Dane, Ethan (Kapi‘olani patient), Lia and
Owen Kaneshiro are siblings who all play
for Hawai‘i Rush Soccer Club.
ETHAN KANESHIRO LIVES
FOR SOCCER. The 10-year-
old doesn’t let anything stop
him from his favorite game. Even when
new soccer shoes left him with blisters,
he kept going. But a few days later, he
began to feel sick.
“We thought he had the flu because he
had a fever, but then he complained
about how his heel hurt,” said Joy
Kaneshiro, Ethan’s mom.
Ethan had a fever and persisting pain
in his heel for a week. A pediatric
orthopedist referred him to Kapi‘olani
Medical Center for Women & Children
for an MRI. The results revealed
something far more serious. Bacteria
had gotten through his blisters into
his blood, causing a staph infection
that invaded his bone. Ethan was
immediately admitted for a biopsy.
He was in the hospital on antibiotics
for 12 days.
Joy said. “It’s somewhere he could
go and it didn’t feel like he was just
there in a room getting medical
treatment.”
Brain Station started as a summer
school program in 2015, initiated
by Dr. Carrie Shiraki-Sakaino who
has been a teacher, counselor and
student services coordinator for more
than 25 years with the Hawai‘i State
Department of Education. Now, it’s
a permanent program that doctors
can request to help inspire young
patients, both mentally and physically.
Some lessons come from actual
assignments from local schools. Dr.
Shiraki-Sakaino, who is certified in
cognitive rehabilitation, also creates
daily curriculums with specific
purposes. For example, on Thursdays,
kids engage in math and science.
Both subjects are connected to social
and emotional well-being. The rest of the
week, they may work on other topics that
enhance memory, speech or language, or
other mental skills. And sometimes, it is
the doctors who learn something from the
experience.
“It provides a lot of insights to the
physicians in terms of how patients are
operating,” Dr. Shiraki-Sakaino said. “In
medical rounds, a doctor may say ‘seems
like the patient’s thought process is a little
bit confused and that their right hand is
weak.’ And I respond, in Brain Station
the patient is absolutely fine, answering
questions and writing with no problem.”
Brain Station can be factored into
treatment plans, something that can
be pivotal for students who are in the
hospital for years. Tutors assist kids as
“It was my first time staying in the hospital
and sleeping in a place away from home
where my family was,” Ethan said. “I was
a little scared.”
Ethan soon found a way to feel
comfortable at Kapi‘olani. He started
going to Brain Station, a school away
from school for kids in the hospital that is
a part of Educational Services. In classes,
he was able to feel normal again.
“What Ethan really enjoyed about
Brain Station most was being around
the kids and earning points for showing
up, doing the assignment or activity,”
Dr. Carrie Shiraki-Sakaino with her students who are Kapi‘olani patients attending Brain Station.
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