Medha’s Stanford care team has helped her bounce back stronger after multiple injuries The gun goes off. Distance runner Medha Gowda is on the line, ready to win and considered the top contender for California’s North Coast Section Championship. She takes one step and falls. “I felt a pain from my Achilles to my calf, and I face-planted. Adrenaline got me back up, and I led the first two miles,” she says. “With 600 meters to go, I collapsed from unbearable pain.” Instead of tapping out as 99.9% of us would do, Medha crawled the approximately half mile to the finish line. Her coach and her mo ..read more

A multispecialty Stanford heart team takes heroic measures to ensure a good outcome for a complex heart transplant Last fall, Zoë Roesler started feeling faint, dizzy, and sweaty during school golf tournaments. She and her family knew she had a heart issue, but up until then it was controlled and didn’t cause her problems. “We came in for a routine checkup and were told her heart function was declining rapidly. Instead of going home that day as we anticipated, Zoë was sent straight to the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU),” says Melissa Roesler, Zoë’s mom and a longtime preop and re ..read more

Pediatric liver transplant candidates are a very vulnerable population. Despite the increasing numbers of pediatric liver transplants over the last several years, there are still children who die every year waiting for a lifesaving transplant. Unfortunately, Black and Hispanic children who are awaiting liver transplantation may face disparities during the pediatric transplant process. They often spend more time on the transplant waiting list waiting for a liver transplant, which increases their risk of morbidity and mortality. Peace Dike, MD, a pediatric transplant hepatologist and gastroent ..read more

Integrating sustainable artwork in a hospital setting can have numerous benefits, from enhancing environment’s aesthetics to promoting well-being among patients, staff, and visitors. There are over 4,000 whimsical art pieces at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, which is the center of the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health network. Among the vast collection of paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures, 2% of the artwork are made from recycled materials. Used books transforms into colorful a chameleon Dog on soccer ball created from pencils Old telephone & answering machi ..read more

Intestinal Transplant Program at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health frees child from a lifetime of intravenous feeding For the first time in Jah’Seki’s life, he’s imagining playing football and soccer. He’s seeing himself at summer camp swimming and goofing around with friends. In other words, he’s dreaming like any other 9-year-old boy. Jah’Seki was born with a condition that damaged his small intestine, requiring much of it to be removed. The result was short bowel syndrome, or short gut, and intestinal failure. To survive and grow, he has been on total parenteral nutrition (TPN)—intraven ..read more

NICU sims ensure labor and delivery team is expertly prepared for complex deliveries. Audrey Moore, NNP-BC In the critical first moments of life, the neonatal labor and delivery care team’s readiness can mean the difference between life and death. At Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, an innovative simulation program ensures that this team is prepared for anything. Recently, more than 40 staff members took part in an open house for the NICU Simulation Station, which was developed by Audrey Moore, a board-certified neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP), NNP lead of the Resus One Resuscit ..read more

Sarah Best was scrolling on Instagram while at home in Sacramento when she came across a stranger’s story. It was about a teen who needed a kidney. “Being O negative, I give a lot of blood, but I always had the thought of wanting to do something more,” Sarah said. “When I saw that post, it just felt like it was that time.” The story described a 14-year-old named Jaxon Shaneyfelt from Turlock, California, who got unexpected news that he had kidney failure. Sarah called the number on the post, which led her to the transplant coordinators at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health to begin the livi ..read more

Discovering that your child might have autism can be overwhelming for parents. Like any medical condition, it means your family may have to deal with special challenges. Sumit Sen, MD, a pediatrician at Bayside Medical Group – Alameda, offers some strategies that families can use to help set their child up for success. Dr. Sen also discusses this topic in a HealthTalks podcast. What is autism? Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition that occurs in the brain and affects how a person communicates and interacts with others. Children with autism might have a hard time expressing th ..read more

Ocean Sintos is like most toddlers, playing with his toy trucks and big sister. He’s also a reflection of his name with his big personality (or as his mom, Angela Capillan, puts it, his bossy personality), and he has shown how strong he is from the day he was born nearly two years ago. “It was about three days after birth when I noticed he was jaundiced,” she remembers. “When we were home, I kept thinking, ‘Why does he look so yellow, like glowing yellow?’ So I called my pediatrician and said, ‘I think there’s something wrong with Ocean.’” Not only that, but he had a swollen belly and light ..read more

A team of specialists supports boy with rare skin and neurological condition When baby Weston was born, there wasn’t the usual oohing and aahing from the nurses. Instead, his mom, Kimi, heard only concern. “A nurse said, ‘What is that?’ and then she took him away. I didn’t understand what was happening,” says Kimi Phelps.   Weston had hundreds of brown and pink spots, some very tiny, some larger, on his face and head and down his spine. It was congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN), a fairly common birthmark that usually doesn’t cause health problems but may be associated with a rare congeni ..read more