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On her first day of kindergarten on September 20, 2010, Molly Katherine Dunne was a seemingly healthy girl until she collapsed as she arrived at school. She was taken to Nemours by ambulance. After some testing, she went home with plans to follow up on an out-patient basis. However, the next night her condition worsened so we returned to Nemours where she was admitted. After many tests, Molly was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension. Things happened quickly and we knew little of what this diagnosis meant. Molly underwent a cardiac catheterization to help determine a treatment plan and next steps. While in the catheterization lab, she had some complications followed by a cardiac arrest. She was revived but was not stable so she was placed on ECMO also known as heart-lung bypass. Over the next few days, attempts to wean from ECMO were unsuccessful. Molly was transferred to another children’s hospital […]

You’d never know it today, but 10-year-old Axel was born with an absent right ear, which was noticed at birth. His condition is defined as microtia, and refers to a missing or an abnormal ear, and can involve one or both ears. Newborn hearing tests revealed that, besides missing his outer ear, Axel did not have a normal hearing ability on the right side. Fortunately, Axel didn’t have any other medical conditions that required early treatment. As he grew up, it became increasingly hard to deal with the appearance of having a missing ear. “Sometimes kids at school would bully him for not having a full ear,” says his mother, Juana. “It made him feel like he wasn’t a normal kid.” In addition to being seen by Nemours Children’s Audiology and Otolaryngology teams, Axel was referred to Plastic Surgery to discuss options for treating his ear difference. A staged ear […]

Gymnastics is my LIFE! I didn’t realize how much gymnastics meant to me until it was taken away. I’ve been competing since I was 7 years old and played many sports until my mother noticed me doing backflips around the house and signed me up for gymnastics. From my first class, I knew gymnastics was the sport for me. I competed at every level, gaining new skills every year. I stayed healthy for 10 years, until November 3, 2020, when I thought my gymnastics career was over. On the floor, I did a layout of a skill I had mastered years ago, but when I landed, I dislocated my knee.  Once the swelling subsided, I was told that I needed medial patellofemoral ligament and tibial tubercle osteotomy surgery. I was scheduled for surgery six weeks later, but contracted COVID and pushed the surgery back. Once I had surgery, I started […]

Ryan has been a gymnast for 10 years, growing into a top competitor on her team. When she suffered a dislocated shoulder and instability injury, she met Dr. Alvin Su, sports orthopedic surgeon at Nemours Children’s Health, Deptford. She had instability in both of her shoulders, and the right shoulder bothered her more in the beginning. Dr. Su first fixed Ryan’s right shoulder with surgery in 2019. Ryan completed physical therapy and was able to return to gymnastics. To help Ryan reach her full potential, Dr. Su subsequently fixed her left shoulder in 2021. Over time, Dr. Su helped her reach champion-level caliber once again to bring home the gold. Ryan completed her physical therapy sessions and before being released, her therapist let her go back into the gym. She’s doing great now; both shoulders are healed, and she is a world, state, and regional champ! Ryan loves school, cooking, […]

Myah has been a fighter since the day she was born. If two parents each have their own form of skeletal dysplasia, it is possible for their child to inherit both types. This was the case for lovely Myah who carries a diagnosis of both achondroplasia and Kniest dysplasia. Given her complex medical needs, at 5 months of age her parents transferred her inpatient care across the country to Delaware to receive guidance from the Nemours skeletal dysplasia team.  She required coordinated multidisciplinary care from multiple specialists over her months-long hospital stay, which was possible given the specialized expertise of Nemours providers. Nemours offers care to individuals with skeletal dysplasia until the age of 35, so during Myah’s admission, her parents Brian and Alana also received multidisciplinary evaluations with the Nemours skeletal dysplasia team.  We cannot wait to see what the future holds for Myah and her family, and will be here to support them along the […]

Max Paul turned 18 in July this year. But several months after he was born at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in 2004, he vomited blood and went to the emergency room there. Max was admitted, but they didn’t have a bed for him, so he and his mom spent the night in the ER at Arnold Palmer, sleeping on a stretcher. Mom Lori remembers a geneticist from Nemours was added to Max’s care team, and Max was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. He joined the CF clinic at Nemours.  Around that time, mom remembered Nemours was applying to build the hospital in Orlando, and so when the question would arise, “Does Central Florida need another children’s hospital?,” the answer in her mind was a resounding, “Yes!”   “We were at the right place, at the right time to become part of Nemours,” said Lori.  When it came time for the groundbreaking ceremony […]