Authors: On the Pulse
At age 4, Natalie Merlo was diagnosed with a facial condition that left her feeling self-conscious and very different from other people. While growing up, she even avoided having her photo taken. Through the work with her care team at Seattle Children’s Craniofacial Center, Natalie has gained confidence, has happily accepted who she is and has a powerful message for others – “it’s OK to be different.”
Natalie, now 18 years old, recently entered college with a new facial structure and a new outlook on life after completing two major surgeries. For most of her life, Natalie lived with a severe under bite and deep, wide-set eyes and cheek bones, as a result of a genetic condition called Crouzon Syndrome. While her features were typically brushed off by strangers, it still affected the way she thought about herself.
“These differences were things other people glazed over, and didn’t really notice at first glance,” said Natalie. “But to me, they were so unfortunately obvious. I wish I could say that I didn’t let these things phase me, but that was far from the truth.”
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Authors: Rose Ibarra (Egge)
Courtesy Jordan.Nicholson.Photography.
AJ Hwangbo was a happy-go-lucky 6-year-old without a worry in the world until mid-November when he developed a life-threatening heart condition. While specialists at Seattle Children’s Hospital helped AJ heal physically, the young boy struggled to bounce back emotionally. But, AJ’s joyful spirit returned after hospital staff arranged for him to meet his hero – local artist Macklemore.
“The luckiest or unluckiest boy”
Before he became ill, AJ’s mom Yoo-Lee Yea said he was an especially social first-grader and a frequent jokester. But on the morning of Nov. 12 he was quieter than usual. Later that day AJ threw up at school and by the evening he had a high fever. AJ’s primary care doctor said he likely had a virus and should feel better in a few days. Read full post »
Authors: Andreas Aarsvold
With frost appearing on our windshields and temperatures dropping, we find ourselves again nearing the height of the holiday season. And with only one week left to go before Christmas, holiday shoppers are on a tight deadline to find the latest deals and steals before time runs out. But there’s no need to worry because at area Bargain Boutiques, the deals are not only good for your pocketbook, they also benefit children.
There is little doubt that there is a tremendous amount of shopping that goes on during December. According to the American Research Group the average American spends nearly $1000 on gifts around the holidays each year.
What you might not know is that that this increased spending is also accompanied by an increase in giving around the holidays each year. If you talk to Eva Campbell from Seattle Children’s, she’d probably tell you that shopping for gifts and donating to a worthy cause don’t need to be done separately.
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Authors: Breanna Borgen and Christine Gleason, MD
Years ago I was listening to a radiothon for Seattle Children’s Hospital while driving in my car. I was so moved by the patients’ stories of hope and healing, I had to pull into a parking lot because I was crying so hard. I called the number and made a donation – never dreaming that I would have more than a “goodwill” relationship with the hospital.
Fast forward to 2012.
I heard that same radiothon in the car. My eyes swelled with tears and my throat tightened, this time because my newborn son was one of those patients in a bed at Children’s.
My name is Breanna Borgen. They say life can turn on a dime and that was certainly true for my husband, Erik, and me.
Early in our first pregnancy all seemed to be going well when I very unexpectedly went into labor at 25 weeks. Though my doctors did everything they could to stop my delivery, our son Benson was born almost four months early on Sept. 11, 2011, at the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC). He weighed a pound and a half, measured 11 inches long and immediately received a breathing tube because he couldn’t breathe on his own.
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Authors: Alyse Bernal
Photo courtesy of Soulumination
Tuesday was a day that the Olivera family will never forget – It was a beautiful day of unity, celebration and joy. It was a bright spot in what has been one of the most challenging years of their lives.
Oct. 22 was the day that Saul and Alejandra Olivera were finally able to get married after three years of being engaged. “Making it official” was something they were very excited to do and something their 9-year-old daughter, Miranda, had wished for.
From a limo, cake, caterer and photographer, to a chocolate fountain (the most important element for Miranda) – the big day was complete. And it all became a reality, within one week’s time, thanks to three members of Miranda’s cancer care team at Seattle Children’s who made it happen with the help of the community.
“It was the most amazing day and we couldn’t have asked for anything more,” said Alejandra. “Everything was perfect and Miranda was so happy to be there and be a part of the celebration.”
Now, this wasn’t just any wedding – it was extraordinary. And in order to understand its significance, it’s important to understand the family’s journey, as well as the people that were behind the important day.
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Authors: Mary Guiden
During a recent visit to Seattle Children’s, 7-year-old Landon Browne dressed up as his favorite surgeon, Jay Rubinstein, to honor and celebrate him at this Halloween time of year. We suspect you saw the related media coverage, and wanted to share more about Landon, who has captured the public’s interest.
There are landmark moments in every child’s life that a parent likes to document. The first time he rolls over, crawls, stands and walks are among the moments worth noting. But for Alysia and Brendan Browne, the moments they got really excited about for their son, Landon, relate to his hearing.
“When he said, ‘butter’ for the first time, I threw open the front door and yelled, ‘He said, butter!” The neighbors probably thought I was crazy,” Alysia said, with a smile.
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Authors: Mary Guiden
Those three attention-grabbing words can often make parents a bit uneasy when they think about how they relate to their kids. The words are also the title of a new book from Megan Moreno, MD, who heads up the Social Media & Adolescent Health Research Team at Seattle Children’s Research Institute.
Moreno is an adolescent medicine specialist at Seattle Children’s and she sees patients on a regular basis. Her aim, based on her research, is that healthy Internet use will one day be discussed in the same way we tell young people to get enough sleep, to drink in moderation and to eat healthy foods. She even sees it as a topic that will be brought up in the doctor’s office one day. Have you had your vaccinations, talked about safe sex and discussed your Facebook and Twitter habits?
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Authors: Kathy Porada
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
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 »
Authors: Teresa Wachs, RN
The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America recently featured this question from a parent on its Facebook page: “My son was just diagnosed with Crohn’s at the end of last school year. We did a lot of resting over summer break and he was feeling almost normal again. School is now back in session and he is starting a flare up. I know he feels bad and I am letting him take his time in the morning but I want him to attempt to go to school. I don’t want to push him too hard but I think it is important that he try to start the day and then if it’s too much come home. How do you other families handle this?”
This post received nearly 200 comments and advice from parents, a nod to the fact that while going back to school is a time of excitement, it can also be very stressful if your child has a recent diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. In children with IBD, the digestive tract becomes swollen and inflamed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that IBD affects about one million Americans, occurring most frequently in people ages 15 to 30.
To help with the transition back to school, I’d like to share eight tips for parents. These tips and more are also in a video produced by Seattle Children’s.
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Authors: Justin Matlick
An 8-year-old girl comes to the emergency room with what her parents think is stomach flu, then is rushed into surgery after X-rays show she swallowed three tiny magnets. A toddler eats magnets that look like candy, then has part of her bowels removed after the magnets click together inside her.
They’re stories that make parents squirm – and they’re becoming all too familiar to Julie Brown, MD, co-director of pediatric emergency medicine research at Seattle Children’s. Brown treats children in Seattle Children’s Emergency Department and is seeing more and more cases where kids accidentally swallow magnets or insert them into their nose, ears or other orifices, with potentially life-threatening consequences.
In a study published Aug. 6 in Annals of Emergency Medicine, she and her colleagues found that this is a national trend: From 2002 to 2011, there was a significant increase in kids receiving emergency care after accidentally taking magnets into their bodies, indicating that magnet-related injuries are an increasing public health problem for children.
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