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Ellie Found Her Calling and Is Racing Toward Her Dream

July 5, 2022  |  Neurosciences, Patient Stories Comments Off on Ellie Found Her Calling and Is Racing Toward Her Dream

Ellie Musgrave, who dreams of becoming a professional race car driver one day, had emergency surgery at Seattle Children’s to remove a brain tumor at a young age.

Ellie Musgrave found her calling when she was 4 years old. Her father took her to the racetrack and a dream sparked. She surprised her dad by saying, “I want to do that.”

Much like the electrical charge that brings a car to life, the draw to racing happened in an instant and throttled her into motion. It was in the sound of engines, the whooshing of the cars as they sped by on the track.

That’s when she knew she wanted to be a race car driver.

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Helping Children and Teens Cope with Anxiety

May 2, 2022  |  Mental Health Post Comment

Kendra L. Read, PhD, Attending Psychologist, Seattle Children’s

The pandemic has been difficult for many of us, especially for children and teens. Not only are children grappling with the challenges that naturally occur during formative years, but the weight of recent events has exacerbated mental health issues. At alarming rates, youth are reporting feelings of depression and anxiety. Read full post »

Seattle Children’s Athletic Trainers Help High School Athletes Thrive

March 2, 2022  |  General, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Patient Care Post Comment
Picture of Seth Wayne smiling.

Seth Wayne is a Seattle Children’s athletic trainer at Evergreen High School.

Did you know March is National Athletic Training Month? In recognition of Seattle Children’s incredible athletic trainers, we’re highlighting the tremendous role they play in helping athletes thrive on and off the field.

Across the greater Puget Sound region, nearly 50 athletic trainers from Seattle Children’s are embedded in 42 schools from Tacoma to Woodinville. They are with athletes at least five days a week – on the sidelines at games when most injuries occur, as well as in the gym or training facilities during practice. They provide sport-specific training and conditioning programs, as well as injury care for high school athletes. Athletic trainers help care for athletes from a wide array of sports, including football, soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics, wrestling, basketball, baseball, softball, track and field, tennis, golf, swimming, volleyball, cross country and roller derby. From helping tape ankles to suggesting specific exercises to decrease the risk of injury to communicating with orthopedic providers when catastrophic injuries occur, athletic trainers help support young athletes.

“We are the eyes, hands and ears of the care team and a liaison between the providers and patient,” said Seth Wayne, a Seattle Children’s athletic trainer at Evergreen High School.

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New Hip Preservation Program at Seattle Children’s Aims to Help Children and Young Adults With Hip Issues

February 25, 2022  |  General, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Patient Care Post Comment
A man smiling and looking at the camera.

Dr. Todd Blumberg is the program director of Seattle Children’s Child and Young Adult Hip Preservation Program.

Dr. Todd Blumberg, program director of Seattle Children’s Child and Young Adult Hip Preservation Program, has helped build a new program that is truly one-of-a-kind in the Pacific Northwest. The program offers comprehensive and complete care for children, teens and young adults with a wide range of hip conditions.

Blumberg was born and raised in Texas. He graduated from medical school at Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his orthopedic surgery training at the University of Washington and then went on to complete pediatric orthopedic fellowship training at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, with additional fellowship training in hip preservation surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital.

We sat down with Blumberg to learn more about the program and his vision for helping children with hip issues live their most fulfilling life possible.

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3D Heart Printing: Big Impact for Little Hearts

February 25, 2022  |  Cardiology, Heart Center Post Comment
A pair of hands showing a 3D-printed heart

A 3D printed heart

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the old saying goes. But how much is a 3D-printed model of what’s in that picture worth?

For pediatric surgeons who use 3D-printed hearts of the children they operate on, their impact can be huge. And for surgeons-in-training, this technology can allow them to learn new and rare procedures on a realistic-looking organ.

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Dr. Kevin Koo’s Relentless Pursuit of Innovation Helps Children on Dialysis Find More Freedom

February 24, 2022  |  Nephrology 1 Comment
A man smiling and wearing a suit and tie

Dr. Kevin Koo is an interventional radiologist at Seattle Children’s.

When a child is diagnosed with kidney failure, it can feel daunting and surreal. Often, patients feel like their life is put on hold. A child whose kidneys do not work normally may need dialysis to filter waste and extra fluids from the blood and, for those who suffer from kidney failure, dialysis is required. Dialysis is a lifesaving treatment, but it is also life-altering. Patients who need dialysis are on hemodialysis three to five times a week, a total of up to 12 to 20 hours per week.

Dialysis is a lifeline and bridge for many waiting for a kidney transplant, but it can take months or even years before an organ is available.

