Ole Miss Rebels kick off Cotton Bowl at Children's

On Dec. 29, Britney Gavitt had just spent Christmas at Children's and needed a pick-me-up before heading into surgery the next morning. Her smile wasn't gone for long. As soon as the Ole Miss Rebels football team walked in the doors of the hospital, the 8-year-old perked up.

Since 2005, Britney has been a regular visitor at Children's. She was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease that attacks her organs and causes high fevers and intense pain.

"Right before the players got there, Britney found out about her surgery so she was all upset," said Holly Gavitt, Britney's mom. "But she came alive when those guys sat down next to her. They treated her like a queen."

More than 100 Ole Miss football players kicked off the 74th annual AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic with the patients at Children's. The team will take on Oklahoma State University on Saturday, Jan. 2, at the Cowboys Stadium.

Before meeting the rest of their young fans on the inpatient floors, Coach Houston Nutt and the players led patients in a "Go Rebels" yell to rev up the team before the big game.

"We try to teach our players to be difference makers," Coach Nutt said. "And that's what all of you here at the hospital are - difference makers for these kids."

The best Christmas gift of all: A new heart

Twelve-year-old Harley Duffer spent Christmas day like most other kids - opening presents delivered by Santa.

But instead of sitting by the tree at home, Harley celebrated at Children's, where he had been on the heart transplant list for nearly two weeks. Just when Harley finished unwrapping all of his gifts, he got the news that Dr. Kristine Guleserian had saved the best gift for last. He would be getting a new heart later that day.

"We were stunned; it was a surreal feeling and took a little while to soak in," said Sonya Duffer, Harley's mom.

Out-of-the-blue symptoms
Only a couple of months ago, Harley became short of breath and developed asthma-like symptoms. His parents took him to various doctors and finally received a diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy on Dec. 2. He had an enlarged heart and would need a new one to survive.

"He was always healthy as a horse," said Taylor Duffer, Harley's dad. "The day before we took him to the doctor he was running all over our farm having a ball. It was a real blow when we found out something wasn't right."

A heart for others
On the evening of Dec. 25, Dr. Guleserian, surgical director of Pediatric Cardiac Transplantation at Children's and assistant professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UT Southwestern, examined the donor heart to ensure a perfect match for Harley.

"We can't imagine being in the other mom's shoes and thinking of someone else when you've just lost your child," Sonya said. "What a giving, selfless person she is. We have many people praying for the donor's family to have peace in this very difficult time."

Christmas miracle
As soon as the transplant team assembled, Harley's surgery began. To show support for her patient, Dr. Guleserian wore a "Heartbeat for Harley" hat that his family had given her.

Dr. Guleserian and the team worked late that night and into the early hours of the morning. After connecting the new heart, Harley's gift was complete - he had a new, strong heartbeat.

"His heart was three times the size it should have been," Dr. Guleserian told family and friends in the waiting room. "He's doing great and is going to the ICU in rock stable condition."

Since surgery, Harley has continued to improve and if all goes as planned, he will be home just in time to ring in the New Year.

Dallas Cowboys bring holiday cheer to patients

Christmas came early for patients at Children's. On Dec. 21, blue and silver Santa hats filled the hospital as Dallas Cowboys players and cheerleaders delivered gifts and signed autographs.

For 12-year-old Harley Duffer, the visit couldn't have come at a better time.

"Harley had a really rough night and this lifted his spirits," said Taylor Duffer, Harley's dad. "We were on the edge of the hospital bed watching the Saints game the other night. Seeing the players who were just on the field walk in Harley's room touched us."

Harley has dilated cardiomyopathy - a condition that enlarges the heart and can lead to heart failure. He has been on the waiting list for a new heart since last week.

"It's been ripping on our hearts and we've been sacred to death," Taylor said. "But I keep telling Harley that the good Lord has us going through this hurdle for a reason, maybe to spread the word about cardiomyopathy."

Harley was one of more than 100 kids whose day was made brighter by players like DeMarcus Ware.

"I enjoy seeing the kids' smiles and being role models for them," Ware said. "You never know what they're going through and if we can brighten one day, especially close to Christmas, it's a great feeling."

Basic enough for an adult to understand

Patricia McDonald felt so confident in her 9-year-old son, Andrew, that she allowed him to conduct an entire telephone interview by himself with a hard-driving, relentless public relations representative – Me.
The third grader from Plano and I discussed how and why he raised more funds than any other male player in the Children Helping Children Junior Singles Tennis Tournament this fall. I didn’t have to speak to him in baby talk, and he never seemed like he had a difficult time grasping what I said. So, his mother’s confidence was justified.
But I regularly encounter kids at Children’s who are more mature than me; so, the fact that his eloquence and composure transcended mine wasn’t necessarily a surprise. What caught my attention was his eagerness to help out a place he had never been to and kids he had never met.

After all, why did he care?

Patricia told Andrew about the CHC tennis tourney in June, because she knew her son liked to participate in tennis tournaments, having played in them since he was 4. Something that made this one unique was its request for each participant to raise $250 for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s.
Andrew could have gotten by with just knocking on his neighbors’ doors to raise the amount. He did that. But he also asked his mom to drive him to restaurants around the Metroplex.
“I would walk in and ask for the managers,” Andrew said. “Then I would tell them I was doing a fundraiser for children with cancer, and most of the time they would give checks or gift cards to me. I raised more than $1,200 doing that.”
His next step involved his father, Robert, who identified the top 38 companies in Texas for his son. Andrew sent each one of the companies a letter requesting support with a personal signature. He raised more than $1,000 that way.
Those efforts combined with his online donation page resulted in $3,800 for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.
You’d think he would have been too worn out to play in the tourney, but he finished as the runner-up in the 10-year-old boy bracket. He plans to raise $5,000 next year and win his bracket.

But, again, why does he care so much?

“I want the kids to get better,” he said. “I heard Ken’s (CHC tourney co-founder, Ken Sumrow) son’s story, and he almost died. I want kids to be healthy and not to get cancer.”
Now, that is simple enough for me to understand.

