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Raising Awareness

Brooke Renton’s life changed substantially when her daughter, Olivia, was born in March 2021, both in the physical sense (the family permanently relocated from Tallahassee to an Orlando suburb to be closer to Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida) and in the emotional sense when she knew she would do anything for her sweet baby girl.   Born with a rare chromosomal condition called Trisomy 18 at a hospital in Tallahassee, Olivia had to be on a ventilator for the first 11 days of her life. The day before she was supposed to go home, doctors had to perform lifesaving CPR and place Olivia back on a ventilator. Olivia’s heart was “pouring blood into her lungs” due to a hole in her heart known as a ventricular septal defect. NICU doctors in Tallahassee told the family that Olivia would need a specialized center that performed advanced pediatric heart surgery to correct the issue. Due […]

During the first trimester of her pregnancy, Christine Miller learned her son, Logan, was diagnosed with congenital cytomegalovirus infection (CCMV). Christine was told that her son was dying in utero and would likely not survive the birth. Since the CCMV diagnosis, the Miller family has been in constant contact with the infectious disease department at Nemours Children’s Health. At 32 weeks pregnant, Christine underwent an emergency C-section and Logan was born, weighing just 3 pounds. Immediately following birth, multiple calcifications were discovered on Logan’s brain. At this time, Logan was also diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Fast forward 18 years, Logan and the Miller family still have a very close relationship with Nemours. In 2021, Logan had his first appointment with Dr. Shrader (Dr. Dabney followed Logan since birth). At first, Dr. Shrader was very pleased with Logan’s movement and progress from his previous hip surgeries. “But after talking with him […]

Personal TrainersPersonal trainers are found in gyms, health clubs, and even online as fitness influencers. Their goal is to help the general public achieve their fitness goals. Their clients can range anywhere from beginners to body builders, and they usually require a fee. Personal trainers are a great resource for cardio exercises, weightlifting techniques, and nutrition advice. There is no degree required to be a personal trainer. However, many have certifications that allow them to evaluate their clients and recommend exercises and nutrition regimens. While personal trainers are a very helpful asset to a person’s health and wellness, their role differs greatly from athletic trainers. Athletic TrainersAthletic trainers can be found in high schools, colleges, orthopedic offices, physical therapy clinics, hospitals, professional sports teams, military sites, and even in corporate and industrial settings. They provide athletes of all ages with preventative services, emergency care, therapeutic interventions, clinical diagnosis, and injury […]

My name is Alex Gaudlap. Also known as Raymond’s mom. Our journey with Nemours Children’s Health started in the fall of 2017 when we relocated back to New Jersey from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina due to Raymond not hitting developmental milestones appropriately. The doctors down South assured me Raymond was fine, but my motherly instinct told me he wasn’t. From the moment we stepped foot into Nemours Children’s, I felt like our concerns were listened to. Raymond’s first appointment at Nemours was with a neurologist in the Deptford location. Since we were new patients and basically starting from the beginning with tests, she ordered a routine EEG. We never would have thought that his first test would give us answers, but it did. Raymond was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy; that gave us some indication to why he had a global developmental delay. After receiving the epilepsy diagnosis, […]

Emily Baez remembers being in the delivery room when she noticed that something was different about her newborn daughter’s ear. “You count toes, you count fingers, but you don’t think for a second to check any other body part… especially an ear,” she says.   Microtia is a rare birth defect in which the external ear is not completely developed. It affects about one in every 5,000-7,000 babies born annually. “When she was born, I didn’t know anything about it, I had never heard of microtia, so I started with social media first,” she says. This is when Emily became involved in The Ear Community online, searching hashtags and connecting with other affected families. “It actually helped make my grieving process a lot better.” After struggling to identify a health care provider that accepted their insurance, Emily found Nemours Children’s and instantly knew she was in the right place to […]

En mayo de 2022, Sebastián llego triste de la escuela. Estaba yo preocupada por él. Pensé que tal vez alguien era un bully, pero me aseguró que estaba inusualmente cansado. Al día siguiente era lo mismo, y tenía fiebre, así que lo llevé al médico que le diagnosticó una infección de estómago y le recetó antibióticos. Mejoró, pero no pasó mucho tiempo antes de que regresaran los mismos síntomas. Fuimos a otro médico que dijo que era lo mismo y nos recetó aún más antibióticos. Me pregunté cómo podría ser una infección del estómago si no tenía síntomas gastrointestinales, pero seguí lo que dijo el médico. Pero luego se agregó la respiración rápida a sus síntomas y supe que algo más estaba pasando, así que esta vez lo llevé al hospital. La respiración era tan rápida que me asustó. Pensaron que era bronquiolitis y prescribieron un tratamiento con nebulizador. Cuando […]