Allison's Journey
Allison was 6 weeks old when she became ill. In the ER, she deteriorated right before our eyes and we were rushed to the NICU. The first 48 hours were spent trying to get ahead of the curve AND figure out what was causing this. We learned Allison had Streptococcus Toxic Shock Syndrome, caused by common strep throat bacteria.
...Read more.
Connor's Story
I was 5 months pregnant with Connor when I had the ultrasound. There was something wrong. The tech asked me to wait a second while he consulted with the doctor. The baby had multiple holes in his heart and a missing pulmonary. It was a genetic condition called tetrology of fallot. My mother’s sister had the same condition and died at the age of 7. This was incredibly scary for us.
...Read more.
Evelyn's Story
Evelyn was born in 1997. At two weeks of age, the Cardiology department at Children’s Hospital quickly determined that Evelyn had severe VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect). Her heart had many holes and was enlarged. Her lungs were full of fluid. She was admitted to the hospital immediately. Her cardiologist said there were two options to consider for her care: 1) Surgically close the holes in her heart or 2) give her medication to treat her enlarged heart and wait to see if the holes close on their own. He recommended the second option. After 5 years all but one of her holes had closed.
...Read more.
The Child Inside
In the summer of 1989, I was a second year pediatric resident at
Children’s. I was doing my first Infant Intensive Care Unit (IICU)
rotation. On evenings and weekends, senior resident physicians would
come in and help with the workload of admitting and caring for
critically ill infants. I loved the IICU — I liked the challenge of
caring for such critically ill children and I enjoyed the type of care
that they required. I had recently decided that I would go into
cardiology for much the same reasons. I liked the intensity of care and
the technology used to diagnose and treat children with cardiac
malformations.
...Read more.
Undefeated
When Shawn was 4 years old, he was suffering from increasing lethargy, deteriorating eyesight and severe headaches that were beyond what his body could endure. After several months of seeing an ophthalmologist, his headaches became so intense they were causing him to vomit from the pain. On October 13, 1998, a visit to a local walk-in clinic led to a CAT scan which revealed our worst fear: he had what appeared to be an abnormality in his brain. Shawn's Story is part of the Children's Hospital Story.
...Read more.