Oh, Christmas Tree...

Decorated trees for Christmas are a German tradition that became popular in this country beginning in the mid-19th century, and now almost everyone has a decorated tree or even two, real or artificial. Some houses have individual trees in almost every room and many people go to great lengths to create lavish and coordinated holiday tree designs. However, to my mind, there’s nothing like looking at a giant real tree lit with thousands of lights and holiday ornaments.

That’s what we have at Children’s. The hospital had a ceremony last week to light the 32-foot-tall blue spruce Christmas tree that stands outside the new tower. In addition to the lights on the tree, there are thousands more white twinkle lights on the trees and shrubbery around the Dallas campus.

Santa Claus even made a special appearance to help light the tree with the assistance of patient Jakayla Tippen, 6. The next day, there was a tree lighting at our Children’s at Legacy campus in Plano for the patients there and Santa Claus was there too. He’s a busy elf.

The event made me grateful that Children’s goes that extra distance to make its patients feel the warmth of the season.

That’s because many of the children who came to see the tree lighting are inpatients, a lot of whom will not get outside this year to see the lights or feel the nippy air. And yet, they seemed engaged as they waited for the big tree to light up, clapping to holiday carols and pop tunes, wearing goofy “snowflake” foam rubber hats and red clown noses.

After the tree lighting, children could get their photos taken with Santa and even that was a sign of normalcy because a lot of kids looked distinctly unhappy about sitting on Santa’s lap. It could have been any mall in America except for the children’s IV poles and pale faces.

There’s a lot one can complain about concerning the commercialism of the holiday season, but the tree lighting at Children’s quashed my skepticism and made me glad it’s Christmas time.

Dallas Stars visit Children's

Stephany Jara, 9, of Lewisville, Texas, doesn’t really know who the Dallas Stars are, but her smile was a mile wide when members of the professional hockey team stopped by to visit her in the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders (CCBD) outpatient clinic at Children’s Dec. 14. What girl wouldn’t smile when surrounded by a group of handsome young men?

One of the Stars Stephany got to meet was Brad Richards, #91, the team’s center. Richards has his own Brad Richards Foundation to help children with serious or life-threatening illnesses. At the American Airlines Center, Richards provides a suite for pediatric hematology-oncology patients, including patients from Children’s. He started the suite tradition when he played for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The foundation speaks volumes about the kind of man Richards is both on and off the ice. In fact, the National Hockey League has honored him with the Lady Byng trophy, which is awarded for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct.

When Richards and all the rest of his Stars teammates visited the CCBD and other patient areas on their day off, they passed out Beanie Babies and NHL blankets and autographs. But more importantly, they passed out a little holiday cheer to patients like Stephany who, despite not knowing her sports teams, got a great pick-me-up.

Snuggies from Jack

Jack Barker is a 12-year-old with an engaging smile and an easy manner. He also happens to be a patient in the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders (CCBD) who saw a need here at the hospital and decided to take care of it. That makes Jack pretty amazing.

Diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia, Jack became a patient at Children’s in September. While in the waiting and exam rooms, the sixth-grader and his mother, Giora, noticed that some of the patients, including himself, got very cold.

When a former teacher gave Jack a Snuggie, an idea was born: Jack thought he’d give Snuggies to other hematology-oncology patients who might be cold. In case you don’t know, a Snuggie is a sort of big, long blanket with sleeves that the manufacturer acknowledges has become a pop culture phenomenon.

The original funding for Jack’s Snuggie campaign came from the sale of red rubber bracelets with his initials on them in his hometown of Coppell, Texas. As word about Jack’s idea spread, however, people began donating Snuggies. So far, more than 120 Snuggies have been donated to the Barker family to distribute. The Snuggie company, All-Star Product Group, has said it will help keep the program going by partnering with the family.

Recently, you could spot Snuggies everywhere in the cancer center’s outpatient medication infusion room. Patients who often spend a good part of their day hooked to IVs looked warm and cozy as they rested wrapped up in the bright colored Snuggies, and Jack was passing out even more blankets. On a day that was cold and snowy, it seemed a particularly warm gesture from such a bright young man.

You can read Jack’s own blog to find out more about him.

2009 Children’s Miracle Network Radiothon: One mother’s story

Editor’s note: The Children’s Miracle Network Radiothon happens this Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 10 to 12, on 103.7 lite fm. The Radiothon is a fundraiser with donations going to Children’s Medical Center and Cook Children’s in Fort Worth. Guest blogger Stacie Smith, the mother of a patient at Children’s Medical Center, shares her son’s story and explains why donations are so important to Children’s. To make a donation, call 877-719-5437.

When my 5-year-old son, Gavin, was 3, we learned that he had a highly malignant cancer called Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor (AT/RT). It had begun as a brain tumor. By the time it was found, it was the size of a large orange and, unfortunately, had spread to his spine.

My husband, Jeff, and I were willing to travel wherever we needed to be if that meant a better chance at saving Gavin’s life. We did our homework. We spoke with five top neuro-oncologists around the country. In the end, we felt confident that the best care truly was closest to home. Having Children’s Medical Center so close made it easier for us to see our younger son, Garrett. And it allowed him to more easily adjust to our family’s sudden change in routine.

Our initial days at Children’s Medical Center Dallas were fast and furious, filled with a number of tests and an intense neurosurgery to remove the tumor. It was shocking and scary. But the team at Children’s, led by David Sacco, M.D., made us confident that they were doing everything in their power to save our son’s life.

As Gavin recuperated from neurosurgery, we began our journey with our oncology team, led by Dan Bowers, M.D. The personalized care that patients at Children’s receive is amazing. Nurses knew that Gavin loved garbage trucks and would play along with him when he referred to his stomach as a “hopper.” They never complained when they had to stay late because of a blood transfusion that took longer than expected.

They made certain that Gavin hurt as little as possible. And they did everything they could to minimize the nausea he fought through his entire course of treatment.

