Alyssa Claycomb considers her first two children “healthy as horses.” So during her pregnancy with her youngest child, Cayden Horton, the thought of congenital heart disease never entered her mind, let alone a very rare and usually fatal complex heart abnormality. The anatomy scan during her 22-week OB/GYN visit would change everything. Anatomy ultrasound leads…
Each year, about 1,000 babies are born in the U.S. with sickle cell disease (SCD), one of the most common genetic disorders. Curative options for SCD include bone marrow transplantation and the emerging gene therapies that are available currently mostly in research settings. Red cell exchange is a specialized form of sickle cell treatment that…
Even when she’s delivering the most advanced care to the sickest babies, Tamina R.B. Singh, M.D., medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Norton Children’s Hospital, never loses sight of the family. She sees how powerless new parents can feel with a child in need of intensive care. “A big part of…
Anthony Brettnacher makes friends wherever he goes, according to his mother, Cierra Brettnacher. At age 2, Anthony was diagnosed with a brain tumor, juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (JPA), an optic pathway glioma. Since then, he’s had brain surgery, stroke, chemotherapy, radiation, endocrinology care, multiple orthopedic surgeries and extensive physical medicine and rehabilitation to improve function in…
Lindsay Rogers and her husband, David, tried for 16 months to get pregnant, including three cycles of fertility medications. As she considered whether seeing a fertility specialist might be the next step, she became pregnant with their son, Liam, in March 2018. Lindsay describes the pregnancy up to 20 weeks as completely normal. After hitting…
People like you helped raise tens of thousands of dollars to support kids at Norton Children’s Hospital by sending stuffed animals through SendAFriend — an online store that ships fluffy friends with personalized messages. This Valentine’s Day, you can purchase a SendAFriend package to be delivered to a patient at Norton Children’s Hospital under an…
Natalie F. Slone, D.O., pediatric hematologist/oncologist with Norton Children’s Cancer Institute always knew she wanted to be a doctor. According to Dr. Slone, her mother said she talked about becoming a doctor from a very young age — and mom has a photo of her at 4 or 5 years old, asleep on top of…
On Christmas morning, 2 year-old Mila Naik woke up without her clubfoot brace. She was not happy with her mom, Devin, who in the midst of Christmas Eve merriment, thought it best for Mila to have a clubfoot-treatment-free night’s sleep. “She woke me up Christmas Day and said, ‘Mom, where are my boots?’ She let…
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis can affect the child’s eyes. Uveitis — inflammatory eye disease — happens when the inner parts of the eye become inflamed. It isn’t usually painful, and the eyes aren’t usually red or pink — most kids with uveitis don’t show any symptoms. But as the interior damage progresses, eyesight can be affected….
Scott G. Bickel, M.D., was drawn to pediatric pulmonology by the bonds he would be able to develop with children and their families. He sums up his work as helping kids with pulmonary conditions lead the best lives possible and accomplish whatever goals they set for themselves. “What motivates me is seeing kids play sports…
There are ways to help children and teens with anxiety, stress and fear resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Kids may feel anxious even if they or their families haven’t had any direct exposure to the virus — they’ve had their school experience disrupted, and even the holidays were different. “The pandemic is impacting nearly every…
Counseling children with cancer has become more important in recent years for a simple reason. It used to be that not many kids with cancer got to grow up. Now they do. That is great news, but it is not an easy path. Most families cope relatively well, but some families experience difficulty with depression or anxiety….