July 9, 2019

This month’s installment of Medically Speaking features Texas Children’s orthopedic surgeon, Dr. John Heydemann, discussing the rising prevalence of obesity in American adolescents and the increased level of difficulty it creates in the treatment of pediatric orthopedic injuries or deformities.

To clearly relate the two, he highlights four specific treatment areas or conditions that are often exacerbated by, or that can contribute to, obesity. These are:

  • Trauma, including increased fracture rates, higher risk of loss of reduction and increased risk of complications
  • Blount’s disease, a growth disorder of the shin bone that causes the lower leg to be angled inward
  • Slipped capital femoral epiphysis, a hip condition that occurs in adolescents and teens
  • Back pain, potentially due to children leading more sedentary lifestyles

Learn more about the services provided and conditions treated by Texas Children’s Division of Orthopedics.

Fighting obesity at Texas Children’s

In addition to contributing to or complicating the treatment of orthopedic injuries, obesity drives significant health outcomes in Texas Children’s patients. Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of preventable chronic diseases and in childhood can lead to high blood pressure and cholesterol, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, asthma and sleep apnea, and joint problems, not to mention the associated psychological ramifications, such as anxiety and depression.

But obesity it a health problem Texas Children’s Hospital is attacking head on.

This year, Texas Children’s included a system-wide BMI goal as part of our Fiscal Year 2019 care quality objectives. The target was to record BMI for 85 percent of the patient population, ages 2 to 19. In addition to recording BMI, an additional target was set to refer or implement counseling and/or education for more than 40 percent of patients with BMI greater than the 85th percentile.

So far this year, Texas Children’s is exceeding those goals. Through March 2019, we’d recorded BMI for more than 87 percent of our patients, and more than 73 percent of those with BMI in the 85th percentile or higher have been referred to or received the resources they need to combat obesity.

About Medically Speaking

Medically Speaking, a video series from Texas Children’s Service Line Marketing, features some of the brightest minds from several Texas Children’s specialty and subspecialty areas. The series is meant to be a helpful educational resource for parents and a convenient way for physicians and other caregivers to stay up-to-date on the latest in pediatric medicine. Viewers can watch talks on a variety of interesting topics, including advancements in surgery, breakthroughs in research, new clinical trials, and novel and back-practice treatments for specific conditions.

Don’t miss future Medically Speaking episodes featured here on Connect, or view additional episodes now.

PLEASE NOTE:
This presentation is not intended to present medical advice or individual treatment recommendations, and does not supplant the practitioner’s independent clinical judgment. Practitioners are advised to consider the management of each patient in view of the clinical information. All content is shared for informational purposes only, and reflects the thoughts and opinions of the original author. No physician-patient relationship is being created by the use of this presentation. The presentation sets out recommendations based upon similar circumstances and is provided as an educational tool. The presenters are not attorneys, and to the extent this presentation provides commentary on current laws and regulations affecting health care activities, it is not intended as legal advice.

Texas Children’s West Campus Urgent Care opened its doors in September 2018 and has served many patients since. Located next to Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, the West Campus Urgent Care opened to help manage the Emergency Center to serve patients and families in the west Houston area. Learn more by visiting our 2018 virtual Annual Report.

The First Lady of Botswana, Neo Jane Masisi, was recently announced as an inaugural member of the Global HOPE International Council. The International Council which will comprise African leaders and dignitaries, noteworthy global health care leaders, philanthropists and other key influencers, will serve as advocates for Global HOPE to raise awareness for the program and the plight of children with cancer in Africa.

Masisi is an accountant by profession and has held various portfolios in Botswana within the private sector. She further embarked on a career as an International Civil Servant where she served the United Nations in USA, Ethiopia and Central African Republic. Masisi has extensive experience in management and budgetary controls, grants management and financial reporting. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA – UK) and holds an MBA.

Currently, as First Lady, Masisi is involved in national issues geared at addressing HIV/AIDS. She is passionate about girls and rural women, causes that she pursues in her personal capacity. Having worked in both Botswana and the international arena, Mrs. Masisi brings across a “global view’’ approach to issues that affect humanity.

Global HOPE (Hematology-Oncology Pediatric Excellence), recently celebrated its two-year anniversary. It is a transformative initiative focused on creating an innovative pediatric hematology-oncology treatment network in sub-Saharan Africa that will build long-term capacity to treat and dramatically improve the prognosis of thousands of children with cancer and blood disorders. The program was created in partnership with Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital (BIPAI).

