by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 22, 2012
By Dennis Rosen, MD
Photo: Dennis Rosen
This month marks the second anniversary of the January 2010 earthquake that devastated Port au Prince, killing more than a quarter million, injuring over 350,000, and leaving an estimated one million without shelter. Having gone there three times since then with groups from Children’s Hospital Boston to participate in the relief efforts, hardly a day goes by that I am not reminded of what I saw and lived during those weeks. Ranging from the truly horrible to inspiring and uplifting, many of the experiences were unlike any others I had had prior to setting foot in Haiti.
The first time I went was in May 2010 with a group that worked at the General Hospital along with Partners in Health. Conditions on the ground were utterly chaotic, and the disorganization made it difficult for foreign volunteers to work as we were accustomed to doing back home. This only added to our frustration at the discrepancy between the enormity of the challenges we faced and what we could (or could not do) to help. Many of those we cared for were suffering from the after-effects of injuries sustained in the earthquake, including chronic bone infections following amputations. A significant number of the children we saw were malnourished, their golden, frizzy hair and big bellies (often full of worms) helping us to make the diagnosis as soon as we saw them.
Others presented with routine medical and surgical problems which would have been straightforward in Boston but which were, in fact, very difficult to treat in Haiti because of the limited resources available and the lack of continuity of medical care. Perhaps the hardest of all was to repeatedly see children die from conditions and diseases which could have been prevented or treated back home, at little cost, and to be powerless to stop that from happening. On both the first and the second trips our teams cared for children who died from diphtheria. Previously widespread in the United States, it has not been reported here since 2003 thanks to widespread vaccination. However, diphtheria remains endemic in Haiti, and because most children do not have access to vaccinations, hundreds die from it there each year. Full story »
When I think of lip readers, I imagine adults who have worked for years to master the skill. There’s no denying that to become an efficient lip reader takes a lot of practice, but as it turns out the root of the talent is innate in all people.
New research suggests we all learn to “read” lips as babies, and studying mouths plays a very big role in how and when babies learn to talk. Scientists have discovered that starting around 6 months, babies start studying the mouths of the adults talking to them, instead of focusing solely on the eyes. In doing so they begin to learn how to position their own mouths to form certain sounds, including the much anticipated first utterance of “mama” and “dada.”
Kevin Nugent, PhD, founder and Director of the Brazelton Institute at Children’s, a research and training organization dedicated to studying the development of newborns and young children, was recently interviewed by Fox News to get his take on how babies learn to speak by watching our lips.
In addition to language development, Dr. Nugent is an expert in how environment affects other developmental milestone of childhood. Here’s a recent Thriving blog where the doctor discusses how the style of daycare a child attends can affect her development. He’s also the author of “Your Baby is Speaking to You: A Visual Guide to the Amazing Behaviors of your Newborn and Growing Baby.”
Have you heard about the bald Barbie movement? It’s a grassroots, digital campaign asking Mattel to make a version of the doll without her trademark golden locks to benefit children with illness. According to the group’s Facebook page, which has gained more than 130,000 fans in less than a month, bald Barbie would let “children suffering cancer, alopecia and any other illness that causes them to lose their hair, feel just as beautiful as the dolls they play with.”
Regardless of how people feel about the plastic fashion icon—she’s been around for more than half a century but still seems to be a very polarizing figure; often because of her figure—the online support for bald Barbie is undeniable. Many people seem ready to overlook any issues they may have had with Barbie’s build and stereotyped past in order to focus on her potential as a cancer survival spokes doll. Here’s just a slight sample of the thousands of messages her online fans are sharing with each other:
I will keep posting all the great things about this Bald Barbie God Bless the work you are doing ♥
I’ve forwarded it and wish I could do more. How can I help from Brazil?
Amazing idea! I re-posted a messages about a week ago that said…why don’t they make a hairless Barbie named hope dressed in pink with all proceeds going to help to cure cancer. I had no idea it was actually a work in progress! I 100% support this. I think it would make children fighting this feel good. Anything to help. And why not make dolls with other problems?! Spreading information and helping the cause or even a cure for the cause…what a Wonderful idea!
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Children’s Hospital Boston. Take a look at her blog archive and follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
Andrew Wakefield, if you haven’t heard of him, is the guy who pretty much singlehandedly scared thousands of parents away from the MMR vaccine with a study he published in the Lancet linking the vaccine with autism. The study has since been retracted, something journals almost never do, after it was discovered that data in it was falsified. Not only that, Wakefield lost his medical license.
