Services & Specialties Archives - Page 22 of 28 - Nemours Blog | Expert Advice on Children’s Health & Wellness

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Services & Specialties

Nationals or Bust — Edris’s Story (In His Own Words)

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 […]

Myah the Fighter

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 […]

10 Years Later — Max’s Story

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 […]

Worth the Wait — Edwin’s Story

Edwin was born with Pierre Robin sequence, a rare and serious condition where a baby’s jaw is so small that the tongue blocks the airway.  Because of the complexity of his case, Edwin was monitored closely in the NICU until our craniofacial airway team, including a plastic surgeon and otolaryngologist, were able to open his airway by bringing his jaw forward. “My initial goal, after making sure Edwin was safe, was to reassure his parents that everything was going to be okay. We had many discussions about the options and decided that mandibular distraction—bringing the jaw forward slowly over time—was the right option for Edwin and his family,” explains Dr. Brian Kellogg, division chief of plastic surgery, Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida. “Using a customized computer model, I was able to carefully plan Edwin’s surgery and the movements of his jaw bone.”  Because Edwin had been in the NICU since the day he was […]

The Primmer Family Story

Karalyn first came to Nemours after she was suffering from some abdominal pain, which led to a visit at an ER in their hometown of Titusville. Something didn’t satisfy her parents about that visit, and they were concerned that something else was wrong.   They immediately sought help at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida. There, an ultrasound found a tumor associated with a genetic disease called Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) that was in her adrenal gland. In 2020, the 8-year-old she had an 8-hour surgery and stayed for a few days afterward for observation.   It turned out Karalyn was the first one in her family to be diagnosed with VHL. Later, younger brother Westin had a similar issue when he was 6, and also required surgery with the same surgeon at Nemours. Then, dad got a diagnosis, but had to have an adult surgeon at a hospital for adults, lamented mom. […]

Jay on his wakeboard

In the Wake of Injury, A National Champion Triumphs — Jay’s Story

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 […]

Little League Elbow – Michael’s Story

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, […]

World Heart Day- Greyson’s Story

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 […]

ADP Celebrates 100th Delivery

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

Quinn’s Scoliosis Journey

“We are so happy with Dr. Khoury and what he’s been able to do for our son. He is an amazing doctor. He always treats everyone with respect. We are excited to continue our scoliosis journey with Dr. Khoury and Nemours.” –Mom to Quinn (age 4) Quinn’s mom first noticed something was wrong with his back when he was just 2 months old. “I could feel a bump on one side of his back,” she explains. “I thought it was lack of muscle tone…I didn’t know that what I was feeling was the rib hump.” When she mentioned this to Quinn’s pediatrician, she diagnosed him with torticollis and Quinn began doing physical therapy. His torticollis eventually got better, but mom knew there was still something wrong with his back. That was because Quinn didn’t sit on his own until around 8 months, and he didn’t crawl until after 9 months. […]

Apifix: A Unique New Scoliosis Treatment Option

Contributed by Kevin Neal, MD, orthopedic surgeon What is the Apifix device that is used to treat scoliosis? The Apifix device has a few different names. It can also be called minimally invasive deformity correction (MID-C) or an “internal brace.” The Apifix device is a rod that is used to straighten scoliosis curves without a major spine fusion. Why do some patients want to avoid spine fusion? A spine fusion is where the vertebral bodies are stabilized so they can’t move, typically with rods and screws. The joints between the vertebrae bones are removed and bone graft is placed to help the vertebral bodies grow together and become solid. Preventing movement of the spine keeps scoliosis curves from getting worse and keeps the spine straight after it has been corrected. Spine fusion is a great operation for many patients with scoliosis. But some patients want to treat their scoliosis without […]

teenage girl refusing sandwich

Is Gluten Causing Your Teen’s Gastrointestinal Problems?

This article first appeared on Philly.com Diarrhea. Abdominal pain. Bloating. Ugh!!! These annoying symptoms can occur in many gastrointestinal problems that teenagers experience. On social media, on the bleachers a school sports events, at doctors’ appointments, it seems like everywhere people are talking about gluten. So what exactly is gluten? Gluten is a group of proteins commonly found in wheat, barley, oats, and rye. It affects the dough quality of breads and is added to processed foods to improve texture, moisture, and flavor. When should a teenager go gluten-free?  When they are diagnosed with a problem caused by gluten. Celiac disease, wheat allergy, and gluten intolerance involve gluten, but are not one and the same. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease where gluten triggers the body’s immune system, which normally makes antibodies to fight off harmful invaders like viruses or bacteria, to make antibodies against itself. These “autoantibodies” damage villi, […]

Page 22 of 28

Page 22 of 28

Page 22 of 28