UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A relatively new technology, normally used for entertainment, is helping kids reduce stress and anxiety during treatment. 

A Union County teenager diagnosed with leukemia in 2020 said virtual reality helped her escape the scary reality of cancer treatments the last few years.

What You Need To Know

  •  New technology is being used to help distract pediatric cancer patients from the stress of treatment

  •  A Union County teenager says her donated, virtual reality headset distracted her from the hospital room 

  • The use of technology like VR headsets and video games is becoming more common in pediatric treatment settings

  • September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Amanda Haufler was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in September of 2020 at the age of 15. The high school athlete said she was in such shock when her parents told her, still dressed and ready to go to a practice that afternoon. 

“My mom and dad told me and I was just more in like disbelief— I feel like, cause it was like— Oh, that’s not real. My body’s just in denial, cause I was already dressed to go to practice and stuff,” Haufler recalled.

Haufler required intense treatment and a bone marrow transplant from her sister. After beginning her fight against cancer, the hospital’s child-life specialist connected Haufler with Starlight Children’s Foundation, which donated her a virtual reality headset.

“I was able to play it like when I was in the hospital, and at home, and it just took me to another world, and it let me just like be somewhere completely different,” Haufler described, adding she really enjoyed the headset’s Jurassic explorer game.

Starlight Children’s Foundation said studies show the headset creates a distraction, lowering patient stress and anxiety levels. Other organizations are using similar tools. For example, NFL star Christian McCaffrey's foundation provides video game systems to children's hospitals.

The system puts players in a virtual reality world to play games, complete tasks, exercise or enjoy music and connect with other players. But for Haufler, it provided a more direct and immediate escape from the sights and sounds of a hospital room. 

“Because, if I wasn’t thinking about everything that was happening, I feel like my body was just more calm,” Haufler said. “So, when I have something on my head and I’m like different world playing, I’m not thinking. Like triggers, like you’d hear the hospital pump and you’d be like, ‘Oh yeah, I don’t feel good.’ But when you have something in your head with surround sound stuff, you don’t hear any of that. So you just like, almost forget it’s there.”

Using the headset took Haufler away from pumps, needles and nausea. At the same time, it ate up time while waiting for appointments and treatments.

Haufler said it allowed her to connect with people virtually, since hospital visitation was limited due to COVID-19 and her compromised immune system.

“You just like almost forget it’s there, until you like take it off. And then you’re like, OK maybe I want to go put it back on,” Haufler joked.

Now, Haufler is no longer in active treatment, but she still has dozens of appointments every few months to monitor her health and deal with lingering side effects of the bone marrow transplant. This fall, she’s off to the University of Tennessee to study nursing, potentially connecting a future child with an escape from the reality of cancer.

“You can always just take a break. I feel like a lot of people don’t ever think to just — you need to take a break if you’re tired. It’s OK to admit you’re exhausted or tired. I definitely learned that. You’ve just got to admit it,” Haufler advised.

In the meantime, she said she will keep using the headset, especially in waiting rooms at her numerous appointments. 

Related Stories