Landen Lester, 18, has spent the last several months at Norton Children’s Hospital waiting for a lifesaving heart transplant. While other seniors were gearing up for prom, senior week and graduation, Landen was undergoing treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy and adjusting to life with a ventricular assist device. But one thing he wouldn’t miss? Graduation. Thanks…
Five-year-old Henry Jones of Salem, Indiana, is one tough kid. He’s been on the heart transplant list for well over a year, eagerly waiting for the right match to come along. Born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition where the left side of his heart is underdeveloped, Henry’s heart doesn’t pump blood the way…
Little fingers curled around ours as we waited in Room 3 in the early hours of Jan. 29, 2025. Blocks, Bluey and books splayed on a hospital blanket on the floor; tiny, socked feet with hearts stitched on the ankle strolled down the hall of Norton Children’s Hospital. Our daughter was about to undergo open…
Eight-year-old Skylin Williams, from New Albany, Indiana, is celebrating the new year in a way she once thought was a distant dream — at home with her family, thanks to a lifesaving heart transplant. After a difficult journey filled with uncertainty, Skylin has a story that serves as a testament to resilience, hope and the…
Everleigh Johns is a miracle baby. She has an extremely rare genetic condition, but it wasn’t an easy or clear path to reach her diagnosis. For months, her care team never stopped treating her symptoms while searching for answers — until a special genetic test would finally reveal the cause of Everleigh’s struggles. By the…
Energy drinks, sports drinks and other beverages with high amounts of caffeine and added sugar can make kids and adults, sleepless, jittery and anxious. Increased heart rate and high blood pressure are other risks of highly caffeinated energy drinks. In children and teens, the child and parent may not be aware of all that’s in…
Anyone who’s met Heavenleigh falls in love with her grin. It’s been winning people over since she was an infant. Heavenleigh has an even bigger reason to smile these days. Almost three years after receiving the first specially-designed, tiny pacemaker for a premature infant, she is now officially adopted by the family who raised her….
Public service is in Gavin Ford’s blood. Gavin idolizes his grandfather, a deputy fire chief, and grew up hanging around a fire station in the Pleasure Ridge Park area of Louisville. His father is a local police officer. Gavin, 16, wants to follow in their footsteps. “I want to be a firefighter and arson investigator,”…
Meadow EmmaLou Boes loves princesses. The 2-year-old is obsessed with Elsa from “Frozen.” Among her growing vocabulary, three of her top words are, “Let it go!” “Meadow lives life at 100%,” said Sarah, Meadow’s mom. “You’d never know she was born with a life-threatening heart condition.” In summer 2022, Sarah and her husband, Ben, were…
Early beginnings and diagnosis Titus Williams’ journey as a heart patient started the moment he was born. As soon as he was delivered via cesarean section at a hospital in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, doctors noticed something was wrong. He was quickly transferred to Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, where doctors discovered he was born with pulmonary…
Mere days after Rowan Adams came into the world, her parents noticed something was wrong. “She started to breathe really hard and rapidly; she wouldn’t eat,” said Kristina Adams, Rowan’s mom. “When I was holding her, I noticed she was cold, and when we checked her temperature, it was 94 degrees. It was over the…
As a nurse practitioner for Norton Children’s Heart Institute Mary T. “Terri” Massey, APRN, has become an invaluable force caring for the youngest and sickest heart patients. Her journey within Norton Children’s tells a story of compassion, strength and purpose. Having been part of Norton Children’s since 1986, she has witnessed the health system’s growth,…