April 17, 2018

Shaquille O’Neal made a special visit to Texas Children’s Cancer Center April 9 prior to being honored at the Marriott Marquis Houston for the 13th annual An Evening with a Legend.

During the one-on-one room visits, O’Neal enjoyed shooting hoops, playing games and talking with patients about their cancer journeys. As someone who has had such a unique and successful journey on and off the court, O’Neal offered words of encouragement and let the families know they are not alone.

Later that evening, the 7-foot-1-inch tall NBA legend was honored at the annual An Evening with a Legend event benefiting Texas Children’s Cancer Center.

Nearly 500 guests enjoyed the unforgettable evening kicked off by University of Houston cheerleaders rallied and followed by a beautiful seated dinner, exciting “Slam Dunk” paddle raise and an intimate conversation with O’Neal.

Moderated by NBC’s American Ninja Warrior host Matt Iseman, guests were given an inside look at how O’Neal achieved incredible basketball accolades, as well as his success and unique journey off the court. His larger-than-life personality and powerful athleticism have made him a household name and legend in both sports and entertainment. His individual accomplishments include seven MVP awards, two scoring titles, 15 All-Star game selections and much more. O’Neal is one of only three players in history to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP in the same year. He led his teams to four NBA Finals championships during his career and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Co-chaired by Julie Bergen and Kathy Zay, the event raised more than $700,000 for Texas Children’s Cancer Center. Monica and Kevin King and Stephanie and Brad Tucker served as honorary chairs for the event.

Texas Children’s Chief of Service in Developmental Pediatrics, Dr. Robert Voigt, collaborated with fellow Baylor College of Medicine professor, Dr. Carl Tapia, to release the second edition of their textbook entitled Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently announced the availability of the new textbook that focuses on caring for children with developmental and behavioral issues starting with medical evaluation and care initiation to the transition to adulthood.

April 3, 2018

National Doctor’s Day was held on March 30 and is a national holiday that honors physicians for the work they do for their patients, the communities they work in and for society as a whole. In honor of the holiday, physicians were treated to a special lunch at Texas Children’s Hospital Medical Center Campus, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. After their meal, we visited with some of them about their professions. Listen to what they have to say and learn more about why they became a doctor, what they love most about their jobs, why they are at Texas Children’s and what they like to do in their free time.

Candice Gardemal can calm the most nervous patient visiting Texas Children’s Specialty Care Cy-Fair for an eye exam. The certified ophthalmic technician wins over patients of all ages with her warm, bubbly personality and an endless amount of tricks up her sleeve, some of which are so effective they have been published in medical journals.

“She’s phenomenal,” said Dr. Mary Kelinske, an optometrist at the center who has been working with Gardemal for the past five years. “I couldn’t do my job as effectively without her.”

Gardemal’s role at the center is to get the vitals of a patient’s eye before Kelinske walks into the exam room. Most of the time, this includes patients reading various charts containing letters, numbers, and sometimes, pictures. And, almost always, it requires a patient’s eyes being dilated, a process adults, much less children, find unsettling.

Gardemal’s stealthy moves and methods of distraction, however, are magical, allowing her to get the job done quickly and usually with no fuss. From the moment she walks into the exam room, she is smiling, talking and pulling out toys from various drawers and cabinets around the room.

“Look right here,” she said energetically while pointing to a silver, shiny pinwheel that lights up in the dark. “There you go! You did it! You are so smart!”

For some of her tougher cases, Gardemal puts on a super hero mask just to get a laugh. Other times she points to one of the colorful, sea-themed murals she has painted on the exam room walls.

“Ms. Gardemal is an exceptional artist,” said Chief-of-Ophthalmology Dr. David Coats. “She combines her charisma and her art to enhance the appeal of our clinics and to put our children as ease. Her work includes small paintings and huge murals, some of which hide instruments that can be frightening to children.”

When dilating a patient’s eyes, Gardemal uses a technique she developed that involves a pile of tissue, the patient’s belly button and a tall tale that goes something like this:

“OK now, hold these tissues real tight over your belly button so that none of these eye drops can get inside,” Gardemal enthusiastically tells her patients. “If the drops get inside your belly button, hair will start sprouting up around it!”

This simple technique is so effective, Gardemal published an article about it in the Journal of American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology. She got another article published in the same journal about a technique Gardemal came up with called the pinch patch. The technique uses a pinch in the fold of an eye patch to make what is typically a flat surface over a patient’s eye convex and therefore much more comfortable.

