Patient Stories

Texas Children’s gave us hope during our son’s struggle with tuberous sclerosis

In this blog, a Boston mom, Rebecca Carroll, describes the medical journey of her 7-year-old son, Warren who has tuberous sclerosis. Ever since he was a baby, he had suffered from frequent seizures that became progressively worse with age. In 2019, the Carrolls came to Texas Children’s to meet Chief of Neurosurgery Dr. Howard Weiner and neurosurgeon Dr. Daniel Curry, to map out the best surgical treatment plan for Warren. Ever since he had the three laser ablation surgeries, an innovative surgical technique pioneered by Dr. Curry, he is doing amazingly well and can even participate in many outdoor activities like hiking, swimming and snow skiing.

Our daughter's heart journey leads to advancements in subaortic stenosis research

Like many young adults, 19-year-old Sarah Moorman began her freshman year at Duke University this fall. While heading to college marks a big step for all teens, reaching this milestone was nothing short of a miracle for Sarah. As a baby she was diagnosed with primum atrial septal defect (ASD), which meant she had a giant hole in her heart and her mitral valve was leaking. She underwent three open-heart surgeries to repair it but unfortunately, she was among the 30 percent of patients with a more aggressive form of the disease in whom the fibrous tissue keeps re-growing and prevents complete healing. In this blog, her parents share how Sarah’s medical odyssey led to new insights about this condition, which will hopefully lead to improved treatments for thousands of patients like her.

Gabby’s story: A positive outcome after undergoing VBT surgery to treat scoliosis

Sporting activities are a huge part of daily life for 12-year-old Gabby Mott. However, for the past few years, she often experienced back pain. In 2020, she was diagnosed with scoliosis, a distinct curvature of the spine that can occur during growth spurts. Dr. Darrell Hanson, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Texas Children’s Hospital who specializes in scoliosis, corrected Gabby’s spine curvature with ventral body tethering (VBT) surgery, a cutting-edge treatment for severe scoliosis that allows for more normal range of motion for the patient and a faster recovery period.

A world away: How our daughter’s spina bifida journey brought us to Texas Children’s

Devorah and Elazar Tendler relocated to Israel in 2019 and were living the dream life. As they got acquainted to their new life in Israel, the couple found out they were expecting their second baby in October 2021. The pregnancy was going well until during a routine 20-month anatomy scan, it was discovered that their baby had spina bifida. After a rigorous process involving numerous phone calls and consultations with specialists in many top children’s hospitals in the US, they found that the team at Texas Children’s Hospital’s Fetal Center had the most experience and was the best place to perform their daughter’s fetal surgery.