Because of how aggressive Gavin’s cancer was, his treatment was also aggressive. And it took a toll on his little body. Chemotherapy was a long road – 14-and-a-half months. We used services at both the Dallas and Legacy campuses, and spent more days at the hospital than at home.

We got to know entirely too many employees quite well. But it felt nice when a member of the transport team who had driven Gavin by ambulance to the Dallas campus dropped by our room to check on him several months after they’d first met. Another caregiver gave Gavin his sunglasses after he wheeled him outside on a sunny day in May. He insisted that Gavin keep them. Even the parking garage attendant would ask how our little guy was doing.

By the end of treatment, our caregivers at Children’s felt like family.

All of this and more is why I am passionate about supporting Children’s. It’s a not-for-profit hospital, which means it depends on donations to provide the best care for our children. This time it was my child that needed superior medical treatment. Tomorrow it could be yours.

Much love,
Stacie Smith

From a patient mom's perspective

Stacie Aulds, mom of 3-year-old AJ Wells, shares her story from Selena Gomez's visit to the hospital on Dec. 6:

Selena Gomez of Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place visited Children's. My son AJ Wells was fortunate enough to meet her. AJ was diagnosed with leukemia in April of this year. During his treatment so far, he has been hospitalized four times. As a 3-year-old little boy, it is hard to sit in the hospital feeling poorly, while many doctors, nurses and others are constantly visiting to listen, evaluate, push medications, etc.

One of the shining moments for him is to visit the playroom and participate in the parties and crafts. Even on days that he is too sick to visit, the crafts and party favors are brought to his room so he can participate when he is feeling like it.

Last week, AJ had visits from characters who were in the Children's parade. These visits always bring a smile to his face as well as ours. He forgets that he is in the hospital and instead feels like a very special little boy meeting very nice people. AJ has seen Selena on TV and did recognize her from the show, however, to him she was another beautiful girl who put a big smile on his face and gave him a hug.

For us, it is a memory we will have forever.

After a rough year, 15-year-old meets Selena Gomez

Last summer, Elizabeth Cortez's life changed overnight. On July 7, Elizabeth splashed in the pool with friends, and the next morning she couldn't move.

"I screamed to my mom from my bed," Elizabeth said. "Everything was numb. My mom put me on my feet and I just collapsed when she let go."

She was rushed to the hospital where doctors diagnosed her with transverse myelitis, a rare neurological disease that causes inflammation of the spine. She has since regained feeling in her legs and feet but not her arms or hands.

"It's weird because I'm only 15 and have always been healthy," Elizabeth said.

She takes 18 pills each day in hopes that the medication will ease the inflammation and reverse the paralysis.

The teen is from Grand Prairie, the same hometown as Selena Gomez, and has posters of her favorite celebrity plastered on the walls at home. A surprise visit at the hospital from Selena bolstered Elizabeth's spirits as she recovered from another bout of pain and numbness in her legs and feet. Elizabeth serenaded Selena with a meaningful song - "Story of My Life" by Frankie J.

"The song shows that even through the darkest days, God will always bring a rainbow at the end," Elizabeth said.

In Elizabeth's words:

"This year has been the toughest of my life. In July, I became paralyzed and had to learn to walk again and am still not able to use my hands. As anyone could imagine, I haven't had very many good things to say about this year, until today! Because of Children's, I was able to meet Selena Gomez! I was so excited and grateful for the opportunity to meet her. I was able to sing to Selena and I took lots of pictures with her. Even though I might have a lot of bad memories from this year, I now have one of the GREATEST memories that I will always remember. Thank you Children's!!"

Watch Elizabeth sing to Selena:

See Selena Gomez in the Children’s parade

See photos of guest star Selena Gomez at the 22nd Annual Capital One Bank Adolphus Children’s Parade benefiting Children’s Medical Center. For many, the parade kicks off the holiday season each year.

Did you attend this year’s parade? If you did, leave a comment and share your story.

A bounty hunter brightens patients' days

It's not every day that you see a bounty hunter hanging out with kids. Today some of the characters that will appear in the 22nd annual Capital One Bank Adolphus Parade visited the hospital to bring cheer to the kids who won't have a chance to be there tomorrow.

One patient in particular stood out to me. Kristin Alcarez, the tiniest patient there, was standing in awe, blowing kisses to all the characters who passed by. The 19-month-old is waiting for a new liver so today's visit was a welcome distraction for Kristin and her mom, Brenda Maciel.

Kristin is just one of the patients that Levi Larkin, a Star Wars bounty hunter, visited today. Since Larkin's first visit to Children's a couple of years ago, he has been on a mission to put smiles on patient's faces.

Read more about Larkin's experience in his words:

Some may find it strange when they ask me what my hobby is. I'm a Stormtrooper. When I was a young boy, I wanted to be a stormtrooper or a Jedi. I used anything I could find in the house to use as my light saber. Lucus brought so many adventures to my home with his creative story of intergalactic drama. As the years went on, I still found joy in collecting and following Star Wars. But my greatest joy came the day I completed my stormtrooper armor, and joined the 501st Star Garrison. Little did I know my second event would change the way I looked at my dream. My second "tour of duty" as TK-9950 was to visit Children's the day before the parade. I was joined by two fellow troopers and a little droid name R2-D2. That day I was blessed with meeting some of the greatest people I would ever know. These children smiled and hugged us. To see these kids so happy in the face of such adversity shattered that selfish part of me that joined the 501st for me, and reforged it to a new mission.

The next day I participated in the Children's parade. I marched the streets in the cold with my other brothers and sisters. I returned in 2008 to visit the hospital and march in the parade. That year we captured one of my favorite photos. The very embodiment of what we do. A picture of Darth Vader, evil Lord of the Sith, being led down the hallway by the hand of a little boy.

Tomorrow I will be marching again with my heroes - the little boy and girl warriors who battle every day for the next, and survive. And I am proud to stand by them.