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The Race to Save Sirish’s Brain

February 16, 2022  |  Neurosciences, Patient Care, Patient Stories Post Comment
A smiling family of two parents and three children posing for the camera with a white background.

Sirish, pictured in the top row on the left with his family, unexpectedly began developing seizures at age 11. Learn how teams at Seattle Children’s helped to protect his brain.

Sirish was a healthy, happy boy with no underlying medical conditions aside from food allergies and eczema, both of which were easily managed at home.

Then one day, he spiked a fever.

Initially, his mother, Jyothi, a physician who previously practiced in India, wasn’t concerned. The fever broke, and Sirish seemed to improve.

About a week later, though, he spiked another fever. This time, medication didn’t help. Then, the unimaginable happened: he had a seizure.

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On Black Futures Month, a Race Against Sickle Cell and a Chance for Healing

February 10, 2022  |  Cancer and Blood Disorders, General, Odessa Brown Children's Clinic 1 Comment
A woman smiling and looking at the camera

Sarita Wall is the vice chair of the Black and African Heritage Network

Sarita Wall started working at Seattle Children’s in summer 2019, and she knew immediately that she wanted to volunteer at her new organization to get involved with her new work community.

“I wanted to do something meaningful and be around people who share some of the same experiences and who look like me,” said Wall, who is an executive assistant at the Neurosciences Center.

She joined the Black and African Heritage Network and met the leaders of that inclusion network, or employee resource group, including Shakema Magee, the chair of the group. Wall said BAHN was “very involved in the Black community within Seattle Children’s,” which she appreciated.

Wall is now the vice chair of BAHN. Among other activities, BAHN coordinates the Annual Walk Run for Sickle Cell, which raises awareness and educates people about the disease. It also helps create a sense of community around sickle cell. The event was canceled for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A Low-Cost Device That Could Help Hundreds of Thousands of Preterm Babies in Low-Income Countries Breathe and Survive

February 10, 2022  |  Neonatology, Research Post Comment
A doll with medical tubes going into its nose.

The low-cost bCPAP device combines room air with oxygen and delivers it to the baby’s nose. The tubing carrying the oxygen ends submerged in water, which creates the pressures in the system and makes bubbles when the air comes out. The bubbles create a vibration that helps to keep the lungs open and working better. (Photo: PATH)

Each year, hundreds of thousands of babies born prematurely in low- and middle-income countries die because medical facilities there cannot afford the equipment that could help babies survive those crucial first few weeks after birth.

Many of these deaths are caused by respiratory distress syndrome.

In sub-Saharan Africa alone, some 6 million preterm babies are born every year with immature lungs. Their lungs aren’t fully developed, and they have trouble staying inflated, so they collapse. While medical institutions in high-income countries have bubble continuous positive airway pressure machines to help them breathe, those bCPAP units cost thousands of dollars—making them prohibitively expensive for many low-income nations. Of those 6 million babies, 800,000 of them are born at mid-level facilities that require bCPAP devices but likely don’t have them.

The bCPAP devices keep the lungs from deflating and also deliver blended oxygen into them—a critical step because breathing 100% oxygen can cause blindness in premature babies.

Medical providers in some low-resource countries use improvised bCPAP kits assembled from parts they already have in their clinics and use them to help preterm babies survive. However, these kits do not have the ability to provide blended oxygen for babies.

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Seattle Children’s Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Program Helps a Family Find a Medical Home

February 8, 2022  |  Endocrinology, Urology Post Comment
A boy in the foreground and a girl both with wide smiles standing in a yard and wearing backpacks.

Rebecca and Samuele Ciccu were diagnosed with CAH shortly after birth.

Arianna Ciccu and her husband, Marco, knew if they had children, they might be born with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). It’s a genetic condition Marco was born with and has navigated his whole life.

CAH is a group of conditions that affects a person’s adrenal glands. Congenital means the condition is present at birth, and hyperplasia means the glands are overgrown. The adrenal glands make and release the hormone cortisol, which plays a key role in how the body uses sugar for energy and how it deals with stress. A person with CAH can’t make enough cortisol because they are missing an enzyme. There are two different types of CAH, classical and nonclassical. Classical CAH is more severe and can be life-threatening.

When Arianna and her husband welcomed their first child, Rebecca, the first thing they asked the doctor was if Rebecca had CAH. Today, all babies are screened for CAH at birth using a simple blood test. Without treatment, newborns with CAH can develop serious symptoms, including weight loss, vomiting, dehydration, diarrhea, shock, heart rhythm problems and death.

The test was positive.

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