Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Program

Dr. Albritton with AYA patient

Navigating the journey of teenage and early adult years has its challenges, but when cancer enters the equation, the path can feel lonely and overwhelming. At Cook Children's, we understand that AYAs with cancer have unique needs and shouldn't be treated like younger children or older adults. Our Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology program is specifically designed to support patients through every stage of their cancer journey—from diagnosis through treatment and ultimately, into survivorship;

ensuring every AYA receives the best treatment, available clinical trials and holistic supportive care.

What we do

Cook Children's has created dedicated teen and young adult spaces in our cancer center. These spaces, services and programs are to support your well-being. Cancer can take away a lot of the control a young person has over their own life, literally. That’s why we offer the kinds of activities and resources that empower our AYAs.

You are not your cancer and we don’t want you – or us_-to forget that. And we want you to get out of your hospital room and keep being active. Each AYA patient at Cook has their own private inpatient room and access to the inpatient AYA room for fun and relaxation (no parents allowed!). We also have an enclosed AYA lounge in our outpatient infusion room available to you at your outpatient appointments. Whether you utilize those rooms for hanging with friends, group support activities or relaxing on your own, it gives you a space to be yourself and find some normalcy in the hospital.

For those in high school, we’ll work with you and your school to figure out the best way for school to fit into your upturned life. This can include accommodations, full homebound, intermittent homebound, online teaching, or a temporary transfer to our hospital school, with teachers certified with the Fort Worth Independent School District. For college students, we can help you navigate conversations with your school and professors about accommodations, missed classes or work, dropping classes, incompletes, tuition refunds, and more. One silver lining: there are loads of cancer- specific college or trade-school scholarships available for cancer survivors! Our team can also help you think about work.

Meet your AYA team

All of our AYAs receive access to a team of specialists who understand the challenges of AYA cancer and are dedicated to providing holistic care.

Karen Albritton, M.D.

AYA Medical Director

In addition to being the primary oncologist for many of our AYA patients, the Medical Director oversees the AYA program, providing direction to our programs, staff, initiatives and research.

Daley Murphy, FNP, MSN

AYA Nurse Practitioner

Your nurse practitioner works in conjunction with your AYA team to care for you both while in the clinic and in the hospital.

Katy Wilhelm, BSN, RN

AYA Program Coordinator

We realize that navigating your cancer treatment can be challenging, especially when you’re trying to balance school or work at the same time, which is why our program coordinator is sometimes referred to as the AYA Nurse Navigator! She is a point person when you aren’t sure who to contact, or what resources are available. They help patients stay on track with their treatments, as well as with “normal” life activities as well. They also connect patients with needed community resources.

Tahal Kahn, PhD

AYA Program Psychologist

It’s perfectly normal and expected for you to have times when it’s difficult to cope with cancer and the way it impacts your life, and it’s ok to get support (it can be as helpful as any prescribed medication!) Our psychologist’s job is to support your emotional well-being throughout your cancer journey, to listen, and to provide tools for coping with your distress.

Meg Gibbs, BSN, RN, CPHON

AYA Team Nurse

While you are going through treatment, you need a “go-to” person. The team nurse is that person! They are focused on making sure all of your treatments and care are coordinated appropriately, medications are in order, answering any and all questions via phone or message you may have, and take care of you while in clinic for appointments.

Lauren Bridge, MS, CCLS

AYA Child Life Specialist

While we know you are not a child, our AYA Child Life Specialist is here to meet your specific needs as an adolescent or young adult. Our child life specialist provides developmentally appropriate education about your diagnosis, treatments and is present during procedures for support. Beyond the medical, she also assess, intervenes and advocates for your psychosocial needs. Lastly, we understand the importance of connection. Our child life specialist provides AYAs with opportunities for social experiences with peers facing cancer treatment.

Jessica Masseke-Harvey

AYA Social Worker

Our AYA social worker is there to help you with the overwhelming practical needs that come along with your health care, like communicating with your school, helping with finances and insurance, identifying resources to assist with cancer-related transportation and lodging, family medical leave and more.

Daniel Ademola-Ojo

AYA Research Scientist

You will have the opportunity to participate in surveys and studies that are AYA specific and the Research team will explain to you what’s involved and what we hope to learn from you- the expert!

Our extended team members

We work closely with specific people on the following teams who “get it” that AYAs are different. They come to our weekly team meetings to keep up to date on the progress and needs of our AYA peeps.

Physical & occupational therapy
Nutrition
Palliative care
Integrative medicine

Your team members will give you detailed contact info on how to reach them. You can use the Cook Children’s portal, email or phone. Let us know how we can support you!

For general questions about the program, email ayaprogram@cookchildrens.org.

AYA resources

Because most of the info out there was written for parents of children with cancer or older adults, we helped come up with a guide just for facing cancer. You can go to it 24/7/365 to get answers, support, and suggestions to help you through the cancer journey.

What do I do now?

There are so many opportunities for scholarships for those going through cancer treatment and cancer survivors. We help our AYAs access scholarships for trade school, undergraduate education, and graduate school to help lessen the burden of paying for school. Scholarship eligibility varies based on multiple factors such as diagnosis, academic record, and location. Learn more here about available scholarships.

Being outside, trusting your body again, having an adventure far from the hospital, connecting with other AYAs- there are lots of reasons to go to camp. We have a couple local camp weekends for teens, and we organize a group of young adults that attend Camp Mak-a-Dream each year. We’ll also let you know about the multitude of other AYA camps and adventures available.

Elephants and Tea maintains an up-to-date list of fabulous AYA resources here.

AYA stories and events

Impacting Adolescent and Young Adult Patients

Child Life Specialists help adolescents and young adults cope with new challenges, express emotions, meet developmental milestones and maintain a sense of normalcy.

Information for caregivers

The impact that a cancer diagnosis has on caregivers, families, friends and support systems can be extremely overwhelming. We know that taking care of the whole patient includes taking care of their caregivers. Although the cancer journey is probably foreign to you, we understand the challenges that can arise and have a whole team ready to help you navigate your new normal.

Family support and resources

Please contact us if you need help as you care for your loved one throughout their cancer treatment. We are here to help. Please email us at ayaprogram@cookchildrens.org

Information for healthcare providers

When cancer is diagnosed in an adolescent or young adult, they can be the anomaly at both a children’s hospital and an adult hospital. But here at Cook Children’s we have a multidisciplinary team that is dedicated to caring for this unique age group. Our team specializes in providing the best care for each AYA-based on the biology of the cancer and the developmental stage of the individual. Contact us to learn more about our expertise, our research, and our programs.

Highlights of services our AYA team provides

Research project about end-of-therapy education
Fertility preservation
Programs and events
AYA dedicated space in outpatient infusion room and in the hospital
Our multidisciplinary team
Psychosocial support initiatives
End-of-life research and resources