Dear Legacy:

I am sending you a couple of pictures of the first use of our Medikin...Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital(in Kenya) receives patients from a catchment area of about 10-12 million. You can see our Child Life Nurse explaining a shunt to a mother who is from Pokot, far out in the bush. The grandmother is holding the baby and asking all the questions. The young mother was silent and wide-eyed. The second picture shows only a tiny bit of the crowd that came to look and listen to the explanation. Perhaps you now have a better idea of where the Medikin is.

Sincerely,

Sarah Ellen Mamlin
Volunteer
IU-Kenya Partnership - Indianapolis

I am writing to you to express my complete satisfaction with your products, the MediKin™ foot and doll and the teaching materials that accompany them.

During the adult outpatient classes that we teach, I find the tool that I use the most is the MediKin™ Foot Care Teaching Program. It makes it very easy to describe and demonstrate proper foot care as well as problem areas. Once people can see the demonstration, they better understand what they must do on a daily basis. I think the foot is the most valuable visual teaching tool I have used.

I am grateful for the opportunity to use these great products. I am a firm believer that visual demonstration and hands on learning are very essential in education. Thanks for the wonderful work that you do, it makes my job a lot easier!

Sincerely,

Wendy Kushion, RN, MSN, CDE
Diabetes Nurse Clinician
Sparrow Hospital
Lansing, Michigan

I've been using Legacy products for almost 3 years. I typically introduce "Max" our MediKin™, to children when I'm preparing them for their central line placement. Being able to see and touch the lines has eased a lot of children's and parent's fears. Max has actually become somewhat of a mascot on our unit.

After the initial introduction to Max, our children often ask to see him and to take care of his central line. This was especially true for one 5-year-old boy who asked to play with Max almost every day after he was diagnosed with lymphoma and got his central line. The boy carefully flushed Max's line and changed his dressing, just like the nurses were taking care of his own line.

After one particularly rough day of chemo, the boy asked if Max could sleep over in his room for the night. The boy made a special bed for Max, pillows and all, at the end of his own bed. Max spent a very comfortable night with the boy. The next morning, the boy's mom told me that he had gotten up several times during the night to check on Max, just like the nurses were checking on him.

He obviously needed to care for someone just like the nurses were caring for him. Our Legacy MediKin™, Max, fits the bill. Thank you for creating such a wonderful doll for me to share with children and families."

Sincerely,

Emily Kear, MA, CCLS
Hematology/Oncology Child Life Specialist
Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children
Falls Church, Virginia

Dear Legacy:

Grant money provided by the Aeries & Auxiliaries of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Indiana allowed the Indiana Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to purchase and donate seven Legacy MediKin™ teaching aides and cancer education materials to the state's inpatient pediatric cancer centers. The health care professionals at these facilities were thrilled to receive this excellent resource for teaching and instruction. I'd like to share one recipient's (Traci Hrbek from St. Vincent's Hospital) comments:

'Legacy MediKins are wonderful when teaching children and families about a new diagnosis or upcoming surgery. We love giving families the chance to learn hands on. We use the doll to explain physical changes to newly diagnosed oncology patients. The children get to see the doll without hair, practice giving medicine in the port or central line, and locate spots for spinal taps and bone marrow aspirations.

Working with the doll really helps ease the child's anxiety and allows for questions and answers. We also use the doll to teach parents how to properly change dressings and push medicines. They become comfortable practicing on the doll before they try something on their child. The dolls work great and the staff has really gotten use to using them. Thanks!'

Sincerely,

Becky Mahlum, LSW
Patient Services Manager
Indiana Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Excerpts from a letter shared with us:

"It was pretty awesome!"

"If he could understand how it works inside him and what it looks like, this is what he needs."

"If he could try it on a real kid, he would. He did all the things the nurse did and even showed some others how."

Joann Crawford
Mother of a child undergoing cancer treatment

"Max", our MediKin™ with spina bifida, has been a welcome, valued addition to our Myelomeningocele team. The nurse clinician who works closely with me has used the MediKin™ to teach school nurses and other care providers techniques of clean intermittent catheterization."

Sincerely,

Susan M. Anderson, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Myelomeningocele Clinic
Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center, University of Virginia
Children's Medical Center
Charlottesville, Virginia