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Tips for identifying, treating and reducing risk of three common fall sports injuries

October 15, 2013  |  Health and Safety, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Post Comment

Breaking the TackleShorter days and cooling temperatures mean school is in full swing. While it’s important to help students succeed in the classroom, it’s also important to arm them with the right tools and information for a fun and safe fall sports season.

Monique Burton, MD, director of Seattle Children’s Sports Medicine Program, shares tips for identifying, treating and reducing risk of concussions, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and shin splints – three of the most common fall sports injuries in young athletes. Each year, Burton and her team provide care and rehabilitation to hundreds of athletes in the Puget Sound.
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New heart device at Seattle Children’s improves patients’ survival rate and quality of life

September 10, 2013  |  Heart Center, Patient Care, Patient Stories, Transplant Post Comment

Montana teen becomes first patient at Seattle Children’s to receive the HeartMate II ventricular assist device (VAD) and a heart transplant while being supported with an implantable VAD. He is also the first patient at any pediatric hospital in the Pacific Northwest to leave the hospital with a VAD while waiting for a heart transplant. 

The Heartmate II Ventricular Assist Device

The HeartMate II Ventricular Assist Device

Adam Kingsbury went to see his family doctor for what he thought was a bad cold. It was there that Adam, a 16-year-old from Stevensville, Mont., was diagnosed with asthma and sent home with a prescription for an inhaler and orders to take it easy.

After a few weeks, Adam’s symptoms didn’t improve. He was having trouble breathing so his mom took him back to the doctor where it was discovered that Adam had an abnormal heart rhythm. At age 5, Adam was diagnosed with myotubular myopathy, a condition that makes the heart muscle weak. Because of this, his care team knew it was extremely important to find out what was causing the abnormal heart rhythm right away.

The clinic called Seattle Children’s Montana-based pediatric cardiologist Bruce Hardy, MD to examine Adam’s heart. An echocardiogram revealed that Adam was suffering from cardiomyopathy, a condition which causes the heart to lose its pumping strength. Adam’s heart was failing and he would likely need a heart transplant. Within three hours of seeing Dr. Hardy, Adam and his mom, Kate, were on a medical transport plane to Children’s main campus in Seattle where Adam’s condition could be best treated. Read full post »

Baby Poppy diagnosed with life-threatening heart condition, now thriving on 6-month birthday

September 9, 2013  |  Heart Center, Transplant Post Comment

This past weekend, baby Poppy Dahl from Belgrade, Mont., celebrated her 6-month birthday. This was a major milestone day for Poppy and her family – Poppy survived and is now home with her family after fighting for her life due to a life-threatening heart condition, hypoplastic left heart syndrome. She was diagnosed with the condition before she was born.

A program by Seattle’s KOMO 4 News which aired on Poppy’s half-year birthday, documents Poppy’s story of survival as her family and the teams at Seattle Children’s Hospital and UW Medicine do all they can to give Poppy a fighting chance.

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Building Hope, Part 3: Sustainable and green architecture

February 12, 2013  |  Building Hope Post Comment
A 130,000-pound scarlet oak tree salvaged and replanted on the Builidng Hope site.

A 130,000-pound scarlet oak tree salvaged and replanted on the Building Hope site.

After several years of planning, Seattle Children’s will open its new Building Hope expansion for cancer, critical and emergency care in a mere 10 weeks. Significant attention has gone into creating the most comfortable, safe and practical spaces for our patients and their family.

We’ve also been attentive in making sure sustainable and “green” design elements are being woven into the make-up of the building. It’s part of our effort to maintain our beautiful Pacific Northwest environment, and because we know that green architecture is healthiest for our staff and those we serve.

 Saving energy, water and preserving habitat

Children’s goal is to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council shortly after Building Hope opens. To do that, we have to meet eco-friendly standards for site development, resource consumption, materials selection and the indoor environment – the building blocks of sustainable design and construction.

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Building Hope, Part 2: Early Look at the New Emergency Department

January 8, 2013  |  Building Hope, Patient Care Post Comment

Seattle Children’s Emergency Department (ED) is an extremely busy place. In 2012, our ED team saw over 36,000 patients. Visits have increased 30 percent since 2003. We exceed recommended capacity every day during our busy season, from November to March.

