Paul Kuntz, Texas Children's Hospital
I’m Shelly, a pediatric nurse practitioner and lactation consultant at Texas Children’s. For the parents reading, we need to chat about an easily transmitted infection posing a serious threat to our teenagers and young adults today – human papillomavirus (HPV). I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but this particular conversation must continue until misinformation is tackled and all of our children are adequately protected.
I understand some would rather avoid...
Images courtesy of Senaida Lopez
Ana Lopez, patient
When I was 17 years old and preparing to start my senior year of high school, I was excited for all it had to offer – football games, homecoming, prom and graduation. Instead, I was blindsided by a diagnosis for stage IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
I found myself suddenly fighting for my life, as if time stopped. I couldn’t understand why it was all happening, but it didn’t matter because I was already facing challenges I wasn’t prepared for. Everything happened so quickly from one day to the next, and I was getting ready...
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Recently, we’ve been hearing lots of discussion in the media about traumatic childhood experiences, and rightfully so. Just a few months ago, an armed student at Santa Fe High School fatally shot 10 people and injured 13 others – right in our own backyard. This will be a community in need for many years, and many of the surviving students will need trauma- and grief-informed intervention as they move forward with their lives.
To put it simply, Adverse Childhood Experiences (...
Images courtesy of Victoria Ekstrand
My name is Victoria Ekstrand, and I’m a 23-year-old pediatric and women’s services registered nurse. I was diagnosed with type 1, or juvenile, diabetes (T1D) in the summer of 1998 at 3 years old, forever changing the lives of my family. T1D is a chronic autoimmune condition that causes beta cell destruction in the pancreas. These cells are responsible for producing the hormone insulin, which allows glucose from food to be converted into energy or stored for future use. T1D is not preventable. It has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle choices. It’s also deadly if left...
Image courtesy of Allen Kramer
Pediatric plastic surgery is a surgical subspecialty focused on the reconstructive and aesthetic improvement of a child’s appearance, with the goal of restoring functionality and improving quality of life for those with anomalies, whether they be congenital or acquired from an illness or traumatic event.
Types of pediatric plastic surgery
Reconstructive surgery is utilized to correct an anatomical difference in order to optimize functionality. Aesthetic surgery is performed for restoration of the form and appearance. In most...