By Meghan Shea
How I Live is a documentary film about closing the global survival gap in pediatric
oncology. In the making of the film, Persistent Productions followed patients, families
and healthcare providers in their journey with childhood cancer in Egypt, El Salvador,
Ghana, Guatemala, and Myanmar.
The feature-length documentary follows patients during their diagnosis, treatment, and
therapy completion, with complex issues emerging such as the physical, emotional,
financial, infrastructural, transportation, cultural and geographical challenges to
accessing care.
Through the patient journeys, the audience meets the healthcare
teams: physicians, nurses, psychosocial staff, who know and understand what those
challenges look like for families of children with cancer and are working to provide
quality care to their patients in the face of adverse conditions. Weaving together four
years of filming and stories from disparate corners of the globe, the film documents the
experience of four families who represent the journey of hundreds of thousands more.
Meghan Shea and Mike Rogers, owners of Persistent Productions, were inspired by
Meghan’s brother, Matt Shea, who had been treated at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s
Cancer and Blood Disorders for more than a decade. Meghan and Mike wanted to learn
more about what the childhood cancer journey was like for patients, families, and
healthcare professionals in resource-limited settings, where 80% of the world’s children
with cancer live. Matt’s doctor was Dr. Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo and the conversations
around the global situation regarding children with cancer inspired their curiosity and
this eventually grew into the film project.
Persistent Productions collaborated closely from the onset of the project with The
Global Health Initiative at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s who helped guide the early
research and provide technical expertise throughout the various phases of production
and editing. Persistent Productions express gratitude for the support and assistance of
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Inc. in the making of this film.
See more details on the website:
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