March 6, 2018

On March 1, close to 340 golfers played colorfully and raised more than $500,000 at the 20th annual Bad Pants Open golf tournament at the Clubs of Kingwood, benefitting Texas Children’s Newborn Center.

Each year, organizers of the golf tournament set out to raise hundreds of thousands to support the hospital’s level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that cares for the smallest and sickest babies. To celebrate Bad Pants’ 20th anniversary, the tournament also honored Texas Children’s NICU patient families from the last 20 years, many of whom attended the annual event.

“It was uplifting to see these children, now much older doing so well after going through a tough NICU course, and it was moving to see the pride and joy on the faces of the families of these children,” said Texas Children’s Chief of Neonatology Dr. Gautham Suresh. “It reminded me of what a privilege it is to serve as a physician and have the opportunity to take care of NICU patients in such a wonderful place as Texas Children’s Hospital.”

The event featured a post-play awards ceremony and dinner where players were awarded plates painted by Texas Children’s patients for both the best golf scores and baddest pants. Allyson Johnson, a NICU nurse at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, was presented with the Nurse of the Year award, a special recognition awarded at each tournament. While it is an honor to receive this award, she says seeing former patients thriving and happy is a reflection of the great work we do.

“It made me feel proud to know and hear from several families there how much we make a difference in their time spent in the NICU,” Johnson said. “It really warms my heart to see good outcomes from the attentive care we proudly provide in the Newborn Center at Texas Children’s.”

Proceeds from The Bad Pants Open support continued innovation and excellence in the research, treatment and care of critically ill and premature infants at Texas Children’s Newborn Center. Over the past 20 years, The Bad Pants Open has provided nearly $6.5 million in support of our Newborn Center – the nation’s largest NICU and one of only two Level IV NICUs in the greater Houston area. Their support has helped the Newborn Center provide programs and services to our NICU families including Family Support Groups, NICU Reunion, Parking for Patients Program as well as the work being carried out through Neonatal Family Advisory Committee.

“The Newborn Center is very fortunate to have the Bad Pants Open Committee raising money for the patients we care for and their families, as well as for the nurses and for medical research,” Suresh said. “I think of the committee as the “Bad Pants-Good Deeds” Committee and I am immensely grateful for their volunteer efforts.”

The next Bad Pants Open golf tournament is scheduled for October 11. More information is available at www.badpantsopen.com

February 13, 2018

On January 13, Texas Children’s successfully performed its fourth conjoined twins separation, giving identical twin girls Anna Grace and Hope Elizabeth Richards a chance at a normal life.

The 7-hour procedure was performed by a multidisciplinary team of nearly 75 surgeons, anesthesiologists, cardiologists and nurses from eight specialties. Click here to see a list of surgeons, clinicians and nurses in the operating room during the milestone procedure, and here to view a photo gallery documenting the twins’ journey the day of their separation.

“The success of this incredibly complex surgery was the result of our dedicated team members’ hard work throughout the last year,” said Surgeon-in-Chief and Chief of Plastic Surgery Dr. Larry Hollier. “Through simulations and countless planning meetings, we were able to prepare for situations that could arise during the separation. We are thrilled with the outcome and look forward to continuing to care for Anna and Hope as they recover.”

The girls were born on December 29, 2016, at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women to their parents Jill and Michael, and two older brothers Collin and Seth. Weighing a combined 9 lbs. 12 oz. and delivered via Caesarean-section at 35 weeks and five days gestation, Anna and Hope were conjoined at their chest and abdomen, through the length of their torso and shared the chest wall, pericardial sac (the lining of the heart), diaphragm and liver. In addition, they had a large blood vessel connecting their hearts.

The Richards family, from north Texas, learned Jill was carrying conjoined twins during a routine ultrasound. The family was then referred to Texas Children’s Fetal Center, where they underwent extensive prenatal imaging, multidisciplinary consultation and development of plans to achieve a safe delivery and postnatal care. They temporarily relocated to Houston in order to deliver at Texas Children’s and be close to the girls during their hospital stay. For the past year, Anna and Hope have been cared for by a team of specialists in the level IV and level II neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Planning and preparation

During much of that time, medical staff prepared for the separation, using extensive imaging with ultrasound, echocardiography, CAT scans, magnetic resonance (MRI) and even a virtual 3-D model of the girls’ anatomy. Closer to the surgery date, almost 50 medical personnel involved in the procedure participated in a lengthy simulation of the separation.