But is he backing down? No way. On the contrary: he is suing the British Medical Journal (from Texas) for defamation. And he is still defending his findings. Full story »
Bad weather kept Marc Savard from watching last night's game in his donated box, so teammate Brad Marchand came up to hang out with Children's patient Patrick and family.
Snow No! I was super excited to watch TV yesterday so I could check out press coverage of Bruins forward Marc Savard, who was scheduled to publicly announce an AMAZING donation he’s giving to the kids of Children’s Hospital Boston.
Unfortunately winter storms in Toronto grounded his flight to Boston and Savy’s big announcement was postponed. The weather may have stolen some of Savard’s thunder, but it can’t take away the great things he’s doing for kids. Marc recently purchased an entire luxury suite at TD Garden, the home of the Bruins, and is donating it to Children’s patients for every home game of this and next season.
Children’s Child Life Services will be awarding the tickets to various patients throughout the hospital, with a special focus on children suffering from the medical and psychological effects of head trauma. It’s a cause dear to Savard, who has had to temporarily stop playing with the Bruins after suffering two concussions last season during play.
“Marc Savard understands firsthand the challenges faced by children suffering from the effects of head trauma,” said Beth Donegan Driscoll, director of Child Life Services at Children’s Hospital Boston. “The partnership with him is an exceptional opportunity for Children’s Hospital Boston patients and their families to experience the thrill of a Bruins game at the generosity of this very special man.” Full story »
As an attorney, Kristin Small, Esq., specializes in cases where the legal and health care needs of her clients cross paths. She recently worked with the parents of a 5-year-old child with autism.
The father had lost his job and the mother couldn’t work because of the time she needed to devote to her son’s care. Though the Social Security Administration (SSA) agreed that their son qualified for benefits medically, the family was deemed ineligible because they had “too many resources.” With both parents out of work and no means of income, legal counsel was the last option they thought was available to them.
Their pediatrician referred them to Small, a staff attorney for the Medical Legal Partnership | Boston (MLP) and liaison to Children’s for the newest MLP site in the Children’s Hospital Primary Care Center (CHPCC). Providing care for more than 13,000 children—65 percent of whom are covered by Medicaid—the CHPCC is well suited to host the MLP at CHB. “Our medical and social work staff already spend a lot of time advocating for our patients,” says Joanne Cox, MD, medical director for the CHPCC. “They’re writing letters to utility companies, helping families access food stamps and communicating with landlords about poor housing conditions.” Chronic illnesses such as asthma, cerebral palsy and diabetes are often exacerbated by environmental factors like lack of food, housing, education and employment. A child my be falling behind in school due to chronic illness, or a family may be forced to choose between medicine and food. By teaming with the MLP, the CHPCC can now offer their patients direct access to legal information and support to help them make sure their needs are being met. Full story »
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Children’s Hospital Boston. Take a look at her blog archive and follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
Have you seen the anti-childhood obesity ads from Georgia?
With 40% of the kids in Georgia overweight or obese (only Mississippi is worse), health advocates decided that it was time for “a wake-up call.” So the Strong4Life campaign and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta have released print and TV ads with obese kids and slogans like “It’s hard to be a little girl when you’re not.”
Ouch. I mean, really. Imagine being on a playground and having some kid point at you and say, “You look like the fat girl on TV!” What were they thinking?
Actually, I get what they were thinking. It’s a desperate-times-call-for-desperate-measures thing. Full story »
Workers from Walsh Brothers Incorporated are keeping very busy building a new tower at Children’s Hospital Boston, but the workload isn’t so fast paced that they can’t take a second or two out of their day to make some kids smile. The crew receives the names of patients whose hospital beds face their construction site and before a beam is attached to the tower’s frame they spray paint a child’s name on it, as well as an encouraging message or two.
To kids facing medical hardships seeing his or her name on the side of a building may not seem like a big deal, but the parents of these kids say it’s a little gesture that goes a long way.
Scheduled for a late 2013 completion, the new building will:
provide the Hospital with 20 ‘short stay beds’. (i.e. 23-hour Observation beds)
allow the Hospital to better utilize our existing DPH-licensed beds.
allow for critical expansions of the Emergency Department.
provide an increase in Radiology capacity, additions to Surgical areas and provision of new inpatient support spaces.
provide as many as 34 single bed Inpatient rooms to meet future needs for specific subspecialties.
Do you have a Children's Hospital Boston story you'd like heard? By sharing your Children's story you can be a great source of inspiration and encouragement to families who are going through similar situations. And it’s a great way to find support by connecting with others. Share your story today »
