Saving six: Life before and after transplant
An organ transplant is a life-changing event extending far beyond the operating room, the clinics and the hospital walls. Read about five children, one young adult and their families, whose lives were forever changed by the Pediatric Transplant Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. Lydia’s liver transplant, a mom’s gift Dawn Cavanagh gave her daughter life twice — first when she was born and, again, when she gave 13-year-old Lydia a piece of her liver last summer. The donor-approval process, which occurs with Boston Children’s partner Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, required hours of medical screening,...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 31, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Emily Williams Tags: Our Patients’ Stories double lung transplant ECMO heart failure heart transplant Heart transplant program heart-lung transplant Heung Bae Kim Intestine and Multivisceral Transplant Program Khashayar Vakili kidney transplant Kidney Source Type: news

Annelizabeth ’s story: Care that feels like home, close to home
When you’re 5, it’s nice to have a place that feels like a second home. Where there are lots of hugs. And songs. And games. And you can curl up and watch “Frozen,” your favorite movie. For Annelizabeth Jean-Baptiste, a spunky Waltham kindergartener, that place is Boston Children’s Hospital at Waltham. Annelizabeth, or Annie (but never Anna, she says), first came to Boston Children’s at Waltham two weeks after she was born. Her mother Elcie wasn’t expecting that her fourth child would need special care. “It was a difficult pregnancy. I was very excited and relieved when she was born.” But that sense of rel...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 29, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Lisa Fratt Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Boston Children's at Waltham Dr. Rachael Grace sickle cell disease Source Type: news

First-of-its-kind knee surgery gets Ashley in the swing
Sixteen-year-old Ashley Meyer never planned to golf. At age 5, she had a different plan. She wanted to cheer — and to be the best cheerleader. Ashley never planned to be a Red Sox fan either. But during baseball season, the Philadelphia native shuns Phillies wear, donning Red Sox garb instead. And when basketball season rolls around, she’s often sporting Celtics’ green rather than 76ers’ blue. We knew right away. Ashley turned to me and said, ‘Mom, he’s the one who will fix me.’ “We call her the Philly traitor,” jokes Ashley’s mom Loreen, a nurse at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadel...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 25, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Lisa Fratt Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Division of Sports Medicine Dr. Mininder Kocher Orthopedic Center Source Type: news

‘Don’t let dyslexia hold you back’
In kindergarten, while other students were beginning to read books, Josh Thibeau was still learning the alphabet. “I thought, I can’t read so why even try. I thought it was a waste of time.” Five to 17 percent of all children in the U.S. have developmental dyslexia. Josh is one of them. Children with dyslexia — often caused by some difference in normal brain development and damage to the brain — have trouble with comprehension because they can’t read text accurately or fluently. Josh, now 14, has four other siblings, three of whom also have dyslexia. “We are very fortunate because if Josh had been a first chi...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 24, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Rigel Cruz Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Department of Neurology dyslexia Gaab Lab neuroscience Source Type: news

Inflammatory bowel disease: 6 tips for a new school year
A new school year presents a lot of new opportunities like new teachers, new subjects and the possibility of new friends. But that newness also comes with a good degree of uncertainty, which can be frightening for a student with a chronic illness, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). That anxiety can be especially strong if the diagnosis is new, and the upcoming school year will be your child’s first with IBD. “The first day of school after an IBD diagnosis can be hard, but with some planning it’s quite manageable,” says Dr. Michael Docktor, of th...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 22, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Maureen McCarthy Tags: Caregivers Health & Wellness Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) michael docktor Source Type: news

After Moyamoya surgery, a back-to-normal birthday for Carolyn
Before Moyamoya surgery Carolyn Milks turns 8 on August 21. It’s a big celebration. Carolyn and her family aren’t just celebrating her birthday — they’re celebrating Carolyn’s return to normal. For most of the summer, things like swimming, riding her bicycle and horsing around with her sisters and cousins had been out of the question for Carolyn. But on August 11, Dr. Ed Smith, co-director of the Boston Children’s Hospital Cerebrovascular Surgery and Interventions Center, gave Carolyn the green light. She could go back to being a kid. “This is what kids really want. They just want to ...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 18, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Joyce Choi Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Boston Children's at Waltham Cerebrovascular Surgery and Interventions Center Dr. Ed Smith moyamoya Source Type: news

One mom ’s insights: Navigating care for children with behavior differences
Diba Jalalzadeh, now 12, paces energetically around the waiting room. She has been coming to Boston Children’s Hospital since she was a baby. She sees plastic surgeon Dr. John Mulliken for her craniofacial condition, known as Crouzon syndrome. But he’s just one of her many doctors. Diba is followed by Dr. Linda Dagi (Ophthalmology), Dr. Bonnie Padwa (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery), Dr. Mark Proctor (Neurosurgery), Dr. David Coulter (Neurology), Dr. Laurie Ohlms (Otolaryngology) Dr. John Emans (Orthopedic Surgery), Dr. Carolyn Bridgemohan (Developmental Medicine), Dr. Dascha Weir (Gastroenterology and Nutrition) and Dr...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 17, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Nancy Fliesler Tags: Parenting autism Autism Spectrum Center child life Crouzon syndrome Dr. Bonnie Padwa Dr. Carolyn Bridgemohan Dr. Dascha Weir Dr. David Coulter Dr. John Emans Dr. Laurie Ohlms Dr. Linda Dagi Dr. Mark Proctor Dr. Roger Breitbart Source Type: news