Global HOPE works closely with Ministries of Health in its three initial countries of focus including Botswana, Malawi and Uganda. Within two short years, the program has seen extraordinary progress, including treating more than 3,000 patients, training over 1,000 health care professionals, and graduating its first class of physician fellows from the Global HOPE Pediatric Hematology Oncology Fellowship Program, the first of its kind in East Africa.

While Global HOPE initiative is relatively new, the relationship with these countries in Sub-Saharan Africa goes back nearly 20 years with the implementation of Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI), the largest pediatric HIV treatment network in the world, leveraging existing experience, infrastructure and public/private partnerships created through the initiative. To date, BIPAI has provided care and support to more than 1 million HIV-infected children and adolescents, and has trained more than 52,000 health care workers on issues of pediatric HIV. Building on this experience, Global HOPE is using this approach to address childhood cancer.

In the U.S., where there are 15,000 cases of pediatric cancer a year, over 80 percent of children survive and most have a very good quality life. In contrast, of the more than 100,000 children who develop pediatric cancer each year in sub-Saharan Africa, 90 percent die. In an effort to correct this glaring inequity, Global HOPE established a $150 million campaign to launch their program in three initial countries, including Botswana.

In September 2018, Dr. David Poplack, Director of Global Hope and Associate Director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, had the pleasure of hosting His Excellency OP and Mrs. Masisi in Houston, Texas. The visit offered an opportunity to assess the progress made to help combat pediatric illnesses in Botswana including HIV/AIDS.

“As First Lady of the Republic of Botswana, Mrs. Masisi has an incredibly powerful voice capable of raising awareness and garnering support for initiatives to address childhood cancer in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr. Poplack. “With our hallmark program in Botswana, she was able to see the work we are doing firsthand, and I believe she has the ability to help expand our reach. I also believe she will be an extraordinary advocate for children with cancer and blood disorders.”

With the support of Mrs. Masisi and the entire International Council, Global HOPE will have the ability to expand its reach and to dramatically improve childhood cancer treatment and care in sub-Saharan Africa.

July 8, 2019

Texas Children’s patient Eden Green visits Capitol Hill to advocate for graduate medical education funding.

Progress doesn’t just happen. It takes real conversations between people who care.

That’s exactly what happened recently when Texas Children’s Hospital patient Eden Green visited Washington, D.C., during the 15th annual Speak Now for Kids Family Advocacy Day.

The vibrant 14-year-old met with a handful of Texas lawmakers, including former Congressman Gene Green and Representatives Michael McCaul and Dan Crenshaw. She hopes her voice brings change and increased investment in pediatric cancer research.

Family Advocacy Day, hosted by the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA), was focused on ensuring that a federally-funded pediatrician training program receives an increase in financial support, among other issues.

According to CHA, the hospitals that receive Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) train approximately half of the nation’s pediatricians. Texas Children’s is one of those hospitals.

Increased CHGME funding helps recruit and retain the highest quality pediatricians.

A Young Advocate in the Making

Eden’s story is one we can all be proud of. In 2015 at just 10 years old, she was diagnosed with a rare tumor – so rare it still doesn’t have a name. It had spread throughout her body. An individualized treatment plan was drafted by the Rare Tumors and Neuroblastoma Programs at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, which included many rounds of chemotherapy and hip surgery.

Eden was cancer free for nearly two years when she relapsed in June 2018. Thanks to funding by Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), Eden had the opportunity to participate in a novel clinical trial at Texas Children’s Cancer Center for pediatric patients with relapsed disease that allowed her to go into remission for the second time.

Dr. Jennifer Foster, who is Eden’s pediatric oncologist at Texas Children’s, couldn’t be prouder of her patient’s trip to D.C. Foster said she often urges patients and medical professionals to get involved in the legislative process.

“As medical professionals, we can all advocate at a patient level, but we won’t experience any real change on a global level until we tap into the policy side of health care,” Foster said. “There is so much we can do as pediatricians and getting involved in the political process is part of that.”

Foster goes on to say that everyone can help the cause in their own way.

“Eden is an incredibly dynamic individual – truly someone who lights up a room when she walks in. Speaking out and interacting with people is one of her gifts and she’s using it to give back to Texas Children’s.”

You can also help.