“Ms. Gardemal routinely dreams up and implements innovative ways to improve patient comfort,” Coats said. “One of the best innovations she has developed is the pinch patch. This is a simple modification to an eye patch that makes wearing an eye patch much more comfortable, which has been great news for our young patients who often must wear an eye patch several hours a day for many months or even years.”

Most recently, Gardemal has been working with Kelinske to provide a better clinical experience to patients with a range of physical, developmental and behavioral differences, including ADHD and Autism. Through exams geared toward the unique requirements of these patients, Gardemal and Kelinske have modified their approaches, as needed, to keep patients as comfortable as possible, both physically and emotionally, and to help get information and deliver care as accurately and efficiently as possible.

“My goal is to distract my patients with fun and leave them with a good memory of the eye doctor,” said Gardemal, who as a child had to visit the ophthalmologist frequently due to a condition called strabismus. “My childhood doctor always gave me a high five and a smile to make me feel more comfortable and it worked. I want to do the same for my patients. I want them to leave the clinic feeling like they had a good time.”

Click here to learn more about the Texas Children’s Special Needs Eye Clinic.

Barbara Elias, the ventricular assist device (VAD) coordinator for Texas Children’s Heart Center, was recently honored with the Daisy Award, a national award that recognizes clinical nurses for the extraordinary work they do for patients and families each and every day.

Elias was recommended for the award by the mother of a patient who said that for the past 16 months Elias has gone above and beyond for her and her daughter, showing them both “the utmost care and compassion.”

“No matter what time of the day or night, she is always just a phone call away,” the mother said. “Even after the numerous times we woke her in the middle of the night, Barb jumped into action and showed as much care for my daughter as I do as her parent.”

The mother said Elias always maintained a professional demeanor while giving her daughter and family emotional support.

“She is a great asset to the heart failure program,” she said. “I hope one day she will receive as many blessings as she has bestowed upon the countless patients and families she has touched through her kindness.”

Elias has been Texas Children’s since 2015, starting out in the adult VAD program before moving to pediatrics. In her job as the VAD coordinator Elias is the liaison and general resource for all VAD patients, families and caregivers, conducting a variety of tasks including obtaining insurance and prior authorization for all VAD implants, conducting preoperative assessments and evaluations, intraoperative pump preparation, postoperative rounds, assistance with daily interdisciplinary rounds, pump assessment, wound care and management, collaboration with teams for procedures on VAD- supported patients, daily management of all device patients including family updates, monitoring of anticoagulation and patient transport.

Elias also handles teaching patients and family members device therapy at discharge, and VAD education and training to various other audiences such as paramedics and school personnel. She also coordinates outpatient therapy in areas sometimes not associated with Texas Children’s when patients live in alternate locations and participates in VAD patient research.

“Barb is excellent at what she does and always puts our patients and families as ease,” said Congenital Heart Surgeon Dr. Iki Adachi. “She is a perfect fit for the Daisy Award.”

To learn more about the Daisy Award and/or to nominate someone for the recognition, click here.

On March 26, Dr. Wesley Lee, co-director of Texas Children’s Fetal Center, located within Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, was presented with the Joseph H. Holmes Pioneer Award at the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine’s (AIUM) 2018 convention in New York. Each year, the award honors at least two current or retired AIUM members whose clinical or basic science work significantly contributed to the growth and development of medical ultrasound.

Among his many accomplishments, Lee has authored 148 peer-reviewed articles and 20 book chapters pertaining to maternal-fetal medicine, prenatal detection of congenital anomalies, 3-/4-dimensional fetal sonography and fetal magnetic resonance imaging.

March 27, 2018

Drs. Muralidhar Premkumar (from left), Melissa Carbajal, Neonatology faculty, and Gautham Suresh, section chief (right), congratulate third-year fellow Dr. Erynn Bergner, as the 23rd annual Arnold J. Rudolph Memorial Grand Rounds award recipient. The award recognizes third-year fellows in neonatal-perinatal medicine for outstanding teaching, patient care, scientific inquiry and professional integrity. Eduardo Salas, PhD, professor of Psychology and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Rice University, was this year’s invited speaker at the recent grand rounds.

The Arnold J. Rudolph Memorial Grand Rounds was established in 1996 by the Section of Neonatology, in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, in memory of its late Section Chief, Dr. Arnold J. Rudolph, who died in 1995. Dr. Rudolph was a well-respected clinician and educator, recognized internationally as a leader of neonatology.