Volunteers came in to help female patients with their nails, make-up and dresses. (Photo courtesy of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago)

Rebecca Meyers is used to having to show parents the door.

The manager of children’s services at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago says she and other staffers always need to eventually encourage parents to leave the hospital’s annual prom for patients.

“It’s very nice for parents,” Meyers said of the prom. “We allow them to come in and help their child transition, but we do encourage them to leave. We see them standing in the hall, some with a tear coming down their cheek. It is a great event.”

Meyers said the hospital’s annual spring prom is an uplifting experience for participants, parents and organizers.

“It is a good reason for joy during a potentially terrible time,” Meyers said. “Some of the kids are so sick they might not live another year. Some are too sick to go to school. Families get to see the patient do something normal.”

This spring marked the fifth time that Lurie put on a prom for its in-house patients and patients from the nearby Ronald McDonald House.

“It was a dream for the team for a while,” Meyers said. “We wanted to pull together a meaningful experience. We always hear about how our patients miss major milestones — graduation, prom. We wanted to create a unique event to help them have a milestone even if they are not at home.”

Rebecca Meyers, manager of children’s services at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, said the event is not just a joy for participants and parents, but also the staff members and community volunteers who make it happen. (Photo courtesy of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago)

There were 20 participants at this year’s prom at Lurie. Many more were able to participate through trivia games, pop culture events and videos on closed-circuit television. Scenes from the prom were worked into the television feed.

A virtual reality room served as an ice-breaker and an enticement for leery patients to venture down to the event.

The manager of children’s services at Lurie said volunteers came in to help female patients with their nails, make-up and dresses. Guys got a hair team to help them get ready for the event. All services were provided free of charge.

“Prom is a lot to ask of someone who is not feeling well,” Meyers said. “Getting ready is a lot to ask of a teen hooked up to an IV, having to bring the medication they are on. Anything that we can do to help, we do.”

Meyers said that many of the hospital’s patients simply couldn’t attend the event.

“A lot get counted out because of their condition. They can’t leave their room. Some are too sick for us to do monitoring of their condition at the event,” Meyers said. “Some of them have an immune system that is just too low. Some are contagious and are not able to go.”

Meyers said prom dates ran the gamut, from partners back at home and brothers to friends and nurses.

Prom dates ran the gamut, from partners back at home and brothers to friends and nurses. (Photo courtesy of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago)

She said the event is not just a joy for participants and parents, but also the staff members and community volunteers who make it happen.

“It brings the hospital together as a community,” Meyers said. “It takes the entire village of the hospital to make this happen. There is the environmental team that has to clean, the food service, the medical team. There is a real sense of community that is palpable that night.”

Maria Minjares, network TV production coordinator at Lurie, said the virtual reality room was a huge hit with participants able to virtually color and write messages on the prom dresses.

“The VR had the patient very excited,” Minjares said. “It provided them with an escape from reality. Some would not have come down otherwise.”

“It was a distraction that added to their day. A lot of them weren’t attending graduation. This was a cool element that they could show off to their friends,” Minjares added.

She said that she and other staff members working on the technical side of the prom had a lot of work to do such as surveying the teen patients about their favorite songs.

Accessories are laid out in preparation of getting the patients prepared for prom. (Photo courtesy of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago)

“It was great for the kids to smile and to see them excited,” Minjares said. “They were able to hang out with kids they haven’t met. All the work was worth it in the end. It makes it special when they can enjoy themselves.”

Minjares noted that one patient’s friend came dressed up and kept the individual company, playing games during the event.

The production coordinator said the effort to decorate the dance floor on behalf of the kids was well worth it.

“It was great to bring them joy,” Minjares said. “They were happy to feel like they were in a high school environment … It was magical, really magical.”

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— Patients at Lurie Children’s Hospital reach a milestone —