up with Robyn Adcock.

ROBYN ADCOCK: I am a licensed⁴ acupuncturist⁵ at UCSF.

KODJAK: She's part of a sort of pain SWAT team here known as IP3.

ADCOCK: The Integrative Pediatric Pain and Palliative Care Team (ph).

KODJAK: The team includes anesthesiologists and nurses, as you might expect. And then there's a clinical psychologist, a massage⁶ therapist, someone who practices hypnosis and Adcock, who treat patients with both acupuncture⁷ and acupressure.

ADCOCK: We see cases in the hospital that are end-of-life or very chronic, serious illness or extreme pain cases where their primary team maybe wants more support in managing the pain piece.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)

KODJAK: On the day I visit, Adcock is headed to the room of an 11-year-old boy named Miller⁸. He's got a rare and very severe neurological disorder⁹ called dystonia deafness syndrome¹⁰. It's a genetic¹¹ condition that impairs¹² his hearing and causes his muscles to contract uncontrollably.

ADCOCK: So this is the pediatric intensive care unit. Oh, and here's Jessica.

KODJAK: Jessica Greenfield is Miller's mom. She welcomes us into the room where Miller lies heavily sedated¹³.

JESSICA GREENFIELD: The last 48 hours we've seen a significant ramp¹⁴ up in his symptoms.

KODJAK: Miller arrived at UCSF 14 days earlier by helicopter from Sacramento. His dystonia is a rare variation that hits at puberty, and it hit Miller hard starting earlier this year. In the last few days, basically all of his muscles have been contracting at the same time. The medications he's on are barely keeping the symptoms under control, and he can't tolerate any more painkillers¹⁵. Jessica tells Adcock that the acupressure technique she taught them a few days earlier have been helpful.

GREENFIELD: It's not that it stops it, but it gives us these periods in there of interruption where we have something to offer him in between all of this medication that he's getting.

KODJAK: The two women talk for a few minutes about Miller's situation, then Adcock leans over the boy and reaches for his arms.

ADCOCK: Hi, Miller. Hi, I'm going to feel your pulses, and then we're going to do some acupressure again today with you.

KODJAK: Adcock works on him for several minutes, reaching for his arms, his legs, his feet. Jessica and her husband, John Greenfield, sit nearby clutching paper coffee cups. As they watch ad Adcock work, their eyes are clouded with exhaustion¹⁶. Then Adcock beckons¹⁷ Jessica to the bedside and shows her a pressure point she's marked with a tiny radish seed.

ADCOCK: So if you feel this side of the tibia and just - yeah, your fingers will help you.

GREENFIELD: And going front or behind?

ADCOCK: And then it's just behind the tibia. And you'll feel a place - as long as you're just off the bone, you'll feel a soft, deeper spot. And you can let your intuition find it as well. You'll have these landmarks¹⁸ to find it, and then let your finger go there because it will. If you're open and listening with your hands, you'll be able to find the point. And you're on it. It's perfect.

KODJAK: Jessica Greenfield says she knows the treatments help Miller because he often asks her to touch his pressure points between Adcock's visits.

Finding ways to provide comfort like this is crucial because not all pain can be taken away, says Christine Chambers¹⁹. She's the research chair at the Centre for Pediatric Pain Research at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

CHRISTINE CHAMBERS: Every clinician who works with a child in pain hopes that we will be able to take away all the pain. That isn't always possible.

KODJAK: So this interdisciplinary approach helps kids manage their pain, ease it and live with it. Chambers says the problem is that this approach to children's pain is all too rare.

CHAMBERS: Most children won't be able to access these. There are specialized²⁰ centers that offer these interdisciplinary treatment programs but there are not nearly enough of them.

KODJAK: The team at UCSF is one of only a handful across the U.S. Steve Wilson, the chief medical officer there, founded the IP3 team. He says the different techniques tackle different kinds of pain. A child being treated for cancer, for example, may have nausea²¹ and sores in their mouth and stomach from chemotherapy. They could have nerve pain...

STEVE WILSON: Which is like burning, shooting pains that happen in the hands and feet.

KODJAK: Their muscles may hurt just from lying in bed so much.

WILSON: And then they're also likely to be incredibly scared, sad and have what we would call existential pain which is, again, it's not the kind of pain that responds to pain medication, but it's very real. They're suffering, for sure.

KODJAK: So the children at UCSF still get traditional painkillers, but Adcock's acupuncture may be more effective against nausea. A massage therapist can ease muscle aches. A psychologist can help with fear. And art or music therapy can distract children from their pain. Together, Wilson says, these treatments can make the experience of being sick a lot less awful.

WILSON: A lot of times, just walking in the room, you can sense that the child and their family are doing better with a terrible situation. The situation is still terrible, so I don't want to paint a rosy²² picture that somehow everything is wonderful, but it makes a huge difference.

KODJAK: Jessica Greenfield says the acupressure does just that.

GREENFIELD: There's only so much medication he can have, certainly only so much medication we would give him in a home setting. So it allows us a means of providing comfort for him - which is really important for us as parents and for him as a patient.

KODJAK: Alison Kodjak, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELA NEMETH'S "THIS MOMENT")

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

5 acupuncturist   

n.针灸师

参考例句：

• I saw my acupuncturist weekly and the healing process accelerated. 我每周见一次我的针灸医生，康复的进度加快了。 来自互联网
• Acupuncturist: How long have you been suffered from this symptom? 针灸师：你有这个症状有多久了？ 来自互联网

6 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

7 acupuncture   

n.针灸，针刺法，针疗法

参考例句：

• Written records show that acupuncture dates back to the Song Dynasty.文字记载表明，宋朝就已经有了针灸。
• It's known that acupuncture originated in China.众所周知，针灸起源于中国。

8 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

11 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

12 impairs   

v.损害，削弱( impair的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Smoking impairs our health. 吸烟会损害我们的健康。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Almost anything that impairs liver function can cause hepatitis. 任何有损于肝功能的因素，几乎都会引起肝炎。 来自辞典例句

13 sedated   

v.使昏昏入睡，使镇静( sedate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's sedated,but she's probably scared out of her mind. 她很安静，但是她可能已经吓疯了。 来自电影对白
• Are you telling me the porn actually sedated you? 你是要告诉我，那毛片的确让你镇静下来吗？ 来自电影对白

14 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

15 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

16 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

17 beckons   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He sent his ships wherever profit beckons. 他将船队派往赢利的那些地方。 来自辞典例句
• I believe history beckons again. 我认为现在历史又在召唤了。 来自辞典例句

18 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

19 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

20 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

21 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

22 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。