November 21, 2017

Because of the complexity of conditions seen at Texas Children’s, many patients and families view the health system and its staff as a family that supports them both inside and outside the hospital. That relationship was on full display November 15 when several patients of the Texas Children’s Craniofacial Clinic were given the opportunity to attend a free, early screening of the movie, Wonder.

Wonder tells the incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time. Based on the New York Times bestseller, the film stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay.

“We feel that this screening was a wonderful opportunity to highlight the courage displayed by so many of the children that we help treat every day,” said Dr. Larry Hollier, chief of plastic surgery and associate surgeon-in-chief for clinical affairs at Texas Children’s. “And it reinforces the importance of seeing things through others’ point of view. Finally, we thought it was a great opportunity for everyone to attend a real movie premiere.”

The premiere was sponsored by members of the Children’s Craniofacial Association and Texas Children’s Craniofacial Clinic team, which treats and researches complex craniofacial differences such as Treacher Collins Syndrome, the one highlighted in Wonder.

Held at AMC Studio 30 on Dunvale Road in Houston, the screening of the movie began with patients and families walking down a red carpet and posing for photographs before making their way to the theater. The event ended with comments from two Craniofacial Clinic patients and their family members.

Grace Anto, a 10-year-old Craniofacial Clinic patient, said she could relate to much of what August, the lead character in the movie, went through.

“I have felt like Auggie,” she said. “Every time I make a new friend, it’s like a new beginning.”

Twelve-year-old Lance Dromgoole, another Craniofacial Clinic patient, agreed and said his favorite part of the movie was when August and Jack became friends.

“That was definitely the best,” he said.

Like the lead character in Wonder, Lance and Grace have had multiple surgeries to correct their craniofacial differences. Grace has had 10 surgeries and Lance has undergone 38. Some of those procedures helped Lance breathe better and others gave him actual ears, something he was born without.

Lance’s grandmother, Kathy Dromgoole, said she will never forget the first time Lance was able to put on sunglasses and that she will forever be grateful for the care her grandson has received at Texas Children’s. Regarding the movie, she said she hopes Wonder shows people that children with craniofacial differences are normal kids and that they deserve to be treated as such.

Grace’s mother, Lynn Anto, said the movie beautifully illustrates the power of kindness and how greatly it is needed people’s lives.

“Everyone is going through something,” she said. “And everyone could use a little kindness.”

Athena Krasnosky, a nurse practitioner with the Craniofacial Clinic and one of the organizers of the screening, told last week’s audience that Texas Children’s sees itself and its patients and families as one big happy family, and that everyone within the Craniofacial Clinic was thrilled to have been able to watch such a meaningful film together.

“We are so glad to have been able see this movie together tonight as a family,” she said. “We hope you enjoyed it.”

Haley Streff, a genetic counselor with Texas Children’s and another organizer of the movie screening, echoed Krasnosky’s comments and said the moving screening was a powerful experience.

“All of us here have a connection to someone with a craniofacial difference,” she said. “We all can relate in one way or another to what just happened on that movie screen.”

Texas Children’s Hospital Spiritual Care Department is asking you and your faith community to consider participating in No Crib For A Bed, a program that helps provide safe-sleeping accommodations to children and families in need.

Due to limited resources, many families in the Greater Houston area are forced to co-sleep with their infants. Such sleeping accommodations pose serious risks of injury and possible death to a child. The Spiritual Care Department is trying to minimize such risks by facilitating the provision of new mobile cribs, such as Pack N Plays, and new baby blankets to families in need. Along with the mobile cribs and blankets, the department, through its No Crib For A Bed program, provides safe sleep information provided by our Childhood Injury Prevention Department.

Donations of the mobile cribs and blankets and/or money are facilitated through various faith communities throughout the area.

“We are asking you to help and to please discuss with your faith community about donating one or more new Pack N Plays and a corresponding new baby blanket,” said Chaplain James Denham. “Your help goes a long way in helping the families in our community and especially the youngest among us find protection and safety.”

For more information or if you have questions, please contact Denham or the Spiritual Care Department at ext. 4-7223.

On November 9, Child Life held a special event to dedicate a new art studio in the Zone for patients and their families. Texas Children’s Hospital is grateful for the generosity of Harrison’s Heroes, a local organization that will fund the art studio.

Harrison’s Heroes Art Studio will be an intimate space for patients and their families to come together and create special moments and various pieces of art. It will serve as a positive outlet and space for patients to share their feelings, perspective and build their legacy. As these patients are going through a difficult illness, the studio will offer a special time for bonding and expression for the entire family.

“We want to give our patients an opportunity to feel normal throughout their hospital experience but to also give them an avenue to tell their story by creating paintings, videos, stories, quilts and other forms of art,” said Child Life Manager Diane Kaulen. “For patients who are isolated in their room due to their illness, Harrison’s Heroes has donated mobile art carts that bring the elements of the art studio to the bedside.”

The space will be staffed by Texas Children’s child life specialists who provide developmental, educational and therapeutic interventions for children undergoing medical treatment. Child life services help children effectively cope with a diagnosis, treatment or hospital stay and provide emotional and psychosocial interventions to hospitalized children based on individual needs.

Harrison’s Heroes was named in memory of Shanoop Kothari’s son, Harrison, who passed away from his illness at the age of 2.

Click here to watch a KPRC video about Harrison’s Heroes and the new art studio at Texas Children’s Hospital, which is scheduled to open in January 2018.

October 24, 2017

Pediatric plastic surgeon Dr. Edward Buchanan has published his third children’s book in a series called the Mental Ninja Series.

