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Jay loves wakeboarding—in fact, he’s a wakeboarding national champion! But when he fractured his right femur in June 2020 during a wakeboarding accident, he was brought emergently to Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida to see Dr. Zachary Stinson, who specializes in pediatric orthopedic trauma and sports medicine surgery. Jay had his femur surgically repaired with a metal rod, and he began the gradual journey to walking, running, and wakeboarding again.  Following his surgery, Jay was determined every single day in therapy, and he was cleared to start running just months following surgery, and eventually to full wakeboarding activities by six months!  Jay had the metal rod removed 18 months following his initial surgery, and he was completely cleared by Dr. Stinson a few weeks later.   Jay’s mom Ashley credits Nemours doctors, physical therapists, and nurses for being comforting not only to their patients, but also patient families. “The nurses and doctors explained treatments to Jay and me,” she said. “They would also […]

My name is Michael Shucoski. I’m 12 years old and am starting the 7th grade. I really love baseball and my favorite positions are pitcher and first base. This past spring, I developed a sharp pain in my elbow that would not go away. It was very irritating, and I couldn’t even throw the ball without pain.   My mom took me to Nemours Children’s Health, Deptford for treatment, where I met Dr. William Emanuele (Dr. Bill), a sports medicine specialist. After he performed tests and took x-rays, my diagnosis was medial elbow apophysitis, otherwise known as “little league elbow.” It’s an inflammation of the growth plate that occurs in young baseball players from the constant throwing motion. It’s fairly common in pitchers like myself. The treatment was a rehab program consisting of targeted strengthening and stretches as well as six weeks of rest, which meant no throwing, but for me, […]

Caring for critically ill infants with congenital heart defects using an app Greyson was born at 39 weeks on August 3, 2020, and just 24 hours later arrived home to meet his two, very excited older siblings.  A week later, Greyson wouldn’t eat. His parents, sensing something was wrong, brought him to Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware where he was admitted to the intensive care unit and put on oxygen.  At first, doctors thought it was a viral infection, but an echo of Greyson’s heart revealed that he was in heart failure.  The diagnosis was hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a severe congenital heart defect, requiring a series of three highly complex surgeries to correct it.  With Greyson just 10 days old, Dr. Christian Pizarro performed the first surgery. All went well.  Greyson spent the next 7 weeks recovering in the hospital and as discharge planning began, acute care pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Erica Del Grippo cautioned his parents that the […]

Nemours’ Advance Delivery Program is designed for healthy moms-to-be whose babies will need complex care from the moment they’re born.

It may feel like viruses are in the news a lot these days. And perhaps you just heard about parechovirus (puh-REH-ko-veye-rus). Well, it turns out that parechovirus isn’t new! What Is Parechovirus? Parechovirus is a virus that’s been around for many years. Parechovirus infection is pretty common, especially in kids. Did you know that most kids get a parechovirus infection by the time they turn five years old? You probably weren’t even aware if your child has had a parechovirus infection. That’s because kids usually have no symptoms or just mild ones.  Parechovirus can spread when someone comes in contact with infected poop or infected droplets of saliva or mucus that come out in a cough or sneeze. It can also spread when someone touches a contaminated surface or object. Symptoms of parechovirus infection are like symptoms that come with other cold viruses, such as a sore throat, runny nose, […]

Rocco started his freshman year in September 2021, excited to be in high school and ready for a new school year. Two weeks into the school year, Rocco and his family went to their favorite skate park. Rocco fell off his skateboard and injured his leg. His parents took him to the emergency room, where they found out he fractured his right ankle. During his workup in the emergency room, the care team noticed that Rocco’s blood pressure was high. Stacey, Rocco’s mom, initially did not think much of it, considering he had just broken his ankle. But the ER nurse was very insistent that they make a follow up appointment with Rocco’s pediatrician. Stacey took note and monitored Rocco’s blood pressure over the next few days. When Rocco’s blood pressure did not return to normal, Stacey immediately made an appointment with their pediatrician. At the pediatrician’s office, Stacey made […]