An Inspiring Story Of Resilience, Strength, And Hope In Overcoming Life's Unexpected Challenges.
For Everyone Touched By Cancer
Navigating the journey of cancer is challenging enough without the added worry of how to discuss your diagnosis with your children. Cinda McDonald, Palliative Care Child Life Specialist with Baylor Scott & White Health in association with Cancer Care Parcel are here to support you through this difficult time with this event, "Parenting With Cancer."
Join Cinda McDonald, a seasoned Palliative Care Child Life Specialist, as she shares her expertise and answers your pressing questions, including:
Cinda brings a wealth of experience from her career in child life, having supported over 24,000 children of seriously and/or terminally ill or injured adult patients. Her compassionate and knowledgeable approach will help you feel more confident and equipped to handle these sensitive conversations.
Don't miss this opportunity to receive the guidance and support you need.
We kindly request that if you can afford to pay for an event please do, even the smallest amount can help us with our mission.
After a hand injury, Cinda McDonald, RDH, M.Ed., CCLS, GCCA-C, CTRS-C, left her career as a registered dental hygienist to pursue a career in child life. She worked as a certified child life specialist (CCLS) at Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas for over 6 years before moving into non-traditional child life. She utilized her skills as a dental hygienist and a CCLS as a co-investigator on two Texas A&M College of Dentistry research studies, examining best practices for supporting fearful and traumatized pediatric dental patients. Cinda also served as an adjunct assistant professor at Texas A&M College of Dentistry, educating graduate dental and dental hygiene students about child development, in their quest to work in pediatric dentistry.
Cinda developed child life programming in pediatric and adult hospice, while working with Community Hospice of Texas, and it was there that she gained her skillset and passion for working with children loved by adult patients. In 2011, after collaborating with the Supportive Palliative Care medical director at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, she started the unique adult hospital-based palliative care child life program for Baylor Scott & White Health, exclusively supporting children loved by seriously and/or terminally ill or injured adult patients. Cinda is systemwide director of the Palliative Care Child Life program that has grown to a team of 10 CCLSs across Texas, who have supported more than 24,000 children to date.
Cinda enjoys helping child life specialists throughout the United States and Canada, develop their own programming to support well-children of adult patients. Additionally, she is also a medical staff volunteer with the Kidd Kraddick Foundation’s annual Kidd’s Kids Trip to Walt Disney World, accompanying children and families experiencing life-limiting medical conditions on the trip of a lifetime. In her free time, Cinda enjoys time with her husband and their four-legged children, baking, true crime stories, and amateur ghost hunting.
More About Cinda
