There once was a girl named Elaina who had just turned 3 and was getting ready for big-girl school. She was nervous, but excited. Her mom noticed she was starting to walk on her tiptoes, but she thought it was just anxiety. She was also very pale, even though she called herself an “outy-outy girl”…
“I always remember running through the hallways. My mom would say she would always stand behind me with an IV pole because I was on 10 all the time.” – Sydney Wilson, patient care associate, Norton Children’s Hospital, and previous Norton Children’s patient treated for childhood cancer Some of Sydney Wilson’s earliest memories take place…
Ashlie Paulin and her family were expecting a joyful Christmas in Louisville when her son Booker was born on Dec. 23, 2021. Instead, they had to hope for a Christmas miracle that their baby boy would survive. Doctors discovered baby Booker had a serious heart condition that went undetected during Ashlie’s pregnancy. Suddenly, it was…
Hattie Etling’s heart journey began before she was born, with a diagnosis so complex it required advanced planning, innovative imaging and a highly specialized heart team. Hattie was diagnosed before birth with heterotaxy syndrome and complex congenital heart disease. Her care team at Norton Children’s Heart Institute knew her untypical anatomy would present extraordinary challenges….
If you’re a parent of a child with epilepsy, you know the fear: wondering if your child will have a seizure when you’re not around, and worrying whether those around them will know what to do. Create a personalized seizure action plan Work closely with your child’s neurologist to develop a detailed seizure action plan….
Reviewed by Mary T. Killian, M.D., and Bahaaldin Alsoufi, M.D. Written by Courtney Hirz, a Frankfort, Kentucky, resident and mom to Noah, a young boy with a heart condition It started like any other childhood illness. In November 2024, my 5-year-old son Noah came home from school feeling sick. We assumed it was just another…
On a seemingly normal July day, Charles and Samantha Rockwell never imagined their lives were about to change forever. Samantha, who was not even four months pregnant, had just finished a long, 15-hour workday when she began feeling stomach pains. “I thought maybe it was nothing,” she recalled. “But two hours later, we were holding…
When Eva Orlanka Taylor arrived in Kentucky from Haiti at just six years old, she brought with her more than a new name and a new home. She carried an illness no one had fully explained, one that had shaped her early childhood. At Norton Children’s, her family finally began to uncover the answers, and…
Madden Baechle was born at just 25 weeks’ gestation, weighing 1 pound, 10 ounces. He spent 152 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Norton Children’s Hospital, facing life-threatening complications and undergoing 13 surgeries. Today, those NICU struggles feel like a distant memory, as 11-year-old Madden recently stepped onto the field at Western…
Norton Children’s, alongside state leaders, patients, families and the community, dedicated Norton Children’s Cancer Institute Resource Center, a new space designed to support children with cancer and their families through every phase of the cancer journey. Located on the eighth floor of Novak Center for Children’s Health, the resource center brings together a wide range…
When a baby needs specialized care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) the hospital stay can last for months, and sometimes far from home. Now, a new program at Norton Children’s offers a way for families to stay connected to their NICU babies — even from afar. AngelEye is a secure camera system installed…
As a newborn, Magnolia Lee Ford-Conway was diagnosed with transposition of the great arteries (TGA), a complex heart condition that requires early surgery after birth for survival. Today, the energetic 3-year-old from Bowling Green, Kentucky, loves books, dolls and playing with her older sister. Magnolia’s mom, Mekinsey Ford-Conway, clearly remembers the difficult days after her…