For one patient, heart surgery led to the chance of a lifetime

Since Klaire Hicks underwent life-saving heart surgery on Oct. 20, it's been a whirlwind. Only two-and-a-half weeks after two holes in her heart were repaired at Children's, Klaire flew to Hollywood to film a commercial with recording artist and Disney star Selena Gomez. And today The Dallas Morning News followed her around Velma Penny Elementary School in Lindale. The photographer captured "a day in the life of Klaire" in anticipation of tomorrow's 22nd Capital One Bank Adolphus Children's Parade where she will make another debut.

If you're curious about Klaire's visit with Selena, look at our photo gallery for a sneak peek of behind-the-scenes moments and watch the commercial during the parade's live coverage tomorrow on WFAA-TV. It will also air on more than 350 television stations at various times throughout the holiday season.

Some relief for scale-aphobic children

It's ironic that now, when "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" plays on every strip-mall loudspeaker in America, I recall the least wonderful time of the year for me in elementary school - thanks to a recent Dallas Morning News article.

Mrs. Galloway was a wonderful elementary P.E. teacher. Very encouraging. Very fun. I looked forward to every one of her classes but one - the annual weigh-in. On this end-of-school-year judgment day, our beloved instructor would line us up like little ducklings (or pachyderm in my case) and put us on the scales for the whole class to see. It mortified me. Every year, I tried to contract convenient illnesses, but, alas, there was never any flu to be found.
You see, I grew quick... and I kind of liked food (still do). My weight was at least in the top 3 every year, sometimes 40 to 50 pounds heavier than my friends'. No matter how good of an athlete I was, whether I ran the mile a minute faster than everyone else or could slap a basketball backboard, I inevitably became "fat boy" on weigh-in days. Granted, I had years of roundness in mid-elementary that warranted the title, but I felt like I grew out of that by fifth and sixth grade. The weight scales unfortunately didn't indicate any difference.
In the whole "no pain, no gain" scheme of things, I probably became a better person for enduring the yearly ordeal. But I also obtained insecurities about my image and a sense of helplessness about my weight that linger to this day.

In the aforementioned DMN article, our own Dr. LeAnn Kridelbaugh - pediatrician and physician nutrition specialist at Children's - says that childhood fitness cannot be accurately measured by a weight scale alone. She adds that simple Body Mass Index numbers don't really produce accurate measures for kids, either. "With kids these numbers are moving targets," she says. "A normal BMI or waist circumference for a 10-year-old would be horrific for a 5-year-old. Although there are some norms for waist circumference, we don't focus on them. Instead pediatricians plot a child's height, weight and BMI on a curve."
In case you missed it, the key word in that quote is "curve," and she's not talking about shapeliness. The curve Dr. Kridelbaugh mentions has a lot more in common with your college calculus grade than your chest-to-waist ratio. The idea is that fitness measurement numbers (BMI calculation, waist circumference, weight, body fat percentage, etc...) should be interpreted relative to each child. One hundred and fifty pounds may be healthy for one child and unhealthy for another. Dr. Kridelbaugh says the truest statistical way to track your child's health is to monitor his BMI percentile range according to his age and gender.
"If you see that one year a child is in the 50th percentile and the next year he is in the 75th percentile that's cause for concern even if the BMI is still in the normal range," Kridelbaugh says. "A child should be at one percentile his whole life. If he's jumped that much, it's time to start thinking about what the child is eating and drinking and how active he is."

If instructors, coaches and parents heed this advice, a lot of kids might avoid unjustified image complexes. More importantly, they will be able to discern which kids truly do need to make adjustments.

As far as I go, well, I'm just glad that we don't have annual weigh-in days at work. Trying to get sick is harder than you'd think.

A clinic just for stuffed animals

It seems like every time I walk the halls of the hospital, I leave inspired. It's a magical place where all the needs of the children are met, not just the physical ones. It's a place where a teddy bear clinic is just as important as a child's medical treatment.

I didn't know what to expect at a clinic for stuffed animals. What I found immediately put a smile on my face. In the corner of the room, nurses wheeled a penguin out of "surgery." The animal was attached to an IV pole and wore a mask for anesthesia. A nurse carefully placed the penguin in the owner's hands before they moved onto their next patient.

Children got to walk in their parent's footsteps for a day as they lined up at different stations with their most prized possessions. Many had concerned looks on their faces when they handed over their beloved animals at triage, radiology, IV, X-ray and surgical areas designed just for the miniature patients.

I watched the children go through the process, and I could only imagine how empowering it felt for them to be making the decisions.

One of the decisions 7-year-old Madeline Smith made that day was her bear's symptoms. She told clinicians that "Andy" had tummy problems. Madeline could relate since she's been dealing with tummy problems of her own since birth. She has Methylmalonic Acidemia Disorder, a metabolic condition that causes her to have five to six bouts of pancreatitis each year in addition to anemia and kidney disease. She gets a special formula and takes many medications each day.

"All of the child life specialists we know and love worked at the clinic," said Trey Smith, Madeline's dad. "Not only was it comforting but it was also educational for chronic patients like Maddie."

Andy had an IV placed in his arm before undergoing an MRI scan and having his blood drawn. He was diagnosed with appendicitis and would need surgery.

"We always try to explain to Maddie why she has to get her blood drawn," Smith said. "It was neat for her to see her bear's blood under the microscope. They even explained how they look for cultures."

Madeline kissed Andy goodbye before surgery and sat patiently in the waiting room. Within minutes, Andy's tummy problems were fixed and the duo was on their way.

Art Cars Make Pit Stop at Children's Before Next Weekend's Parade

Art, like beauty, I suppose, is in the eye of the beholder.

We witnessed that last Friday when Harrod Blank, an art car enthusiast and documentarian, brought three art cars to Children's Medical Center for patients and employees to experience. The art cars - the Fantasy Van, the Camera Van and Pico de Gallo - will join two others in the Capital One Bank Adolphus Children's Parade next weekend in downtown Dallas.