Texas Children’s is a hospital that receives CHGME funding. You can help the cause! Let your voice be heard, here: https://actnow.io/m8pHocn

July 2, 2019

As the nation celebrates Independence Day on July 4, Maria Dahl reflects on her service in the U.S. Army and how her experiences inspired her to pursue a career in nursing. Read more

July 1, 2019

 

Texas Children’s Hospital’s first community campus therapy dog has officially started at The Woodlands campus. A week after Child Life’s gender reveal, Cohen began to make his mark on the hospital and in the hearts of employees and patients.

The 19-month-old golden retriever, doodle mix, is the fourth therapy dog in Texas Children’s Pawsitive Play Program, which uses animal-assisted therapy to enhance the emotional well-being of pediatric patients by reducing their anxiety, perception of pain and fear of hospitalization.

Like the other therapy dogs Cohen was specifically trained for this position at Canine Assistants, a non-profit in Atlanta, which has matched more than 1,500 service dogs with individuals and hospitals. He will be groomed weekly and his paws will be wiped down daily. Patients who are allergic to dogs will not be consulted and the dog will not go into patient rooms without first receiving verbal permission from a guardian and the medical team.

Cohen offers distraction and motivation to patients undergoing certain medical procedures, but it’s not just him that aids in this process. Child Life Specialist Carolyn Canlas, who goes by CJ, has the amazing opportunity to be Cohen’s handler. Both she and Cohen have been trained to collaborate with medical teams and physical and occupational therapists to visit with several patients each day who are having a particularly difficult time during their hospitalization.

“Words cannot express how much gratitude I feel in taking on this new role,” Canlas said. “This is such an awesome opportunity to utilize my child life skillset in such a unique way. I can’t wait to see the joy that Cohen brings to patients, families and staff.”

On June 26 Cohen met his other furry co-workers, Elsa, Bailey, and Pinto who support the Medical Center Campus, before heading off on his first day of work. Cohen was generously funded through a gift from Newfield Foundation. This new addition to the Woodlands family is just one of the many ways that the campus continues to expand and support the community.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have CJ and Cohen on our Woodlands Child Life Team,” Manager of Patient and Family Services Cynda Parrish said. “CJ and Cohen will be able to create special opportunities with our patients, families and staff through targeted therapeutic interventions to support coping and provide positive hospital experiences. We are excited to integrate this amazing resource into our child life team’s clinical practice.”

As a manager and veteran nurse, Almea Montillo is someone that both patients and employees can count on. Her experience over the past 20 years has allowed her to form relationships with some of the most critically ill patients, and watch their journey to recovery.

“I’ve gotten to be very fortunate to see how my patients that I have sent from the Emergency Center, up here to the floor get better and go home,” Montillo said. “It’s really a great feeling to see how well we’ve taken care of them.”

Montillo began working in the Emergency Center, then became a staff nurse for a few years and later an educator. Now as she manages other nurses, she also makes time to be an active member of the Patient Experience Leader Rounding and Bedside Shift Report teams. She provides valuable feedback and is seen as a leader in the realm of patient experience.

“It’s been an awesome experience working at Texas Children’s,” Montillo said. “I’m very fortunate to be in an institution where you’re supported by leadership, and I feel that we take care of our patients very well.”

She is known for the love and comfort she provides patients, and the guidance and encouragement she gives employees. Between greeting staff, leading huddles, leadership rounding, and administrative tasks, her days can be pretty busy. She is also a Central Line Champion, as she makes sure that the staff carryout cap changes, and central line dressing changes properly.

“Mea personally rounds on each and every patient and family every day. She enjoys developing a relationship with the families and wants them to feel they can come to her for any need,” Assistant Clinical Director of Nursing at West Campus Sondra Morris said. “She ensures they feel comfortable by making sure they are aware of the resources at the campus and in the unit. She is a role model for the staff and a great example of how we should care for our patients and families.”

Montillo says that although the Caught You Caring Award came as a surprise, she was very excited to receive confirmation that the immense amount of effort and heart she puts into her work has not gone unrecognized.

“I was very happy to know that I made a difference with someone. I don’t ever look for any kind of praise, she said. “I feel like it’s my job to know the patients and the families and make sure that they have the best possible experience, because nobody wants to be in the hospital. It’s our job to make it a positive experience no matter what’s going on, and that is my motto and goal every single day.”