Alicia's Story Click picture for larger size Ronald McDonald House, WA Eleven-year-old Alicia was at school in Anchorage, Alaska, one day when she got a headache. When it became worse, she was taken to a hospital where a CAT scan revealed bleeding in her brain, requiring immediate surgery. That night, doctors removed a five centimeter tumor and diagnosed her with cancer. A day after a seemingly simple headache had sent her to the nurse’s office, Alicia and her mother, Beverly, found themselves in a helicopter, flying to Seattle. “I had a panic attack—literally,” says Beverly, recalling her reaction after being told Alicia would require nine months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment—all at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, thousands of miles from home, family, and friends. But that’s where the Ronald McDonald House entered, becoming a “home-away-from-home” for Beverly and Alicia. They were provided with a nice room, meals, and fun family activities amid a community of support and hope. “We really valued the overall feeling of support,” says Beverly. “You just can’t place a value on what it means to have other parents to talk to about your child and to hear about their children and to be able to understand. And the staff and volunteers are wonderful and caring.” Beverly and Alicia return to the House every three months because Alicia’s condition must be monitored. “The House will help make it easier,” says Beverly. “It’s an amazing place and an amazing service—it’s truly an oasis at a time when life is a desert.” Nathan's Story Click picture for larger size St. Lukes Children's Hospital, ID Nathan spent the first nine weeks of his life in the Newborn Intensive Care Unity (NICU) at St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital in Boise. His heart was enlarged and he was in cardiac failure due to a large, complex blood-vessel tumor on his leg. Nathan had other complications as well, and grew sicker every day. Finally, Nathan’s doctor told his parents that they would have to amputate his leg in order for him to survive. He was13 days old. Nathan recovered from that surgery and several others since. Today, he is almost three years old, with a lightweight kidsize walker and an artificial leg that his brother and sister call “Robo-leg.” Nathan was evaluated at St. Luke’s NICU follow-up clinic, and has had speech and physical therapy. He will have periodic revisions of his leg bone as he grows, and may undergo a bone-lengthening process in a few years so he can walk more comfortably and avoid other complications down the road. “If you had asked me before I had him if I could go through this, I would have said I don’t think so,” says Nathan’s mom, Mary. “But if he can make it through this, nothing else matters in comparison. He can do anything he wants.” Mekena Herrera Click picture for larger size In 2001, Mekena Herrera was at dance camp. She seemed lethargic and complained that her hip hurt. When Mekena’s mother, John L. Scott agent Teri Herrera arrived to check on her, she saw Mekena lying on the floor. Makena was complaining of severe pain and several instructors were icing her hip. Mekena was rushed to her family doctor who recommended that she be taken to Seattle Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. Preliminary tests at Children’s came back normal, so Mekena went home. A few hours later, Mekena’s family received a call from the hospital. They had found a potentially deadly bacterial blood infection. Ultimately, Mekena’s treatment included 10 days at Children’s receiving high doses of antibiotics. Her treatment there was followed by four weeks of antibiotics at home. Six weeks later, Mekena was rushed back to the hospital with bacterial pneumonia. Children’s Hospital once again saved her life. “We are so grateful to Children’s for saving Mekena’s life twice, and for always treating her with love and compassion,” says Teri. “As a John L. Scott agent, I know first hand how important the work that we do through the John L. Scott Foundation really is.” Ryan's Story Click picture for larger size Seattle Children's Hospital, WA It started with a late winter cold passed from 3-year-old Ryan to his 5-year-old brother, Adam, and his mom, Kellianna. But while Adam and Kellianna got better in a few days, young Ryan did not. “Ryan continued to run a fever after we were back to normal, so I touched base with his pediatrician’s office every day to give them updates,” recalls Kellianna. “After seven days, he started having trouble breathing and we took him straight in.” After a chest X-ray confirmed pneumonia, Ryan was sent to his local hospital. Almost immediately, specialists ordered that he be airlifted to Seattle Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. On top of pneumonia, bacteria from Ryan’s infected lungs had traveled to the area between his lungs and chest wall, a potentially life-threatening complication. Ryan appeared to be getting better, but seven days into his hospital stay, the infection in his chest flared up and fluid began to push on his lungs and esophagus. Ryan went into emergency surgery where