For so many, cars are symbols - symbols of status, safety, sensibility. For others, like Harrod and his crew of art car aficionados, vehicles represent a dream or a vision or a fantasy.

Kids and grown-ups, alike, flocked to the kooky cars that played music, displayed video and otherwise inspired creative thoughts. Watching others enjoy the cars made my day. I can only imagine how Harrod, one of the cars' creators, felt as he watched patients wheel out IV poles to touch and feel and experience his art.

The art cars join an impressive line-up of special guests at this year's Parade. Next Saturday, December 5, starting at 10 a.m., watch in person or live as more than eight equestrian units, 400 clowns, 1,300 dancers, and nearly a dozen bands kick start the holiday season.

Famous friends like Selena Gomez, Miss America Katie Stam and Cruella de Vil from the Dallas Summer Musicals' 101 Dalmatians, plus everyone's favorite costume characters and more than 10 giant inflatable balloons, will parade down Commerce Street for crowds of more than 350,000!

Join us for the art. Join us for the music. Join us for the fun.

I love a parade

What are the elements of a great holiday parade? In my mind a great parade includes dazzling dancers, magnificent marching bands, exciting equestrian teams, fanciful floats and imaginative inflatable balloons, plus cartoon characters and clowns, clowns, clowns.

Put all this together and you have the 22nd Capital One Bank Adolphus Children’s Parade. The 2009 edition of the parade is set for Saturday, Dec. 5, beginning at 10 a.m. along the streets of downtown Dallas.

In fact, the parade has become known as the “Miracle on Commerce Street” for its magical ability to combine a holiday kick-off, delighted families and significant fund-raising for Children’s Medical Center.

This year, the parade will feature Selena Gomez, recording artist and the star of Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place,” who will be visiting her hometown to make a guest appearance in the parade.

The streets fill up early. Some people even stay overnight to get the best seats. So, if you’re planning to attend, I’d recommend you get there by 7 a.m. because it’s standing room only and the crowds are rows deep by parade time.

I have a great job for the parade. I accompany the photographer from Children’s Medical Center from the pre-dawn hours right up until the parade starts. That means I see all the behind the scenes looks at the marching bands and dancers, the antics of clowns, the clip-clop of horses’ hooves, and a dazzling display of floats and giant inflatable balloons. It’s a parade lover’s dream come true. Plus, I get to drive a golf cart on the city streets. Who could ask for anything more?

Brad Pitt, caps and an inspirational patient

I'm not ashamed to say it. I like Brad Pitt. If it wasn't for Troy (I'm particularly sensitive about screen adaptations of classic works), I might call him my favorite actor. People tend to think of his looks before his acting, but I think he consistently stretches himself with his roles. He's a complex guy, and his performances represent all the varied, mysterious aspects of his personality. However, one thing consistently apparent about Pitt is that he is altruistic. Not many movie stars would move to post-Katrina New Orleans, adopt representatives of all the United Nations and/or give their free time to helping out with a program like Caps for Kids. I know about his involvement with the latter, because a patient at Children's told me so.

Megan Garcia received an autographed baseball cap from Pitt in the mail shortly after learning that she had a brain tumor at age 15. "That meant a lot to me," Megan said. "I was just like, 'Oh my gosh! I just got a hat signed by Brad Pitt!' It just boosted my spirits.'"
Strong spirits have played a big role in Megan's so-far-successful battle against cancer. She has undergone regular sessions of chemo and radiation at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's the last two years. Her last chemo treatment was in April, and the tumor has been reduced and contained. Although not technically in remission, she is doing very, very well. She even participates on the student council at John Horn High School in Mesquite. This year, she organized a "Wear Your Cap to School Day" for the Mesquite ISD.

Wear Your Cap to School Day is a Caps for Kids initiative dedicated to raising awareness and funds for children battling cancer. Students around the United States are asked to donate $1 in exchange for the right to wear a cap to class. "We (John Horn students) wear uniforms; so, to get to wear a hat is a big deal for us," Megan said. Megan is still counting the total donations from Mesquite ISD's day on Oct. 23. More than 10 schools participated.
The money they raised will be used to provide sports memorabillia and celebrity-autographed caps, like the one Megan received from Achilles, to young cancer patients. The hope is that the caps and memorabillia will "give the children the pride, confidence, and strength needed during their fight with cancer" according to the Wear Your Cap to School Day Web page. At least in Megan's case, that hope seems to be fulfilled, not only for her but through her to the hundreds of fellow cancer patients she helped with her initiative and compassion.

Her story just goes to show the direct and indirect miracles Children's creates by caring for its patients... And it also kind of makes me want to revisit some old Pitt films, maybe A River Runs Through It.

Be there for The Lights at Legacy

Wondering what to do this weekend?

Here’s a plan: On Sunday, November 22, The Shops at Legacy in Plano will kick off the holiday season by hosting “The Lights at Legacy,” a fun-filled tree lighting ceremony enjoyed by local residents and surrounding communities that specifically benefits the Child Life department at Children’s at Legacy.

Children’s Medical Center will be there, with the Women’s Auxiliary supporting the hospital through the sale of blinking reindeer noses and specially commissioned Christopher Radko™ holiday ornaments that were inspired by a patient’s artwork. The Auxiliary also called in a few favors and managed to get Santa Claus himself to make an appearance – sales of photos with the Man in Red will also help out the hospital (I hope yours go better than mine did last year).

A real Children’s ambulance will also be on-site, and there will be tables providing free information on the hospital and the Women’s Auxiliary.

Several shop owners and restaurants are generously donating a portion of the day’s sales to Children’s, too, so make a point to stop by the U Boutique and Med Spa (relax), Half Shell’s Seafood Grill (mmmm…oysters), Gordon Biersch brewery restaurant (Prost!), St. Bernard Sports (Ski Texas!) and Bachendorf’s jewelers (for even more beautiful, sparkly things).

