Multi-System Inflammatory Disease in Children

Keeping your child healthy and strong. Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) have lower levels of certain vitamins, minerals, proteins and other nutrients. That’s because their bodies turn over red blood cells so fast that nutrients are broken down faster than normal. When the body doesn’t get the nutrients it needs, it leads to malnourishment, anemia (low iron), frequent infections, poor growth and development, and other complications. At the Nemours Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, our team incorporates nutrition into the overall treatment plan for kids with SCD. We know that good nutrition helps to support growth, restore energy, improve immunity and strengthen muscles and bones. Good nutrition can also reduce pain crisis and the side effects of certain treatments. This can help decrease the number of hospital visits and improve overall health as your child grows. Essential Vitamins and Minerals for SCD A child with SCD takes […]

On December 8, 2017, my wife Ashley delivered our twins, Reynolds, and Campbell. She gets all the credit. I didn’t do any of the heavy lifting. We always knew that Baby A was larger than Baby B, but we didn’t know why. And we had no idea that there were going to be complications at birth. The boys were born at 36 weeks via C-sections, immediately whisked away and taken to the NICU. Reynolds was eventually transferred to another NICU, while Campbell just needed a little more time to grow. So, Reynolds and I left Ashley and Campbell to go to a children’s hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, where we ultimately spent 103 days in that NICU. He had airway issues. He had cardiac issues. He had GI issues. And throughout that entire time in the NICU, doctors knew that there was some underlying reason causing these issues, but no […]

While Hudson’s parents were out of town, his grandmother noticed that something seemed a bit off with his ankle. She thought it looked funny, bigger. When his grandfather agreed, and also expressed concern about his ankle, they immediately booked a doctors’ appointment for Hudson when his parents returned home. “I took him in thinking, ‘I don’t know what’s going on,’” says Hudson’s mom, Elizabeth. “He hasn’t complained about anything, doesn’t have any pain, he thinks he’s fine. But, let’s go get his ankle checked, just to rule anything out.” That’s when they first met pediatric orthopedic surgeon Dr. Joseph Khoury at Nemours Children’s Health, Lakeland. After his first examination, Dr. Khoury explained to them that Hudson had flat feet. This didn’t come as a surprise to Elizabeth as her husband also has flat feet. “He then went on to do an X-ray,” says Elizabeth. “He looked at the results and Dr. […]