Authors: Madison Joseph
Seattle Children’s Therapeutic Gaming Program brings the power of video games, virtual reality and other therapeutic technology to enhance patient experiences and improve outcomes.
The program uses a variety of video games, consoles and technologies to help patients cope with the stress and boredom of hospitalization, as well as to provide opportunities for socialization, education and rehabilitation.
Since its inception in 2018, thanks to grant funding from Child’s Play Charity, the program has become a leader in the field of therapeutic gaming.
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Authors: Ashley Speller
When Jen Campbell watches 10-year-old Hannah step on the soccer field, she’s filled with immense pride.
“I’m very blessed to have kids who want to play sports because that’s an outlet for them,” she explained. “Not only an outlet physically, but also emotionally and socially.”
The busy mom of four not only shuffles practice, tournaments and school, but also medical appointments at Seattle Children’s North Clinic in Everett, Wash., a regional clinic with pediatric specialists in more than 25 practice areas that provides care for families closer to home.
When Campbell’s daughter Hannah was born, she was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, a problem stemming from the heart’s electrical activity which causes an irregular heart rhythm, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart muscle.
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Authors: Madison Joseph
In July 2021, Kaelyn, a seemingly healthy, happy 10-month-old, woke up one morning with a puffy face. Her parents, Christine and Jerome, assumed she was having an allergic reaction. They took her to the nearest hospital in their hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii, where she underwent various tests to determine the cause.
In the hospital, Kaelyn’s condition deteriorated, and she was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where Christine and Jerome learned their daughter’s heart function was severely diminished and she had little chance of survival without major intervention.
Kaelyn was born with left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy – a condition in which the lower left heart chamber doesn’t develop properly – that went undetected throughout pregnancy and her first 10 months of life.
Kaelyn was placed on life support for five days before she was transferred to Seattle Children’s. Christine and Jerome left their jobs in Honolulu behind and flew to Seattle with just one suitcase each, having no idea how long they would stay.
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Authors: Rose Ibarra
This is the second holiday season Seattle Children’s Building Maintenance Technician Jerome Ramos will spend with his family in the hospital.
His daughter has been in the hospital waiting for a heart transplant since July 2021. Before coming to Seattle Children’s, 10-month-old Kaelyn, of Honolulu, Hawaii, was experiencing shortness of breath.
When her face puffed up one day, her parents, Jerome and Christine Ramos, thought Kaelyn was having an allergic reaction and brought her to their local emergency department. Providers ruled out allergies, but recommended Kaelyn have an echocardiogram (ECHO) — a common test used to measure heart function.
Shortly after leaving Kaelyn with the technician, Christine and Jerome heard a voice over the hospital paging system: “Code Blue, ECHO.” “We were in shock,” Christine remembers. “She seemed fine when we dropped her off but when we got back to Kaelyn, we saw our child being resuscitated. It was devastating.”
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Authors: Ashley Speller and Rose Ibarra
4-year-old Ruby was born with biliary atresia and had a transplant in 2022 at Seattle Children’s
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 is the liquid that helps the body break down fats, from the liver. When it doesn’t drain, it can cause scarring of the liver and yellowing of the skin and eyes called jaundice.
Ruby’s parents Melissa and Gabriel Mwamba learned about Ruby’s disease shortly after she was born. At only a few months old, Ruby had surgery to try to correct her condition, but unfortunately the relief was short-lived.
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Authors: Ashley Speller
4-year-old Stella Allison underwent a kidney transplant in early 2022 at Seattle Children’s
“She has so much more energy and is eating so much more. She is also moving and walking more than she ever did.”
Four-year-old Stella Allison has always loved telling jokes and playing dress up.
With energy that is contagious and a smile that lights up a room, her mom Kyley Barthlow says Stella has grown into a high-spirited and chatty child – but was born a real fighter.
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Authors: Bob Sable and Casey Egan
April marks National Donate Life Month, a time devoted to spreading awareness about the tremendous need for increasing the number of organ, eye and tissue donors. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), more than 100,000 people in the U.S. need a lifesaving organ.
One organ and tissue donor can save or enhance more than 75 lives. Anyone can be a potential donor. Registering with the national registry and sharing your decision with your family ensures that your wishes are carried out. You can also be a living donor by choosing to give an organ or part of an organ to someone in need through organ donation.
Seattle Children’s has one of the best and busiest pediatric transplant centers in the nation, working across a six-state region to provide lifesaving organ transplants for patients. Seattle Children’s Transplant Center is one of the few in the world that performs living donor liver transplants, is one of the top five kidney transplant centers in the U.S. and also has some of the best survival outcomes in the nation for pediatric liver, kidney and heart transplants.
Dr. André Dick, senior vice president and surgeon-in-chief, who also serves as surgical director of the pediatric kidney transplant program, took time this month to talk about his journey to where he is now, what he does in his role at Seattle Children’s, and his priorities for the years ahead. Read full post »
Authors: Rose Ibarra (Egge)
The Hurtados enrolled their children in the Studies in Pediatric Liver Transplant (SPLIT) database which follows children who receive a liver transplant in the U.S. or Canada. They hope researchers will use this information to help other families like theirs.
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 due to an enzyme deficiency. The disease can lead to a buildup of toxic substances that cause organ and brain damage.
Adolescents and adults with MSUD are also at risk for attention deficit disorder, anxiety and depression. Infections, stress, surgeries and injuries can lead to neurological damage at any age.
People with MSUD get most of their nutrients from a prescribed liquid formula. They can eat some low-calorie foods but must be very careful. If they stray from the diet, they can experience muscle spasms, breathing failure, intellectual and developmental disabilities or even coma. Read full post »
Authors: Seattle Children's Press Team
Amanda and her daughter, Amelia, have both been treated at Seattle Children’s for Alagille syndrome.
When Amanda Thorlacius found out she was pregnant with a little girl, she was overjoyed. But she wondered if her daughter would inherit the same genetic condition that robbed her of a normal childhood.
“Give me all the diseases in the world, but don’t give Alagille syndrome to my children,” Amanda said.
Alagille syndrome (ALGS) is a rare, inherited condition in which children may have too few bile ducts in the liver. This causes problems with the way bile moves and makes it hard for the body to remove toxins.
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Authors: Seattle Children's Press Team
Dr. Evelyn Hsu, Seattle Children’s Division Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, wants to ensure racial equity in transplants.
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. Read on to hear more about her incredible journey and her passion for helping children live the most fulfilling life possible.
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