Only a week after giving birth to twins, a girl and a boy, in July of 2008, Annette Cole’s world was turned upside down. Something was wrong with her baby boy, Trevor Clemons. In his first couple weeks of life he was lethargic, irritable and couldn’t keep any food down. She was overwhelmed with fear […]
In a northern California suburb in 1999, Kaitlin Burns was born very sick, that much was certain. She was extremely lethargic, vomited non-stop and soon wouldn’t eat anything. When her family finally received a diagnosis two weeks after her birth, the news was devastating. Kaitlin was diagnosed with propionic acidemia, a rare, inherited metabolic disorder that affects […]
After receiving a life-saving liver transplant at Seattle Children’s, 4-year-old Ruby Josephine Mwamba is thriving and living a dramatically different life than she was at this time last year. Ruby was born with biliary atresia, a liver condition that occurs when a baby’s bile ducts do not form normally and are unable drain bile. Bile […]
Having one child in need of a liver transplant can be tremendously challenging for a parent. Eugenia and Justino Hurtado have four. All four of the Hurtado children were born with Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) — a rare genetic metabolic disorder in which the body is unable to break down certain parts of proteins […]
Seattle Children’s recently named Dr. Evelyn Hsu the division chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. For more than a year, Hsu was the acting chief while a national search was conducted. In this interview, Dr. Hsu talks about her extensive medical career, her vision for the future and what hope, care and cures mean to her. […]
Janessa Felt watched helplessly as her 2-year-old daughter’s sunny disposition began to fade away. Charlotte’s bright smile and infectious laugh usually hid her struggle well, but that façade was cracking. Charlotte was getting sicker, which was evident by her yellow skin, the silver highlights in her hair and her large distended belly. Her piercing blue […]
Picturing her daughter making it to her first birthday was difficult for Rachael Rowe as she watched her baby struggle to survive each passing day waiting for a liver transplant. Time officially took its toll on Feb. 6, 2018 — four months after 10-month-old Raylee was put on the transplant waiting list. “I remember it […]
This April, in recognition of Donate Life Month, On the Pulse shares the story of how a life-altering diagnosis put one family on a philanthropic journey to help others in need. When Elliott Kaczmarek was 10 months old he came down with what his parents thought was a stomach bug. “He wasn’t feeling well, but […]
Patricia Alva knew, even before her baby girl was born, that something was wrong. When she was pregnant, doctors detected a cyst on the baby’s stomach during an ultrasound. “It was heartbreaking,” said Alva. After she was born, doctors diagnosed baby Olivia with biliary atresia, a rare disease of the liver. It occurs when a […]
Parker Rana, 15, has truly overcome the odds to get to where he is today. Born with multiple heart defects, Parker grew up in and out of the hospital. But now, he’s a thriving teenager with an incredible story of hope. Below is Parker’s story: from hospital bed to trackside, cheering on his favorite racing […]