The first two books of the series, “The Adventures of the Prickly Pear and the Happy Hoglet: Beginning the Journey of the Mental Ninja” and “Pit Bully: The Mental Ninja Awakens,” introduce readers to a world of characters focused on understanding themselves, their feeling and the control they have over their emotions.

In “The Tale of Fenny Fox: The Mental Ninja Emerges,” the journey continues, with the introduction to more characters and a message about the beauty of differences and the importance those differences play in people’s lives.

For more information about Buchanan’s book series, click here.

October 17, 2017

As Dr. Ricardo Flores, clinical director of the Cancer and Hematology Centers at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, listened to the news about the devastation in Puerto Rico after the island was slammed with two hurricanes in less than a month, he knew he had to do something to help his homeland.

So, he and some of his friends in the area who are also from Puerto Rico did some research and joined the group, Texas United for Puerto Rico. Within a few days, they had gathered thousands of pound of supplies, including medications, and were sending them to the many people in need on their island.

Word of Flores’ efforts soon reached the City of Houston prompting Mayor Sylvester Turner to call him and ask if he could join forces with the physician. Flores agreed and before long he and a small group of city officials were on a plane to Puerto Rico with 50,000 pounds of supplies in tow.

“It was a titanic effort,” Flores said of the delivery of the supplies, which included medications and food. “Thanks to the community and to the help of so many people, we were able to distribute the entire load.”

Flores said he will continue to work to help his home recover from what he said is an awful situation that has left people without adequate food, water and medication.

“It’s definitely much worse than what people are thinking,” he said. “It’s literally like we went back 100 years in our history in the blink of an eye.”

Click here and here to watch area news coverage of Flores’ efforts in Puerto Rico.

Texas Children’s Cancer Center’s Making A Mark art exhibition is showing on The Auxiliary Bridge until Friday, October 27. Sponsored by the Periwinkle Foundation, this exhibit showcases more than 300 pieces of art created by young patients as well as larger-than-life pieces made in collaboration with local artist Jon Clark. The exhibit is in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month in September.

Patients worked with Jon Clark over the spring and summer while receiving treatment to create this year’s collaborative piece “Flourish” using repurposed medical supplies. Each year, Periwinkle invites a guest artist guides and curates a final piece of art for display. Clark joins a distinguished group of past guest artists, including Elaine Bradford, John Palmer, Kelly Gale Amen, Anat Ronen and Reginald Adams.

As a special feature of this year’s Making A Mark exhibit, select artwork has been paired with songs from Periwinkle Arts In Medicine partner, Purple Songs Can Fly. The songs were written by patients and siblings from Texas Children’s Cancer Center and Hematology Centers and can be found throughout the exhibit. Just look for a purple musical note!

October 3, 2017

While flood waters have receded, Hurricane Harvey will have long-lasting effects on the Houston community. To help support the most vulnerable populations, and serve the mental health needs of those children adversely impacted by the recent hurricane and flooding, the Harvey Resiliency and Recovery Program is launching as part of Texas Children’s Hospital’s new Trauma and Grief Center.

The Harvey Resiliency and Recovery Program was made possible through the support of Children’s Health Fund, and a generous donation from singer/songwriter and co-founder of Children’s Health Fund (CHF), Paul Simon, and his wife, singer/songwriter Edie Brickell, a Texas native.

Under the umbrella of the Trauma and Grief Center, the Harvey Resiliency and Recovery Program will be dedicated to serving the needs of the many children and families adversely affected by the storm and its aftermath. The Trauma and Grief Center at Texas Children’s is one of the only health service agencies within this region of Texas with significant child trauma and bereavement expertise. The Center will evaluate traumatized and/or bereaved youth between the ages of 7 and 17 and provide ongoing evidence-based treatments to those youth requiring intervention.

“Using evidence-based assessments and interventions, as well as providing trauma-informed training to mental health professionals and teachers in impacted communities, we hope to more quickly recognize and address the needs of children who are at risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder and related psychological difficulties,” said Dr. Julie Kaplow, director of both the Trauma and Grief Center and Harvey Resiliency and Recovery Program at Texas Children’s. “Surviving a disaster can be distressing for anyone, but youth who have already been exposed to trauma, traumatic loss and/or severe adversity are at particularly high risk for severe persisting stress and may need the support of a mental health professional. This new program will connect our experts to these children.”

Many of the immediate effects of a major disaster are visible to the public eye and include infrastructure damage, flooding and public health issues, such as water contamination. The long-term psychological impacts of a major event are harder to see. This newly-formed program will address the mental health needs of those who survived the recent storm and were exposed to trauma-related risk factors that research indicates is likely to predispose them to long-term mental, emotional and physical consequences.

“Children’s Health Fund has been responding to the needs of children and families post-crisis for 25 years now,” said Dennis Walto, chief executive officer of Children’s Health Fund. “We know kids who were living in poverty before the storm are now at the highest risk for short- and long-term negative impact on mental health and well-being. CHF looks forward to working with Texas Children’s team to develop programs that will reach all children and families impacted by the crisis – especially those who often struggle to access even basic health care – and to take those lessons to other communities that may be facing similar challenges.”

Texas Children’s is working with several community partners, including impacted school districts, to train professionals in how to screen and assess children who may need additional support. A formal screening tool is being used to help identify children who need higher level interventions, and experts at Texas Children’s Harvey Resiliency and Recovery Program will be available to meet with and treat these patients starting in early October.

To learn more about this program, visit Texas Children’s website.