ST. LOUIS - When a child is diagnosed with cancer, they often begin immediate treatment which includes pokes, needles, exposure and more. To offer some control back to those children, one family found a way to make them more comfortable during treatment with GrantWear.
Grant Crisp was diagnosed with a rare liver tumor in December 2016. He fought bravely for 11 months before losing his battle in November 2017.
His mom Kara explained that when Grant started treatment, her mom, “Grandmother,” began helping with such practical tasks that brought great comfort to the family. One of those tasks was finding a way to make Grant tolerate treatment better.
“Grant absolutely hated removing his shirt to access his port for chemo, meds and labs,” Kara said. “So, Grandmother came to the rescue making him shirts with Velcro in the front. The soft and cozy shirts made it easy for the nurses and doctors to do their work all while making it so much easier for Grant.”
Those shirts are still being made today, affectionately named GrantWear. With the help of donated supplies and packaging, 330 GrantWear shirts have been provided at no cost to children fighting cancer.
Recently, the Blair Oaks FFA Chapter students helped package 74 GrantWear shirts for patients at Mercy Children’s Hospital St. Louis and the Cardinals Kids Cancer Center.
If you’re interested in helping, please contact the Mercy Child Life Department at 314-251-5584. Gift cards to JoAnn’s Fabric and Walmart help to make these shirts possible. Shirts are available with ports, feeding tubes, oxygen cannulas or ostomy sites for kids sizes 18 months to 8/10.
