What you should know about knee instability and dislocations in young athletes
Pain in the kneecap (patella) is very common in young athletes. It’s estimated that up to 15% of adolescents get some degree of patellofemoral pain. Most can be treated with rest, ice, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and sometimes rehab exercises. But instability of the patella — known as patellofemoral instability — is relatively less common, and more worrisome for children and adolescents. The term “patellofemoral instability” can refer to either a traumatic injury in which a person dislocates their patella, or just general instability in the knee that a person may feel or a physician may observe...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - February 8, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Connor Ertz Tags: Ask the Expert Dr. Matthew Milewski Orthopedic Center patellofemoral pain syndrome Sports Medicine Division Source Type: news

From the heart: The tale of a three-time transplant recipient
Playing youth hockey and Little League in the spring of 1988, I started to become easily fatigued. I became very weak and could no longer run around. By May, a visit to my pediatrician resulted in a trip to the Boston Children’s Hospital Cardiology Clinic on Fegan 6 and the first of many cardiac catheterizations I would receive in my life. The results of that first procedure were shared in my corner room across from the nurses’ station on 6 East (the cardiac step-down at the time): I would need a heart transplant for cardiomyopathy. It was Friday the 13th. I was 10 years old. Tim, before he was diagnosed with cardi...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - February 7, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tim Gallagher Tags: Our Patients’ Stories cardiac catheterization cardiomyopathy heart transplant Heart transplant program kidney transplant Pediatric Transplant Center (PTC) Source Type: news

Mindfulness for busy parents who don ’t have time
I know the last thing you need is another item on your to-do list. If you’re a parent — especially a parent of a child with a medical condition — your time, energy and resources are already spread precariously thin. You’re exhausted. You’re worried. And you have no idea what’s coming next. It’s hard enough to show up for life’s daily challenges without the added task of trying to learn mindfulness. But here’s the thing about mindfulness: It holds space for you to feel that exhaustion; that worry and that uncertainty. Mindfulness acknowledges the churning waves, while helping you access a place of inner st...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - February 5, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Elisa Boxer Tags: Health & Wellness Mental Health Parenting meditation mindfulness positive thinking Source Type: news

Care for your family by caring for your heart
February is American Heart Month — a time for us all to think about keeping our hearts as healthy as possible. Heart health is an important goal: according to the American Heart Association, heart disease accounts for nearly 801,000 deaths in the U.S., every year — that’s about 1 of every 3 deaths. As parents, it’s not always easy to take the time to be heart-healthy, especially when caring for a sick child. But making small changes can have a big impact on your ability to remain healthy and strong — and at your very best to care for a sick child. Take charge of your diet Spending time in the hospital can challen...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - February 2, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Eva Gomez Source Type: news

Teamwork and toughness: Living with cerebral palsy
Growing up in Querétaro, Mexico, María was an exceptionally bright and inquisitive child. At just 18 months old, she spoke at the level of a 6-year-old, and could even sing the tongue-twisting “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” song. Her parents marveled at her intelligence at such a young age, but there was something in her development that seemed off. “At 1 year, she wasn’t crawling well and had difficulty standing,” her mother, María José, recalls. “She hadn’t learned to walk by 18 months, and she would crawl by pulling her two legs at the same time — like a little bunny.” Her parents knew that s...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - February 2, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Connor Ertz Tags: Our Patients’ Stories cerebral palsy Cerebral Palsy Center Child and Young Adult Hip Preservation Program Dr. Benjamin Shore Dr. Donna Nimec Source Type: news

A first birthday made possible by cardiac tumor surgery
Today is Oliver Cameron’s first birthday and he and his parents have a lot to celebrate. After a year of uncertainty, they will be enjoying a quiet dinner with family at their home in Wantage, a town in Oxfordshire, England. “Having him home and healthy is the best present ever,” says his mom, Lydia. She and her husband, Tim, are looking forward to some quiet time alone with Oliver and their family after spending much of the last year fighting for his life. Oliver was born with a large, non-cancerous tumor, called a cardiac fibroma, inside his heart. It was so rare that only a handful of doctors in the U.K. had ever ...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 31, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Ellen Greenlaw Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories cardiac fibroma Cardiac Tumor Program Dr. Pedro del Nido Dr. Tal Geva Source Type: news

Solving the mystery of a shapeshifting neck tumor
Jaedin, 10 years old, holds the control for a remote-controlled race car, Christmas 2017. Amanda Brown couldn’t shake an uneasy intuition that something just seemed “off” throughout her second pregnancy. During a scheduled caesarian section at her local hospital in North Carolina, her instinct proved to be true. “I had given birth to my first son by C-section so I knew what to expect,” Amanda says. “But this time around, as the surgeons totally stalled in the middle of the delivery, I thought to myself, ‘it doesn’t take this long to pull a baby out.’” When her son Jaedin was finally delivered, Amanda an...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 24, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Kat J. McAlpine Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Center for Airway Disorders cervical teratoma Dr. Reza Rahbar germ cell tumor Neck and Skullbase Surgery Program at Boston Children's NICU Solid Tumors Center at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Source Type: news

Enjoying life to her full potential with cerebral palsy
For a month, Nikki Puzzo walked around with a hockey puck strapped to her torso. But this mother of two wasn’t just being silly or exhibiting her love of sports. Instead, she was demonstrating solidarity with her younger daughter, Stella. The little girl, who has spastic diplegia cerebral palsy (CP), had a device called a baclofen pump implanted into her abdomen. “I wanted her to feel more comfortable and know that she wasn’t alone,” explains Nikki. Targeting spasticity Like many kids with CP, Stella has spasticity, or severe tightness and stiffness, in her leg muscles. A medication called baclofen — typically t...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 23, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Jessica Cerretani Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories baclofen pump cerebral palsy Cerebral Palsy Center Dr. Brian Snyder Dr. Donna Nimec Dr. Elizabeth Barkoudah Kristin Buxton Source Type: news

