Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Bielack of the Olgahospital thanks the association for its commitment to HOPPS – and looks forward to the benefit concert on 21 October 2017.
Klinikum Stuttgart – Olgahospital
Stuttgart, 24 March 2017
Dear friends and supporters of “Was uns am Herzen liegt”,
Cancer in children tears not only the young patients but their entire families out of their everyday lives. Fortunately, children with cancer can often be cured today. Successful treatment, however, still involves a great many burdensome measures. These include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and, above all, many hospital stays recurring over months.
Alongside the pursuit of ever better chances of a cure, our aim must be to keep the strain on the sick children and their families as low as possible. Part of this means they should spend as little time as possible in hospital and as much time as possible at home. At the Olgahospital – the “Olgäle” – in Stuttgart, families are supported in this by our mobile HOPPS team (Häuslich Onkologisch-Pädiatrische Pflege Stuttgart – home-based paediatric oncology care in Stuttgart). Specialised HOPPS nurses and doctors prepare, for example, the discharge home. They liaise with paediatricians, medical supply stores, nursing services, pharmacies and others to build a well-functioning outpatient care network where the family lives. Not least, they visit the children regularly at home, helping to solve problems and making it possible to spend even the more difficult phases outside the hospital.
So far, HOPPS is only partly funded by the health insurance funds. We are therefore deeply grateful for every bit of support. In this context, we were especially impressed by the great success of your wonderful benefit concert at the Friedenskirche in Ludwigsburg in October 2015. We are therefore overjoyed that on 21 October this year you will once again take the stage for HOPPS with another magnificent music event. From the paediatric oncology department of the Olgahospital, our heartfelt thanks – and much joy and success in preparing this extraordinary concert!
With kind regards
Prof. Dr. med. S. Bielack
Medical Director
Paediatrics 5 (Oncology, Haematology, Immunology)