Other cool holiday baubles at the event include live reindeer, carolers, face-painting, train & carriage rides and caricature artists — all while various musical groups and choirs perform on three different stages. Other merchants will also be hosting a variety of activities including special promotions both inside and outside their stores, and great deals for attendees to start their holiday shopping.

There’s so much to do and see, you may have to make more than one trip. Or call some relatives and tell them to bring a few friends of their own.

The festival kicks off at 2 p.m. The tree lighting ceremony, featuring Plano mayor Phil Dyer as the official switch -flipper, happens at 6:30 p.m. For more information about the event, please visit the website.

Opera in a Box fills hospital with beautiful music

This morning, doctors, nurses, patients, family members and seemingly anyone heading to lunch at the Food Court in Tower D probably stopped for a moment at the beautiful sounds coming from the lobby.

After all, it isn't every day that one gets to enjoy real opera singers performing real arias at a hospital. (Unless it's a hospital for opera singers, I guess. But they probably don't have any of those around here. Italy, maybe.)

This was a special presentation of Opera in a Box: Follow Your Dreams, a community outreach touring show from the Dallas Opera and the SMU Emerging Artists Program. Using props and colorful costumes, the three young opera singers -- Dee Donasco, soprano; Juan Jose deLeon, tenor; and Thomas Cannon, baritone -- performed before a gathering that began with a handful of patients and their families but quickly grew as more lunch-goers stopped to watch and listen.

The performance was also broadcast on the hospital's closed circuit television system that allowed patients and their families all over the hospital to tune in in their rooms. For most patients it was their first brush with real opera (as opposed to what they might have encountered in other places).

Not that the broadcast was entirely necessary. Opera singers are trained to perform in cavernous theaters -- even outdoor amphitheatres -- without much in the way of microphones. We're talking serious lung-power here. The performance may have taken place in the Dallas hospital, but I'd bet that patients at our hospital in Plano could probably have enjoyed the show, too, just sitting by their windows.

But the music was beautiful, including selections from the Spanish zarsuela Doña Francisquita, Mozart's Magic Flute and Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman. The performers were talented and enthusiastic, and the crowd roared its approval at the end -- some patients even managed a few "Bravos!"

It was a great show and a great way to begin the weekend -- especially for those kids who will be spending the weekend at the hospital.

Cord blood banking

The minute I found out I was pregnant, I started receiving mail from diaper companies, portrait studios, kids' furniture stores. I think my mailman knew I was pregnant before my husband did!

The cord blood banks were pretty quick to identify me as a new target, too. The brochures featured sweet little wrinkly newborns and emotional stories that seeped in to places where my hormones already ran amuck. Parents in these glossy ads told me "a cord blood transplant saved my child's life."

Surely, if I were a good mother, I would want to bank my newborn's cord blood, too, right? But, goodness, have you seen how much that costs?!

I hated feeling like a bad mother for putting a price tag on my unborn baby's future health, so I asked Dr. Paul Harker-Murray, a physician in the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's, about the pros and cons of cord blood banking - minus the marketing hype.

Bottom line, he told me that cord blood banking is good. Cord blood can be used to treat a few rare diseases and disorders, and it holds promise for research in to other illnesses. But, he also told me, not only as a cancer doctor, but as a father, that he did not and would not pay to privately bank his own children's cord blood.

Did you even know there was a choice? There are private cord blood banks - probably the ones that have sent you brochures in the mail - that, for a fee, reserve your baby's cord blood for only your family's use. Then there are public banks that store cord blood for any child who needs it. They provide this service free of charge. Hmmm...who knew? I guess it's because public banks don't have the advertising budgets that private, for-profit banks do.

Dr. Harker-Murray explained the likelihood of your child using his own cord blood is almost zero. But, if you bank it publicly, any child in need can benefit from the lifesaving properties in his cord blood, just like any person could benefit from the pint of blood you donated at the last community blood drive. (I bet you never thought to ask if the nice people at the blood drive would save your blood for you, just in case you ever need it.)

The American Academy of Pediatrics supports free, public banking, too.

But, don't take Dr. Harker-Murray's or the AAP's word for it. This is a hot topic and a big decision. Do some research on your own, as well.

Not all hospitals have an affiliation with a public cord blood bank, so, if you decide to publicly bank your baby's cord blood for free, it requires a little legwork before the end of your 34th week of pregnancy.

I downloaded the necessary paperwork from Cryobanks International (this company also banks privately) and talked with my OB/GYN about collecting the cord blood after she delivers little Ellyson. The next step - the company will send me a kit to take to the hospital when the big day arrives. (We're down to one month and counting!)

My OB/GYN said I was the very first person to ask her about public cord banking. I truly hope I won't be the last.

Children's wins another award

You know, I think I'm sort of a good luck charm. Since I began working at Children's in April 2008, the hospital has experienced one major success after the other.

First, there was the opening of Children's at Legacy. The completion of the stand-alone satellite hospital qualified Children's as the nation's only pediatric healthcare system. A panel of architectural industry leaders selected it as one of the Top 10 best architectural developments in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in 2008.

Then Children's achieved Magnet status, the highest national recognition awarded to a hospital or medical center for excellence in nursing. After that, Parents magazine ranked Children's as the No. 17 pediatric hospital in the United States. A few months later, U.S.News & World Report recognized us as one of the Top 10 pediatric hospitals in the U.S.
Somewhere in the midst of all that, The Joint Commission awarded Children's with six disease-specific certifications (no other pediatric hospital in the U.S. has more than two). To top it all off, both The Dallas Morning News and Dallas Business Journal also recognized Children’s by including us on their respective lists of best places to work in Dallas in 2009.

So, I wasn't that surprised last weekend when voters on momsoutloud.com recognized Children's at Legacy as the top pediatric hospital in Collin County as part of the Fall 2009 Mom's Voice! Awards. I've been conditioned to expect Children's to experience success again and again and again...

That says alot about the quality of leadership, skill and dedication our hospital has. Maybe it also says something about the good fortune I bring - but if that's true, then why do my Cubs keep losing?

