Posted by Emily Shamash on October 05, 2022
Thank you for following our story! Since our last blog, Ella (who is now 15!) and I (Emily) have completed our planned iVHOODIE donation to Yale Children’s Hospital through the generous ImproveCareNow Innovation Fund grant we received in 2019. When we set out to create a sweatshirt that was comfortable and provided IV access to both arms for people receiving infusions, during the height of a global pandemic, we could barely imagine producing a successful prototype let alone delivering 55 iVHOODIES - but here we are! With support from ICN and Yale we have accomplished our goal! We are forever grateful to ICN for helping us to achieve this and kickstart the future of iVHOODIES!
We knew we wanted to continue producing iVHOODIES
We received so much positive feedback from nurses, child-life specialists, and children and young adults who had the opportunity to wear one of our sweatshirts that, once our ICN grant was complete, we knew we needed to find ways to keep making iVHOODIES available. To start, we invested in a batch of iVHOODIES in a range of sizes so that we could offer them for purchase to both kids and adults. We launched our website at ivhoodies.com to share Ella’s story and offer our iVHOODIES for sale. We are thrilled to have customers across Canada and the US including in: NY, CT, RI, CA, FL, NC, PA, MD, TX.
While ivhoodies.com offers a place to purchase our sweatshirts, its main objective is to share Ella’s story so that others can feel less alone facing IBD and other difficult diagnoses that require IV infusions.
We are excited to bring iVHOODIES to even more patients getting infusions
We are thrilled to have completed several custom orders for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital! An inspiring nurse named Kathy Root who works in the pediatric IBD center at the Karjoo Family Medical Center followed our story through the ICN blog since 2019! Through an internal grant at her hospital, Kathy and her team were able to custom order over 100 iVHOODIES in gray and navy blue with the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital logo. A few other floors at the hospital spotted the hoodies and ordered them through a separate internal grant for their patients. We are incredibly grateful to them for their partnership and support and could not be more excited about iVHOODIES reaching even more patients.
Read about iVHOODIES from Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital:
https://www.upstate.edu/whatsup/2022/072222-iv-hoodie.php
Watch Ella's story on channel 9 local news:
Here are Ella's answers to some iVHOODIES questions:
They used to be called IV Sweatshirts, right?
Yes, but they are now called “iVHOODIES”
Can you share pictures of iVHOODIES in action?
Here's a picture of me wearing sweatshirt during an infusion, and selling them at a Take Steps event. There are so many more pictures of people wearing their iVHOODIES that you can check out at ivhoodies.com/our-story
What sizes & colors do iVHOODIES come in?
We currently offer iVHOODIES in gray and limited sizing in navy blue. We hope to be able to expand and offer a greater variety of colors and plus sizes in the future. We aim to be inclusive of all sizes and our goal is for each and every person who would like a sweatshirt to be able to have one.
Where can I learn more & order iVHOODIES?
ivhoodies.com is where you can order a sweatshirt, read my story and journey with Crohn’s disease, and see others in their iVHOODIES. Additionally, you can follow iVHOODIES on Facebook and Instagram!
Does purchasing iVHOODIES support any special causes?
Yes! We give back to both the the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation and the American Cancer Society.
What is the most important lesson you learned while creating iVHOODIES, that you can share with another aspiring medical innovator
Anything is possible if you take that first step and take action into your own hands! You can bring any idea to life...If you can dream it...You can do it!
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Get #InTheLOOP with more Share Seamlessly on the ICN blog >>
Put in your time and energy on behalf of someone else. No effort is too small, because everything we do in ImproveCareNow is magnified by the efforts of thousands of other improvers, and together we bring about a better quality of life for many. Here are some actions you can take, or invite others to take, to get involved with ICN:
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Invite someone to stay #InTheLOOP with IBD stories on the ICN blog - "Sharing stories and experiences is affirming and validating. Our stories reach others and they help, which is the most wonderful part of being involved with ImproveCareNow." - Quint
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Invite a patient (14+) to join the Patient Advisory Council - "Being part of the PAC helps me remember that I'm not alone in this journey." - Rhea
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Invite a parent or family member of a child with IBD to join the Parent/Family Advisory Council - "I was astounded by the instant bond established with parents I had never met. Every conversation provided me with strength. It ignited another purpose in my life." - Maria
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Invite someone to download free, co-produced IBD resources - "Physical resources provide patients with actions that we can take toward bettering our quality of life, as well as our current and future care." - Quint
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Invite someone to Join Our CIRCLE - "Resources we found in CIRCLE eNews do not just focus on physical health, but also on critical areas like social-emotional needs, nutrition, back-to-school planning and mindfulness. These are valuable tools for my son to remain healthy." - Lisa
