Cancer Video Game
Like many kids his age, 17-year-old David Kossow can often be found in front of the television. "I've been playing video games all my life," he says. David is also taking it easy because of his health. Three years ago he was diagnosed with leukemia. The news meant dozens of trips to the hospital and 36 months of chemotherapy.
Cancer is the number one cause of death in kids and teens in the United States. Treatment regimens are improving, but getting patients to follow them can be a challenge.
Mike Kossow, David's dad, says, "It's been a rough three years." But a nice distraction came when David was able to test a new computer video game through a study at Washington University School of Medicine.
The game is called "Re-Mission." Roxxi, the main character, is a robot who seeks and destroys the enemy, "cancer."
"It kind of gives a whole new perspective on fighting cancer," David says. "I mean you can't really do it physically, so you can do it virtually."
Kids in the study played this game or a regular video game for three months. Researchers found the teens who played Re-Mission felt better overall, knew more about their cancer, and were more likely to take their medications properly.
Jeanne Harvey, N.P., of Washington University School of Medicine, tells Ivanhoe, "We always have to try to be creative with teenagers, especially to come up with ways to engage them in the process because a lot of times, their reaction to all of this is to just shut down."
The Re-Mission game is free to young adults with cancer and rated "T" for Teen.
David's beaten all 20 levels of Re-Mission. He's found it so inspiring he plans to one day design video games himself.
"He knows that that chemo treatment is kind of like going to the next video game level and beating that level," Mike says.
Now that David is done with treatment, his final mission is to destroy the cancer in his body for good.
abclocal.go.com
Mike Kossow, David's dad, says, "It's been a rough three years." But a nice distraction came when David was able to test a new computer video game through a study at Washington University School of Medicine.
The game is called "Re-Mission." Roxxi, the main character, is a robot who seeks and destroys the enemy, "cancer."
"It kind of gives a whole new perspective on fighting cancer," David says. "I mean you can't really do it physically, so you can do it virtually."
Kids in the study played this game or a regular video game for three months. Researchers found the teens who played Re-Mission felt better overall, knew more about their cancer, and were more likely to take their medications properly.
Jeanne Harvey, N.P., of Washington University School of Medicine, tells Ivanhoe, "We always have to try to be creative with teenagers, especially to come up with ways to engage them in the process because a lot of times, their reaction to all of this is to just shut down."
The Re-Mission game is free to young adults with cancer and rated "T" for Teen.
David's beaten all 20 levels of Re-Mission. He's found it so inspiring he plans to one day design video games himself.
"He knows that that chemo treatment is kind of like going to the next video game level and beating that level," Mike says.
Now that David is done with treatment, his final mission is to destroy the cancer in his body for good.
abclocal.go.com
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