A new perspective

Amy Parker Ferguson has been associated with Children’s since 1989, when she was a Care Flite paramedic. Her exposure to the work of Children’s led her to go to nursing school and to obtain a master’s in education. But it was the birth of her daughter Gabrielle that led to a new perspective on the care provided at Children’s.

Gabby, now 2-1/2 years old, was born with a heart defect. While the baby was born in a different hospital, the family had a cardiac care plan fully in place from Children’s. Cardiologists from Children’s visited Gabby on her second day of life, and it was doctors at Children’s who repaired her heart defects.

In the days after the surgery, Amy and her husband Bill spent many hours in the neonatal intensive care unit. And, when her daughter was transferred to the same floor that Parker Ferguson worked on, her co-workers became her caretakers. “There is so much heart that goes into caring for children with heart problems, and I saw this first-hand,” she says.

Gabby was born with another challenge as well, Down Syndrome, and the care team at Children’s has been instrumental in her development. The family visits the Down Syndrome Clinic, and Gabby sees occupational therapists, physical therapists and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physicians. Gabby also sees a dietitian, has been to the Dental Clinic and has visited a Children’s ophthalmologist.

“Everything is so connected within the Children’s system,” says Parker Ferguson, who also extols the virtues of Children’s at Legacy for its full slate of services.

Gabby’s illness “really humbled me. Children’s saved my child’s life.” The whole experience was an eye opener, says Parker Ferguson. “I had the eyes of an employee before. Now it’s a mom’s perspective.”

Choosing not to vaccinate isn't worth risk, mom of H1N1 patient says

Jacob, an active, otherwise healthy 10-year-old from Mesquite, was enjoying the State Fair of Texas on a Saturday in late September when he began to feel sick to his stomach (which, lets face it, is probably not an uncommon feeling for many patrons of the State Fair's eclectic food offerings).

But by Sunday he was violently ill; vomiting, feverish and weak. After being admitted to a local community hospital early on Sunday, he was transferred to Children's with a diagnosis of H1N1 flu.

What started as a stomach ache quickly became very serious. By the end of the day Jacob had gone into cardiac arrest and had to be started on ECMO — a complex process that removed Jake's blood from his body, oxygenated it, then put it back in. This completely bypassed his heart and lungs, allowed his body to heal while keeping him alive.

Jacob's mom said, "He's been sick before but never, ever this sick."

For most, the symptoms of the H1N1 flu are no worse than a mild form of the seasonal flu. What has made H1N1 exceptional, however, is the very high number of children who have contracted it. Jacob, who has asthma but has kept it well-controlled, is typical of the highest-risk category for a serious H1N1 infection – a young person with an underlying medical condition.

For several very tense days, Jacob's parents waited and watched as the doctors and nurses at Children's fought the infection that was threatening his life. After spending three weeks in the ICU, Jacob finally improved enough to be taken off the machines that had kept him alive and he was moved to a regular floor of the hospital. He will remain there for several more days while doctors continue to monitor his progress.

The H1N1 vaccine was not available before Jacob was infected. Jacob's mother has heard about the concerns that some parents have expressed, but her own experience has taught her otherwise.

"I think the risk of the shot does not compare at all to what can happen with the flu," she says. "It's a $20 shot. Compare that to the [expense] we've probably accumulated for a month-long stay in the hospital and I think the value is pretty obvious."

No one can guarantee a vaccine will work exactly as intended for every single person who receives it. But for the vast majority of people who receive them, vaccinations do work as intended —preventing infection and protecting the public from the spread of disease.

"I think the shot is the best thing ever invented," Mrs. Henderson says. "The risks are so mild compared to the consequences."

Why the H1N1 vaccine is safe

This is a guest blog by Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Medical Center.

It seems the only thing spreading faster than the H1N1 flu right now is the hype and misinformation about the H1N1 vaccine. According to some polls, many parents are saying they aren’t going to get their kids vaccinated for fear of the vaccine’s safety.

While I understand parents’ natural inclination to avoid putting their children in jeopardy, I could not disagree more with such a decision. The H1N1 vaccine is safe, and parents — particularly here in the Southwest, which has had a higher percentage of flu-like illnesses reported than anywhere else in the country — may run a real risk of harm to their children by not having them vaccinated.

Here’s the deal

For the vast majority of the population, getting the swine flu is like getting a mild form of the seasonal flu. It’s no picnic, but it generally runs its course in less than a week with the worst of it lasting only 2-3 days. Only a tiny percentage of cases ever become life-threatening.

What’s been statistically unusual about H1N1, however, is the disproportionately high percentage of patients under the age of 24 who’ve been infected. This is not typical of the “regular” seasonal flu, which is why I think it is important for parents not to take chances.

About the H1N1 vaccine

The H1N1 vaccine has been tested in thousands of volunteers in clinical trials for safety and efficacy. If you’re one of the hundreds of millions of Americans who have received a seasonal flu shot in the past and had no problems, there is the highest probability that you won’t have any problems with the H1N1 vaccine, either. In fact, the H1N1 vaccine is produced in exactly the same manner as the seasonal flu vaccines. The CDC has more information on the vaccine’s safety here.

There still are some people who should not get any flu vaccine, either seasonal or H1N1, without consulting their doctor, including children under 6 months of age, people who are allergic to eggs or who’ve had a bad reaction to a previous flu shot.

About vaccinations in general

In 1952, more than 58,000 people were stricken with polio in the United States. More than 3,100 died and tens of thousands more were disabled that year. It was the worst epidemic in the nation’s history — until a vaccine was developed to stop it. Just think how different things would be today if one-third of all parents had refused to vaccinate their children then.

Simply put, no government program in our history has had a more profound and positive impact on public health and welfare than routine immunizations. Today, polio has been all but eliminated. Smallpox has been eradicated. Cases of measles, mumps, pertussis, diphtheria — all dreadful illnesses once thought to be an unfortunate-but-common fact of life in America — have been reduced to all-time lows.

Routine vaccinations are, and continue to be, the most proven, effective way to prevent disease and improve public health.