ED Lobby: The new ED has more space and additional treatment rooms to reduce wait times and shorten lengths of stay.

ED Lobby: The new ED has more space and additional treatment rooms to reduce wait times and shorten lengths of stay.

To handle current volumes, the team cares for emergency patients in three distinct and physically separate spaces – an often inconvenient and inefficient situation for families and staff.

However, on April 23, our ED will move into its new home in Children’s Building Hope expansion. The new ED increases capacity, expands the size of patient rooms, provides adjacent radiologic access and enhances staff visibility and communication. It also improves the way patients and families flow through the space and how caregivers respond to their needs.

“Our current Emergency Department wasn’t built to accommodate the number of patients we’re seeing today,” said Tony Woodward, MD, MBA, chief of emergency services at Seattle Children’s. “A larger facility with more treatment rooms and improved clinical workflow will reduce wait times and make a trip to the ED a far less stressful experience for patients and their families.” Read full post »

Building Hope, Part 1: Top Ten Features of Cancer Inpatient Unit

December 12, 2012  |  Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer, Building Hope, Cancer and Blood Disorders, Patient Care Post Comment

Cancer Patient Room

In April 2013, Seattle Children’s will open Building Hope, a new  facility that will house a new cancer inpatient unit with 48 single patient rooms. Additionally, Building Hope will include 32 private rooms for critical care treatment and a new Emergency Department.

The cancer care space will span two floors and offer several features that will make a patient and their family’s stay as personalized and comfortable as possible.

A 16-bed teen and young adult cancer space will occupy its own floor, where patients will benefit from the support of their peers in an age-appropriate environment. No other hospital in the United States currently offers a dedicated inpatient unit of this size for the care of teens and young adults with cancer.

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Seattle Children’s Cancer Patient Presents “Haunting: A Head” – A Halloween Video

October 31, 2012  |  Cancer and Blood Disorders, Patient Care, Patient Stories 2 Comments

10-year-old Jenna Gibson, a Maple Valley, Wash. resident, has been a patient at Seattle Children’s since she was initially diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia earlier this year.

While staying at the hospital’s cancer care inpatient unit recently, she had the idea to create for her friends and family a video entitled: “Haunting: A Head” – all in the spirit of Halloween fun.

In the video, Jenna, hidden beneath a magical hospital robe that makes everything but her head invisible, can be seen on a spooky hijinks across the floor.

“I wanted to show some of the things that were frustrating but kind of funny about being in the hospital,” said Jenna. “And I wanted to use only my head because it seemed mysterious.”

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Mission: Nutrition Brings Healthier Food and Drink Options to Seattle Children’s

September 10, 2012  |  Nutrition and Obesity 5 Comments

“Food is your medicine – hence let your medicine be your food”  – Hippocrates, circa 400 BC

Hospitals are places where healing and wellness are promoted, yet the food and drink that are served at them may not always be the healthiest options for patients, their families and staff.  Seattle Children’s is tackling this challenge head on.

Today, Children’s announced the launch of Mission: Nutrition – a new initiative aimed at improving the nutritional quality of the food and drinks served at all Children’s properties. Improving our nutritional offerings will happen in several phases over time. Here’s a look at phase one improvements, some of which are already underway:

  • Deep-fat fried foods are no longer offered in the hospital’s cafeteria. Instead, french fries, onion rings, fish fillets, egg rolls, empanadas and other traditionally deep-fat-fried foods are now baked.
  • Beginning this month, all sugar-sweetened beverages in cafeterias, vending machines and gift shops will be removed – one of the more sweeping changes of the initiative.
  • Wild salmon with tomato pesto, cod fillet and country baked steak have been added to the cafeteria’s rotating menu as healthy alternatives.

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Bullying: Identify It and Help Stop It

June 21, 2012  |  Health and Safety Post Comment

A video of a 68-year old New York bus monitor being bullied by middle schoolers surfaced yesterday – bringing the unsettling topic of bullying top of mind.

Bullying can be one of the toughest situations a child or adult can face – and can arise in many forms from verbal to physical to emotional. It can manifest in a variety of ways including via the Internet (i.e. cyberbullying) and by spreading rumors. The aftermath of bullying can last a lifetime, providing a sense of hurt, isolation and fear.

According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as many as half of all children are bullied at some time during their school years, and at least 10% are bullied regularly. Read full post »