Children’s pediatric surgeons made three tiny incisions in his chest to drain the thick buildup and allow him to breathe freely. After nearly two weeks in the hospital—including five days in isolation in the Intensive Care Unit—a very weak Ryan was well enough to roll out of the hospital in a red Radio Flyer wagon filled with “get well” balloons and go home. “Although the experience was very stressful for us, I was amazed at the care we received. The nurses were so upbeat and very sensitive to Ryan’s needs. His care team included me in their discussions and asked my opinions about his plan of care.” “How lucky we felt to be at Children’s,” recounts Kellianna, as she thinks back to the time Ryan spent at the hospital. “We knew we didn’t have to worry.” Arley Couch and Dale Duncan Click picture for larger size Angie Couch and Misty Duncan are best friends. They share a unique bond of having had newborns with identical life-threatening conditions. Arley Couch was born August 7, 2003, in Olympia. It was apparent within hours that something wasn’t right and his doctors knew he needed to be transported to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Tacoma General Hospital. Arley had transposition of the great vessels, a congenital heart defect in which the two major vessels that carry blood away from the heart are switched. Open-heart surgery is required to repair the transposition. His condition was rare, so it’s difficult to imagine that another child—Dale Duncan—would be born at the same hospital with the same condition just five days later. “Arley literally saved Dale’s life,” says Misty. “If the doctors had not seen the same symptoms just days before, they wouldn’t have known to transport him to Tacoma General and Mary Bridge so quickly.” Arley and Dale were transported to the NICU and then cared for in adjoining Mary Bridge Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) after heart surgery. At Mary Bridge, Dale’s open-heart surgery went well, but he experienced severe post-surgical complications. In Arley’s case, doctors discovered during surgery that in addition to the transposition, there was an additional rare abnormality with his heart that required special reconstructive surgery. Arley and Dale spent nearly three months in the Mary Bridge PICU, and during that time, their families cemented a bond that will likely last a lifetime. Mary Bridge physicians and staff recognized the importance of the friendship between Misty and Angie and encouraged as much interaction as possible. To ease the strain of traveling back and forth between the hospital and home (Angie lives in Elma and Misty lives in Yelm) the families stayed in Mary Bridge Family Housing. “The housing was a lifesaver,” Misty recalls. “I don’t know what I would have done without it.” Today, Dale and Arley are developmentally age appropriate, active, and outgoing three year olds. They continue to receive follow-up care at Mary Bridge Children’s Health Center, and Angie and Misty coordinate their visits. “They both really look forward to going to the doctor’s office,” Angie explains. “To them, these people are their friends. And we learn not to take anything for granted. We enjoy each day and celebrate their health.” “Mary Bridge is the only place to be for high-risk kids,” says Misty. “I wouldn’t take my child anywhere else. From the doctors to the nurses to the specialists, the care and support is wonderful.” Callen and Coleman's Story Click picture for larger size Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital, OR During week 25 of her pregnancy with twins Callen and Coleman, Jessica had a routine ultrasound. What she and her doctors found during that ultrasound was anything but routine—Callen had a very large amount of fluid in his abdomen and around his organs. The family was sent to Legacy Emanuel Children’s Hospital in Portland where they learned that the babies were sick with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, or TTTS, which is a disease of the placenta. In TTTS, one baby, the recipient twin, gets too much blood, while the donor twin doesn’t get enough blood, putting both at risk for serious injury or death. Callen was the recipient twin. They were admitted to Emanuel for constant monitoring until the babies were born. Two weeks later, at 27 weeks gestation, Callen and Coleman arrived. Coleman weighed a little over two pounds; Callen weighed well over three pounds. Callen’s extra weigh was attributed to the excess fluid in his belly and around his heart. For the first week of his life, Callen endured numerous procedures in an effort to reduce the excess fluid in his little body. During an ultrasound seven days after his birth, Callen’s heart looked virtually normal. In addition, he did not appear to have any bleeding in his brain, which is very common in premature babies and can cause several neurological problems. Five months after their birth, both boys were home with their parents and big brothers, Cooper and Campbell. “The doctors and nurses at Legacy Emanuel Hospital are the very best,” says Jessica. “We were so blessed to be treated by them and to get to know them.”