LITTLE kids should not have to make bucket lists. As a physician with my own little ones, I have found it to be most heartbreaking when taking care of children who are sick with an incurable disease. In the most terrible of circumstances, medical treatment will often bring the sick child more misery and leave her parents feeling helpless and afraid. Medically, we hope for a cure, but often, we’re simply trying to buy precious time.

When childhood dreams are shattering and a lifetime of potential are soon to pass away, finding pieces of blue sky to lift young spirits is often the best way to spend precious time. Sometimes, the only medicine that we physicians can wish upon a dying child is happiness.

In my recent travels, I found a place where it makes no difference who you are, no matter how scary the future might be; this is a place where dreams do come true. Tokyo DisneySea is Japan’s answer to America’s hand up post-WWII. It complements the smaller, more-sterile Tokyo Disneyland as a uniquely Japanese but lovingly faithful Disney experience.

Only three hours from Guam, DisneySea may be expensive but with airfare to California’s Disneyland at about $1,800 a pop, Tokyo looks pretty good. At the other end of the Disney universe, a trip to Orlando's DisneyWorld is like going to the moon, requiring the same kind of NASA lunar launch budget. But Tokyo is right there and if you have not been there lately, there is a whole lot of happiness going on.

DisneySea is quite likely the best amusement theme park in the world. The workers there smile a lot, are helpful, and are apologetically uber-competent. The place is spotless clean. Upon disembarking from the Maihama train station, the usually grey, reserved, slump-shouldered Tokyo city crowd is transformed into smiling, laughing, vibrant folks who cheerfully wait in long lines to enjoy the amusement park’s glorious rides and musical performances.

The park is very much rooted in the Disney tradition and is very story driven. The ocean-oriented thematic inspiration is arguably the most beautiful and extravagant of any Disney park. The entertainment technology is cutting edge. As real-life anime walk around among Disney characters and come to life, “art becomes life” takes on new meaning.

The elaborate detail of the craftsmanship and high quality of materials used to construct DisneySea are enough to make a Home Depot addict get a sugar high. Disney’s business model must be rotten. They conspicuously spend all their profit on the product/property. Yes, the prices are ridiculously high but every single thing at Tokyo DisneySea is well-made, sturdy, and lovingly maintained.

You are immersed in the best that Disney’s imagineers can create. These are the people that bring you Pixar and Toy Story. The rides seem to have leaps and bounds, more care and wonder than their equivalents in other amusement parks around the world. DisneySea operates at a different level of expectation, and happiness is generously produced there.

The quest for the cure for terrible childhood diseases must continue. The risks and potential pain of treatment must ultimately be weighed against the risk of doing nothing and simply awaiting certain death and suffering of another sort. The goal is to first do no harm but in the end provide sick patients with medical options for treatment of their pain and suffering.

We must be able to offer the best medical hope that is available and incorporate a holistic, realistic perspective of medical care that recognizes the current limits of science and the individual's needs for dignity and spiritual nourishment. In other words, we must continue to struggle to find cures, as painful as they may be, and somehow find ways to help deserving families spend some happy moments together, maybe for the last time.

A trip to places like Tokyo DisneySea may be the wish that some dying young child may be happy to awaken to. The Make-A-Wish Foundation was created to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. Their objective is to create a wish experience for both the child and the family that is not clouded by financial concerns. All wish experiences are fully covered, including all travel and spending money when appropriate.

If you can, please consider making a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Guam. Their phone number is 649-9474 and email: mawfguam[at]ite.net.