Heroes, hospitals and helicopters: Cardiac care at 20,000 feet
Everyone knows physicians save lives in hospitals. That’s where they do most of their work. But the story of my daughter’s medical emergency is a little different. How she survived a medical flight from Iowa City, Iowa, to Boston is straight out of MacGyver! Caroline was born with primary pulmonary venous stenosis (PVS), a dangerous disease that took her brother Benjamin’s life. [T]he nurses were trying everything to keep her stable. The flight team desperately needed guidance. When she was just over a month old, Caroline was flown to the Boston Children’s Hospital Heart Center for treatment. She spent eight ...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 16, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Doug Lake Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Dr. John Kheir Heart Center PVS Source Type: news

Dietary supplements and athletes: 5 things to know now
At the 2014 Sochi Olympics, a German biathlete and an Italian bobsledder tested positive for substances banned by the World-Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) — methylhexanamine and dimethhylamphetamine. Both athletes had ingested these substances as part of a dietary supplement they had been led to believe was free of contaminants. However, some banned substances are susceptible to inadvertent use because the manufacturers list them under less recognizable names on the product label. Both athletes were stripped of their medals. In other cases, athletes’ use of banned substances is more intentional. Scores of Russian athletes h...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 11, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Laura Moretti Tags: Health & Wellness Teen Health dietary supplements performance-enhancing drugs Source Type: news

Teen with spina bifida and service dog walk a path to independence
If picture is worth a thousand words, then how much is this picture worth? For Debbie Paul, who received the above photo in a text from her son, it is priceless. “It was a turning point in my mind,” she says. That turning point took place on July 7, nearly two weeks following her son Adam’s graduation as a service-dog handler. Adam, who is 14, going on 15, has spina bifida, a birth defect that involves the incomplete closure of the spinal cord. He was profiled in an October 2015, Boston Children’s Hospital Thriving blog. Euro is Adam’s mobility-service dog, companion and what Adam calls his “counter balance....
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 10, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Emily Williams Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Center for Spina Bifida and Spinal Cord Conditions service dog Spina Bifida Center Source Type: news

From silence to songs and silliness: R óisín’s cochlear implant journey
When her daughter Róisín started preschool, Margaret Morgan sat in her car, parked just outside of the school building. “I was waiting for someone to call and say, ‘She needs you. She needs you.’” The call never came. Róisín, now 4, is a social butterfly who loves everything about preschool — from belting out her favorite songs to dancing with her friends. It isn’t the outcome Margaret imagined when she learned of Róisín’s severe-to-profound hearing loss at age 1.We were terrified, but after months of seeking answers to no avail, we finally felt like we were in safe hands. “From the time Róisín was...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 9, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Lisa Fratt Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Boston Children’s Cochlear Implant Program Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Enhancement Dr. Greg Licameli Source Type: news

Catching up with Hunter: On the fast track
Hunter, Congressman Poliquin and Madison A few months ago, Hunter VanBrocklin was barely managing a one-mile-per-hour pace on the treadmill. That was before his surgery to treat hip dysplasia. His surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Shore of the Boston Children’s Hospital Orthopedic Center, cautioned Hunter that it could take as long as one year to recover his pre-surgery pace. “I went past 1 mph already. Say good-bye,” brags Hunter, who’s not only managing a brisk three-miles-per-hour pace, but also recently returned from a trip to Washington D.C. for Family Advocacy Day. The annual event brings families from children’s...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 4, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Lisa Fratt Tags: Our Patients’ Stories cerebral palsy Dr. Benjamin Shore hip dysplasia Orthopedic Center Source Type: news

Antonio ’s story: Detecting shunt failure without surgery or imaging
  Meet Antonio, a 14-year-old who depends on shunts to drain excess fluid in his head. The shunts are prone to failure, and detecting failure and identifying which shunt has failed is a tenuous process that requires high-tech imaging or surgery. That’ s one of the reasons why Antonio and his mother Joanne were happy to participate in a study of ShuntCheck, a device designed to detect shunt failure developed by his neurosurgeon Dr. Joseph Madsen. Read more about Antonio, Madsen and ShuntCheck on our sister blog, Vector. The post Antonio’s story: Detecting shunt failure without surgery or imaging appear...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 3, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Nancy Fliesler Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Research and Innovation Dr. Joseph Madsen shunt Source Type: news

The heart and the head: Meeting milestones after pediatric heart surgery
When their unborn son Silas was diagnosed with congenital heart disease at 22 weeks gestation, Montana and Michael Green knew he faced a long road. Though their primary concern was Silas’ health they also worried their son might face developmental delays, a common side effect following infant heart surgery. Silas was diagnosed with double-outlet right ventricle (DORV) , a complicated abnormality in which the pulmonary artery and the aorta — the heart’s two great arteries — both arise from the right ventricle. This disrupts the flow of oxygenated blood throughout the body. DORV is often associated with other cardia...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - August 2, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Erin Horan Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program congenital heart disease DORV Heart Center Samantha Butler PhD Source Type: news

Catching up with Abby
When you look Abby DiCocco, a 13-year-old from Clifton Park, N.Y, it’s hard to believe that the rising eighth grader, avid swimmer and budding triathlete ever had any problems with her spine. Abby was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was in first grade and had surgery to remove a Chiari malformation, an abnormal meeting between the brain and spinal cord, at Boston Children’s Hospital. One year after that surgery, Abby’s orthopedic surgeon Dr. John Emans, director of the Boston Children’s Spinal Program, prescribed a brace to treat her scoliosis. However, despite everyone’s best efforts, Abby’s scoliosis progr...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - July 28, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Joyce Choi Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Chiari Malformation Dr. John Emans MAGEC surgery scoliosis Spinal Program Source Type: news