Nemours Children's Health, Delaware Valley Archives - Page 4 of 10 - Nemours Blog | Expert Advice on Children’s Health & Wellness

ARTICLES RELATED TO:
Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley

ALL BLOGS

Road to Recovery: Mackenzie’s Story

15-year-old Mackenzie has always been active, with a passion for playing sports. But after a snowboarding accident in 2023 resulted in a meniscus tear in her left knee, she had to take a step back from her favorite activities. After the accident, a local doctor recommended surgery and Mackenzie’s primary care physician referred her to Dr. Su, a sports medicine surgeon at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. “Dr. Su is hands down the best!” shares her mother, Teena. “He explained everything so that both Mackenzie and I could understand.” With Dr. Su’s guidance, Mackenzie underwent meniscus repair surgery for her left knee. But just as she was beginning to recover, life threw another curveball—a second injury, this time to her right knee. Knowing exactly where to turn, Teena says they didn’t hesitate to reach out to Dr. Su again. Through both surgeries, Mackenzie found the support she needed at Nemours Children’s, […]

ORTHOPEDICS

Step by Step: Brooks’ Journey

When Marissa noticed her 5-year-old son, Brooks, limping in late 2023, she didn’t think too much of it at first. His pediatrician assumed it might be “growing pains,” but when the pain persisted into the new year, Marissa’s concern grew. After a pediatrician visit in January 2024, Marissa’s intuition led her to push for an X-ray. Having experienced Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease as a child herself, she recognized the signs. Still, his doctors had reassured Marissa it wasn’t genetic. That same day, an X-ray confirmed Brooks had Perthes in his right hip, a disease that changes the hip joint and the way bone grows at the top of the thighbone. “I was seen at Nemours as a child and had amazing care, so I immediately knew we wanted to take him there,” says Marissa. A few days later, Brooks had an appointment with Dr. Mihir Thacker, an orthopedic specialist at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. […]

PATIENT STORIES

Back In the Game: Lucy’s Story

16-year-old Lucy McCloskey knows what it takes to persevere. As a two-sport varsity high school athlete, she never imagined an injury would turn her world upside down. But after a serious fall during a home game, Lucy was diagnosed with an avulsion fracture of the ischial tuberosity, a painful upper leg injury that left her bedridden, unable to attend school, and struggling to perform even basic tasks like walking or sitting. “It was the worst pain of my life,” Lucy recalls. But thanks to a timely referral from a teammate’s mom, Kelly Quaile, Lucy found herself under the expert care of Dr. Brett Shannon and physical therapist Jeffery Ruth at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. Lucy’s treatment journey began with Dr. Shannon, who took the time to understand her concerns as an athlete. “He explained all the steps to surgery and even made non-invasive routes available,” Lucy says, appreciating the way […]

ALL BLOGS

A Resilient Return: Caroline’s Story

For athletes like Caroline, injuries can be both physically and mentally challenging, but with a supportive team and the right care, recovery is possible. A patient at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware, Caroline’s journey with ACL tears in both knees tested her strength and perseverance. In September 2020, Caroline tore the ACL in her left knee. Then in May 2023, she faced the same injury on her right knee. Both times, the road to recovery was tough, especially when sports had always been such a big part of her life. Fortunately, Caroline had already been a Nemours Children’s patient for her regular well-visits, so when she got injured the first time, she knew exactly where to turn. “It was an easy decision to go to Nemours,” Caroline explains. When it happened again in the opposite knee, she found comfort in knowing she would receive the highest level of care from familiar […]

ALL BLOGS

A Journey of Confidence: Dani’s Story

Dani has spent the past five years navigating life with Poland Syndrome. Diagnosed at 14, Dani’s journey took her from feeling insecure about her body to embracing newfound confidence, all with the help of the compassionate team at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. Poland Syndrome is a condition characterized by the underdevelopment or absence of chest muscles. For Dani, it began to significantly affect her during puberty. “It really started to affect me when I realized that my left breast was not growing as my other one was,” shares Dani. This physical difference impacted her self-esteem, especially during the summer when finding a bathing suit seemed impossible. “It made me very insecure, and it was hard to find confidence within myself,” she shares. Simple activities like shopping for summer shirts or feeling comfortable at the beach became daunting challenges. Dani’s connection to Nemours Children’s began with her sister, who had been […]