Stay healthy, and be well.

Why pediatric-specific care matters

I saw a miracle on Monday. No, no one walked on water. Flying pigs weren’t around either. What I saw was just as unbelievable though.

Kaiden Beville, all 21 months of him, came back to Children’s to get a cast placed on his broken arm. The young boy, who sustained his injury jumping on his parent’s bed, plays hard and cries hard. I can attest to the latter, because I saw and heard him wailing when he first came to the emergency department last week. The Children’s staff handled and x-rayed his wounded wing (although done in the most kind and gentle fashion) and eventually identified that he fractured his humerus by landing on his locked right arm when he tumbled from his parent’s bed.

If that happened to me, I’d probably cry, too.

I expected his reaction during the follow-up visit to be about the same. After all, getting a cast is never fun – especially for a toddler. I fully anticipated that the staff putting on the cast would have to go to unusual measures to quiet the impending fit, maybe even sedation. But then something funny happened.

Benjamin Vance, the Orthopedic tech tasked with putting the cast on Kaiden, met the little guy with a big smile and soft words. Then Vance invited Child Life specialist Cecilia Nelson into the casting room when it came time for him to begin measuring Kaiden’s broken arm. Cecilia immediately began blowing bubbles. Kaiden gurgled “bubba” at each one and reached out for them with his free arm.

The moment he began to pay attention to Vance touching his arm, Cecilia quickly whipped out a new toy – a Sesame Street sound machine. She would press a button, and Kaiden would imitate the sound it produced. Pretty soon, Kaiden found an Elmo laugh button and began pressing it and imitating the sound all on his own. The next thing I knew, Kaiden had a brand new red cast on his right arm. The young boy, who I expected to be in hysterics or drugged at this point, waived “bye-bye” and blew kisses to us on his way out.

Now, I know that may not strike the same supernatural chord as say… the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl this season, but I’m confident that parents of toddler whirlwinds like Kaiden find it even more miraculous.

Staying true to her mission -- and Children's

At a time when many people change jobs every few years, Lindsey Peterson is staying true to her life’s mission: being a nurse at Children’s Medical Center.

“I was in the second grade when I decided to become a nurse,” says Peterson, a Dallas native. She's never strayed from her career path. She credits part of her career desire to her grandfather, a physician, because he always “spoke very, very highly of his nurses and was ecstatic I wanted to become a nurse.”

“The whole environment makes people stay,” Lindsey says of Children’s. The organization “provides bridges to the future; there is never a final destination.”

Peterson should know about bridges. She already has crossed many at Children’s.

She was a patient here at 14, became a volunteer at 15, and was an intern here after her freshman year in college. After her sophomore year, she became an emergency medical technician and clinical technician, jobs she held the rest of her way through college and nursing school. In 2007, she was selected as a summer nursing intern and after graduating with her bachelor’s of science in nursing from UT Arlington in December 2007, she joined Children’s in the graduate internship program.

Peterson has spent her career at Children’s in the Trauma intensive care unit. The most rewarding patients she cares for are those who have been victims of abuse. “They’ve never had an adult treat them well. This is the start of their new life, and I want their first experience to be good.”

She says at the end of the day, “I’ve not just done my job but also truly made a difference in the life of a child. For lots of people, they just have a job, but here I’ve helped myself because I’ve also made life better for someone else.”

Small town with a big heart

I'm not a Texan. I always tell people, "I wasn't born here, but my babies will be." I know that will never make me a Texan, but I hope it demonstrates to ya'll that I intend to stay. I like it here, I like it a lot.

Still, I never sat through Texas history (that would have been strange in my Ohio elementary school, I suppose), and my geography of the Great State suffers because of it. So, it's no surprise I had to look up Mabank, Texas, on Google Maps. In my defense, the town's population is less than 3,000. Maybe some of you natives had to look it up, too?

So, why all this talk about the small town of Mabank? Well, this tiny little community rallied together to make a really BIG contribution to Children's - nearly $45,000! They sold hot dogs, hosted a golf tourney, they even had a pie throwing contest. And they did it all in one week!



Thank you to the Mabank ISD for choosing Children's as your worthy cause. You're helping us fulfill our mission to make life better for children.

I think this gesture speaks volumes about the kind of people you raise down here. And that's exactly why I want my kids to be Texans, even if their mother will always be just a Yankee trying to fit in.

A new soundtrack for Children's

I know what the new piano in the Children's Dallas lobby sounds like to an employee. In the midst of a day full of staring at a computer screen, attending meetings and trying to be creative and efficient, it sounds like perspective.

Somehow, the chords and keys distract me from busyness and call me to appreciate beauty, fun or relaxation - depending on the type of music being played. The music makes me remember that there are things to be enjoyed in the moment, not just things to be rushed past in pursuit of future things.

If the piano inspires such transcendent thoughts in me (who most often ponders football and food), I can only imagine how much good it does for patients and families actually staying at the hospital. It's not uncommon at all to see a few of them taking breaks and resting in the chairs by the piano around noon on Mondays. That's when Felder Fitzgerald, a.k.a. "the train engineer", tickles the ivories. In addition to being a model train expert, Fitzgerald has played the piano professionally for the past 50 years. In fact, he was the first volunteer to play the new piano.

Children's staff members often bring lunches from the new food court and sit right with the parents and patients. Other visitors and staff watch and listen from the banister overlooking the lobby.

That is what Harlan and Amy Korenvaes hoped for when they donated their Yamaha baby grand piano to Children's this summer.

"I thought to myself, 'How much fun would it be to have someone playing the piano as you walked into the hospital? It would help take the edge off,'" Mrs. Korenvaes said. "I feel like anyway you can reduce the stress level, not only for patients and families but for staff as well, I think that is a real plus."

Volunteer Services is looking for more performers to play the piano during weekdays. Performances can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as two hours. If you're interested, email Volunteer Services coordinator Vidya Ayyr at vidya.ayyr@childrens.com for more information.