So, when Saoirse’s catheters and vascular access lines started to get in the way while she played, Kezia put her sewing hobby to the test. She made a garment that kept Saoise’s lines in place, preventing it from tangling and allowing her to play.
With the collaboration of doctors and nurses who supervised Saoirse’s treatment, Kezia soon perfected a garment that became the subject of the hospital. The garment effectively reduced the risk of injury to the line and infection, while allowing patients freedom and comfort.
“It has made a big difference in our lives as parents,” said Kezia. “It was an important part of our treatment journey.”
Although Saoirse lost the battle with cancer months later, on good days she was at least able to play normally.
A cancer survivor twice, Kezia’s experience as a patient and caregiver empathized him with the struggles of medical treatment. With the success of the clothes she made for her daughter, Kezia started to think about how she could expand her desire to help with other products.
More than 10 years since the company started, Kezia’s medical garments are being used in hospitals across the country, with partnerships in locations such as Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and CS Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan Medical School.
CareAline’s latest clothing is a multi-quarantine product. When Kezia’s Hodgkin’s lymphoma relapsed, she underwent a stem cell transplant, forcing her into 100-day isolation to protect her weakened immune system. Just three days after the isolation, the Covid-19 pandemic started and she started another blockade.
“I was just getting ready to get out of isolation and I was seeing the light at the end of that tunnel, and then everyone had to turn it off as well,” she said.
Despite the emotional exhaustion of fighting cancer and a pandemic, Kezia quickly asked how she could use her company to help keep frontline employees safe.
As the manufacturer of CareAline in Massachusetts was considered an essential business, it was allowed to remain open. Kezia wanted to take the opportunity to help and spent months meeting with PEP specialists and talking to doctors about the changes they wanted in their medical garments.
“They saved my life several times, they helped to treat our daughter, so these are people that we are connected with and that we are grateful for. We feel that we really wanted to help them in return,” she said.
From her meetings, Kezia found that, although there was a huge movement to help provide masks, the isolation dresses were running out quickly. And although she could use her company to create the standard disposable gown, she decided to create solutions to the problems mentioned by doctors.
CareAline’s dresses sought to solve the small problems that can result in major safety differences: Kezia added cuffs with thumb holes so that the wrists could be covered, gave the dresses a higher neck and added a velcro over the back, allowing to be removed easily and safely.
“The changes seem straightforward and simple, but unless you talk to the doctors who are dealing with it every day, you may not recognize that these simple changes can have a major impact on their safety.”
Kezia said he sees these changes as a way to provide medical benefits, personal and environmental benefits.
“The medical industry produces a lot of waste because a lot of it is disposable to be sterile. If there is a way that we can find that allows something to be reused, why wouldn’t we do it like that?”
Despite the fatigue of undergoing various cancer treatments, Kezia says it is fueled by testimonies from patients who say she has helped their lives to feel a little more normal and a little safer.
“For me, having been on and off cancer treatment for 10 years, I learned that I had to make my treatment a part of my life and not design my life around my treatment. When we heard comments that people were able to going back to school, going to work or hugging your grandchildren, these are the stories that really make me feel like I’m touching the needle. “