SURGERY

Evander’s Cleft Lip Journey

When Raelyn and James went for their 20-week ultrasound in December 2022, they were expecting to hear that everything was progressing perfectly with their baby boy. For the most part, things were. However, during the scan, the doctor and nurse discovered something unexpected—a cleft lip. They explained that their son, Evander, would be born with a unilateral cleft lip, and there was a chance he could also have a cleft palate. For Raelyn, this news was overwhelming. As a new mom unfamiliar with clefts, she found herself navigating a whole new world. “I knew nothing about clefts before this,” she shares. “I spent a lot of time researching and preparing for any outcome.” Raelyn devoted herself to learning as much as she could, connecting with other families and educating herself about what lay ahead. Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware, was the first recommendation Raelyn and James received from their local doctor. […]

ALL BLOGS

Standing Tall: K’den’s Story

At the age of 16, elite basketball player K’den faced the challenge of scoliosis head-on, with the support of Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware, and the expertise of Dr. Suken A. Shah. “I was experiencing rib pain, and I didn’t know why,” K’den recalls. After a week of difficulty with walking prompted an emergency room visit, K’den quickly found that scoliosis was the cause of his pain. For K’den, Nemours Children’s has always been a familiarity. “I have been a long-time patient,” he shares. “The way they’ve helped me throughout my life has been amazing.” At a young age, K’den received an asthma diagnosis, marking the beginning of his journey as a patient at Nemours Children’s Health. “I was in and out of the hospital seemingly every two weeks because I was struggling to breathe,” says K’den. “During an Emergency Room visit at Nemours Children’s, an X-ray was taken of my […]

PATIENT STORIES

Marcella’s Story: In Mom’s Words

Marcella was born prematurely at another hospital in May of 2023. She had a fairly uneventful first month, until she developed Necrotizing Enterocolitis at 4 weeks. She had her feeds stopped, was put on the ventilator because her stomach was so swollen it was affecting her breathing, and IV antibiotics were started. But the disease had already progressed too far, and she continued to go downhill fast. Two days after the diagnosis she was transferred to the Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware NICU, and the following afternoon she had her first exploratory laparotomy. Things were looking very bleak after this first surgery. Her intestines were put into a silo, basically a clear bag that held them outside of her body so doctors could visualize what the tissue looked like. Based on what they saw, it was very likely that she would not survive as all the tissue appeared to be dead. That […]

ALL BLOGS

Dwarfism Awareness Month: The White Family’s Story

For the White family, life has been full of unexpected challenges—but also extraordinary resilience and hope. Three of Seth and Hannah’s children, Samuel, Selah, and Stephen, were all diagnosed with Ellis-Van Creveld Syndrome (EVC), a type of skeletal dysplasia that restricts cartilage and bone growth and is often accompanied by congenital heart defects. Their journey, which began with the birth of their first son, Samuel, has led them across the country to Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware, where they found the care they needed for their children’s complex condition. The family’s story begins in Arkansas, where Samuel, now 6, was born. Hannah remembers the uncertainty surrounding Samuel’s diagnosis. “At our 20-week ultrasound, we learned that Samuel had some complex medical concerns, but even after a lot of testing, they weren’t sure of his exact diagnoses,” she said. It wasn’t until after Samuel’s birth that the family learned he had EVC, along […]

ORTHOPEDICS

Interdisciplinary Care: Nia’s Story

Erica and Antoine Shoemate vividly remember the moment they discovered Erica was pregnant with Nia. It was February 2017, and despite a recent visit to a fertility specialist confirming she wasn’t expecting, she received the surprising news. “I was very shocked, confused, surprised,” Erica shares. This was just the beginning of a remarkable journey filled with challenges and triumphs. Nia’s journey took an unexpected turn during a routine 20-week anatomy scan when she was measuring behind. Initially, doctors thought it might be due to Erica’s petite stature, but a visit to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist revealed a different story. Nia was initially misdiagnosed with short rib polydactyly syndrome, and Erica was advised to terminate the pregnancy. “At this point, I felt like I had to get out of that hospital’s doctor’s office. I felt the walls were closing in on me,” Erica says. After receiving the diagnosis, Erica and Antoine […]

PATIENT STORIES

Lincoln’s Journey with Dwarfism (In Mom’s Words)

In 2019, while pregnant with my second son, we learned that he would be born with dwarfism. Though both my husband and I are on the short side of average height, we did not have a lot of experience with dwarfism and were unsure of how that would impact our son’s quality of life. We did what all parents would do and learned as much as we could about dwarfism and connected with other families. In June of 2019, Lincoln was born 12 weeks early due to other pregnancy complications. His dwarfism diagnosis became an afterthought, and the focus became getting him to eat and breathe on his own as we struggled through an extended NICU stay. After being released from the NICU, Lincoln was followed by a local pediatrician and medical team, but after having a short-term episode of paralysis at 2 years old, they referred us to Nemours […]

Page 4 of 10

Page 4 of 10

Page 4 of 10