Surgery to remove blood clot saves London ’s kidneys
Todd and Lindsey Taylor had barely settled in at home in Syracuse, New York with their new baby, London, when their world turned upside down. London, who had seemed perfectly healthy at birth, woke up nine days later vomiting and struggling to breathe. They rushed her to their local children’s hospital. “The doctors did an ultrasound and found a large blood clot in her aorta that was blocking the flow of blood to her kidneys,” says Todd. “They said she was in near fatal condition when we arrived, but they put her on dialysis and were able to stabilize her.” Desperate for options The doctors in Syracuse started Lo...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 19, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Ellen Greenlaw Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories blood clot Dr. Anne Hansen Dr. Heung-Bae Kim Midaortic Syndrome and Renovascular Hypertension (MAS/RVH) Program neonatal intensive care unit Source Type: news

New treatment for SMA offers hope for Arianna
For the first few months of Arianna Condon’s life, everything was moving along fine. She was a happy baby, and seemed to be developing much like her older sister, Tessa. “She was gaining weight, and seemed to be doing great,” says Arianna’s mom, Marina. “She did have problems with reflux, but it was nothing too unusual for a baby.” But by the time Arianna was 3 months old, Marina started to have concerns. Arianna wasn’t lifting her head the way Tessa had at that age. Something didn’t seem right. “I brought it up to her pediatrician, but she told me that all babies develop differently and there wasn’t a ...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 16, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Ellen Greenlaw Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Dr. Basil Darras spinal muscular atrophy spinal muscular atrophy program Spinraza Source Type: news

Coming of age in a Snapchat world: How do I keep my child safe?
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Reddit. As a parent, your instinct is always to protect your child. But how 
do you protect them in the ever-evolving digital landscape? Social media has become a part of our everyday lives and is changing the way we interact with the world around us. According to a study by Common Sense Media, teenagers use an average of nine hours of entertainment media a day and tweens (ages 8-12) use an average of six hours per day. This does not include using media for school or homework. What is the long-term impact of this amount of media exposure on the developing...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 15, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Marie Reilly and Amy Young Tags: Ask the Expert Parenting Teen Health ADHD Division of Developmental Medicine social media Source Type: news

Building a healthy heart through cardiac fitness
This spring, Joao DeToledo will be stepping onto the volleyball court to play for his high school team for the first time. It will be a proud moment for the high school senior from Somerville — playing a competitive sport is a goal he hadn’t dreamt possible just a few years ago. Though Joao has always loved sports, he was born with Ebstein’s anomaly, a congenital heart condition that, until recently, has forced him to spend a lot of time on the sidelines. When Joao expressed frustration at not being able to participate in gym and sports as much as he’d like, his cardiologist, Dr. David Fulton, recommended the Cardi...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 11, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Ellen Greenlaw Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Cardiac Fitness Program Dr. David Fulton Dr. John Emans Ebstein's anomaly kyphosis Source Type: news

The joy of cooking (and eating) after tracheomalacia
For most little kids, a trip to the supermarket is an annoying chore, made tolerable only by the opportunity to request sugary snacks as a reward. But when Charlotte McQueen accompanies her mother, Erin, to the store, it’s a journey marked by imagination and delight. “Mom, can we get that?” she asks, pointing to a can of pureed pumpkin. “Oh, and we’ll need marshmallows and we can make chocolate frosting. It will be a great cake!” At nearly 5 years old, Charlotte is an avid baker — a talent she picked up not at culinary school, but at the Yawkey Family Inn. There, a volunteer taught her and other chronically i...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 10, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Jessica Cerretani Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Dori Gallagher Dr. Michael Manfredi Dr. Russell Jennings Esophageal and Airway Treatment Center esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula posterior tracheopexy tracheomalacia Yawkey Fa Source Type: news

The five emotions of raising a child with infantile scoliosis
One night, while doing our son’s usual bath routine, I saw what looked like a hump on his back. Avery was 6 months old at the time. At first, I thought that it was just something I was imagining, but the hump never went away. In fact, it seemed to get worse. When Avery was 13 months old, he was officially diagnosed with infantile scoliosis, a rare form of scoliosis that occurs in children under 2 years of age. The first hospital we were referred to would not even consider treating Avery until he was at least 18 months, and that was not a guarantee, so after doing some research, we came to Boston Children’s Hospital for...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 9, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Christina Poce Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Michael Glotzbecker Orthopedic Center scoliosis Spinal Program Source Type: news

Celebration = intoxication is a dangerous message for kids
On New Year’s Eve, CNN fielded reporters all over the country to cover and arguably, to define how Americans celebrate. A report from a “puff, pass and paint” party in Denver, in which revelers flaunted their marijuana use, caught the attention of millions of viewers and became a subject of discussion nationally. The arrival of marijuana in the realm of legal and now socially-accepted substances, strengthens the message that substance use is required for having a good time.Showcasing marijuana use on national television is relatively new following the recent liberalization of marijuana policy in several states and th...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 8, 2018 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Nicholas Chadi and Sharon Levy Tags: Ask the Expert Parenting Teen Health Adolescent Substance Abuse Program Source Type: news