by Tripp Underwood on April 5, 2013
Kevin Ware- Picture from USA Today
Last week, sports fans collectively gasped with sympathetic pain when Kevin Ware, a 20-year-old basketball player from the University of Louisville, suffered a devastating leg injury during a nationally televised NCAA tournament game. In an attempt to block an opponent’s shot, Ware leapt into the air and landed in such a way that shattered two bones in his leg—the tibia and fibula—just below his right knee.
The tibia break was especially gruesome, with the bone not only breaking, but ripping through his skin and protruding outward. (An injury known as a compound fracture.) In addition to being very painful, compound fractures can be harder to treat than typical breaks and carry an increased risk of infection.
“Anytime you have a fracture there is the risk of infection,” says Boston Children’s Hospital’s Division of Sports Medicine doctor Michael Beasley, MD, who along with thousands of other people watched the injury live on television last Sunday. “But when that fracture also breaks the skin the risk of infection to the surrounding muscle and tendons increases. You also significantly increase the risk of infection in the bone, which can be very troubling if not caught early.” Full story »
by Andrea Mooney on April 3, 2013
Krista
There is a special kind of female athlete who is so dedicated that her sport becomes her life. Because research shows that girls and women are prone to higher rates of injuries and other health complications, these female athletes require a level of dedication not only to their sports, but also to their long-term health. And by pairing the two, they prevail.
For Krista Pinciaro, soccer player at Medfield High School, dedication to the sport came naturally. But when she tore her medial meniscus and re-tore her lateral meniscus (after tearing both her meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) years before), she knew her senior-year soccer season was at stake.
“It was one of the worst days of my life,” says Krista. “Soccer isn’t just a sport to me, it’s my everything. It made me feel like I belonged to something, and it made me succeed academically because I knew I had to in order to keep playing. My teammates and my coaches were all like members of my family. Not playing was devastating for me.” Full story »
by Claire McCarthy on January 30, 2013
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Boston Children’s Hospital. Along with her blogs here on Thriving, you can find her at the Huffington Post and Boston.com. Follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
A study came out this week showing that 7th graders who were exposed to alcohol ads—and liked them—were more likely to have problems with alcohol in high school.
Let’s be honest: When was the last time you talked about alcohol ads with your kids? I don’t mean in a “Wow, that was a cool ad they had on during the Super Bowl” kind of way. I mean in a, “Wow, they really make drinking alcohol look cool, don’t they? But drinking alcohol can really get people into lots of trouble—let’s talk about it” kind of way.
I’m going to bet most of you haven’t. Full story »
by Tom Ulrich on January 14, 2013
On any given day thousands of patients around the world—children and adults—will get an x-ray. What they probably won’t think about while sitting on the table wearing one of those lead aprons, though, is how at that moment the same technology being used to take a picture of their arm or leg or skull is also helping an oncologist treat a cancer patient’s tumor.
X-rays—rather, the radiation used to take an x-ray—are just one example of how many of the energies used to take pictures of the body can also have direct treatment applications. Sometimes the same radiation that takes an x-ray picture is used to zap tumor cells. The difference from one to the other is merely a matter of power.
“It’s like sunshine,” explains Ellen Grant, MD, a neuroradiologist trained in theoretical physics and director of the Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. “A little is completely safe and healthy. But too much can burn.” Full story »
by Guest Blogger on January 4, 2013
By Leah Buckley
Leah
It was a few years ago, but I still remember that cold, grey February morning vividly. As I tugged on my boots and winter coat—and fought with my zipper through my thick gloves—I called out to my mother to let her know that I was heading out with friends to go sledding.
“Be careful,” she said from the other room, “I love you.”
Those were the last words my mother said to me on what would turn out to be one of the scariest days of my life.
As we pulled up to the Newton Commonwealth Golf Course and stepped outside, all we could see was our breath in the cold morning air and the glint of the sun reflecting off the icy hills sprawled in front of us. We were excited to hit the slopes, but the ground was so iced over it took us a good 15 minutes just to reach the top of the first hill. The ride down was much, much faster. Full story »
by Claire McCarthy on December 16, 2012
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Boston Children’s Hospital. Along with her blogs here on Thriving, you can find her at the Huffington Post and Boston.com. Follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
I have a first grader.
Ever since the school shootings in Connecticut, I keep imagining someone coming into his classroom with a gun. It is more than I can cope with; I spent much of the weekend holding him—and keeping my other children close, too. We kept the news coverage off, and put the newspapers into the recycling. We talked about it, but kept it very brief.
But once kids get out of the house and into the world, things get more complicated. Full story »
by Claire McCarthy on December 11, 2012
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Boston Children’s Hospital. Along with her blogs here on Thriving, you can find her at the Huffington Post and Boston.com. Follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
Here in the Boston area, we’ve all been shaken by the news that a known sexual offender raped and molested children for years at a daycare just north of the city—even babies. It’s beyond horrible. For those with a child in daycare, this story is especially terrifying. You can’t help thinking: could this happen to my child?
Ultimately, the sad truth is that we can’t always stop these things from happening. That’s the thing about sexual predators like this guy: they are remarkably good at hiding what they do. They choose and groom their victims well. They seem like really nice people—so nice that the people around them either don’t suspect anything, or brush aside their suspicions.
There are, however, things that parents can do to help prevent sexual abuse—or any abuse—at daycare. Full story »
by Tom Ulrich on December 10, 2012
My son Zach, waiting for stitches in his chin in the Boston Children's ED. I'm not sure who was more anxious that night, him or us.
My wife and I have two, active, bouncy boys. Which means that we’ve made our share of visits to the Emergency Department here at Boston Children’s.
Twice it’s been for stitches. The first time was when my younger son, Zach, slipped in the bathtub and split his chin. The second time, his big brother, Owen, was climbing a boulder and slid down it on his face.
We don’t come to Boston Children’s just because I work here. And not because it’s the closest option for us (it isn’t). But because we know the boys will get top-notch care—it is a children’s hospital, after all.
What we didn’t realize, though, was how much more was going on during our visits to address the boys’ (and our) anxiety just as much as their lacerations. Full story »