“These are the kind of procedures you plan for the worst and hope for the best,” said Pediatric Surgeon and Co-Director of Texas Children’s Fetal Center Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye. “We were blessed that this was the best case scenario. Everything went very well. The procedure was as well as we could have hoped.”

The Richards family is grateful to Texas Children’s for the care provided to their daughters since they found out they were expecting conjoined twins.

“We’ve thought about and prayed for this day for almost two years,” said the girls’ mom, Jill Richards. “It’s an indescribable feeling to look at our girls in two separate beds. We couldn’t be more thankful to the entire team at Texas Children’s for making this dream come true.”

Anna and Hope are recovering in the CVICU and expect to be released to a regular room soon. Both girls will face additional surgeries in the future to ensure their chest walls are stabilized. Otherwise, doctors expect them to lead normal lives.

“What we try to do here at Texas Children Hospital is essentially provide our patients with as normal of a life as we can,” said Pediatric Plastic Surgeon Dr. Edward Buchanan. “I think in this case with these two little girls we were able to achieve that.”

A history of success

The Richards separation is the fourth conjoined twins separation performed at Texas Children’s. The first pioneering procedure occurred February 16, 1965, when a team of surgeons separated 9-week-old conjoined twins Kimberly and Karen Webber. The Webber twins were connected at the liver and pericardium. The second separation happened on June 9, 1992, when Texas Children’s surgeons successfully separated Tiesha and Iesha Turner, who were 1 year old and shared a sternum, liver, entwined intestines and fused organs.

The third conjoined twins separation happened nearly three years ago on Feb. 17, 2015, when a team of more than 40 clinicians from seven specialties separated 10-month old Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata during a marathon 26-hour surgery. The twins were connected from the chest to the pelvis and shared a chest wall, pericardial sac, diaphragm, liver, intestinal tract, urinary system and reproductive organs. Today, Knatalye and Adeline are almost 4 years old and are doing very well, walking, talking, even learning how to ride a bike.

Since Texas Children’s opened its doors in 1954, multiple sets of conjoined twins have been referred to the hospital for consideration. However, in many of these cases, separation was not medically possible. Olutoye, who has participated in five conjoined twins’ separation surgeries, two at Texas Children’s Hospital and three at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said he and a team of experts from various specialties look at every case very closely and consider many factors before deciding how to move forward.

“Separating conjoined twins takes a tremendous commitment,” Olutoye said. “We all are privileged and honored to be part of each and every case, especially the ones where we can help.”

Transplant teams with Texas Children’s Hospital performed 112 solid organ transplants in 2017, the most in the history of Texas Children’s Transplant Services.

The liver and the kidney transplant programs were the busiest with 42 liver transplants and 32 kidney transplants completed last year. The heart program completed 28 transplants in 2017 and the lung program finished with 10, including one transplant in a patient under the age of one. There were only three such transplants in the United States last year.

“I’m very proud to be working with a team so dedicated to providing the best possible outcomes for our patients,” said Dr. John Goss, medical director of Transplant Services. “This milestone demonstrates that Texas Children’s continues to earn its reputation as one of the best pediatric transplant programs in the country, and is a testament to the skill and commitment of our multidisciplinary team.”

Since its inception, Texas Children’s Transplant Services has grown at a steady pace and is now one of the largest pediatric transplant programs in the nation. Along the way, the transplant teams have hit many milestones: performing 98 solid organ transplants in 2014, completing four kidney transplants over the course of 18 hours in 2016, and in 2017, performing 112 transplants, a record number for the team, boosting its total number of transplants to more than 1,500.

One of the recipients of last year’s 112 transplants was 4-month-old Carter Kraft. Born on June 10, 2017, at a hospital in his home state of Florida, Carter immediately cried loudly, but nurses noticed fluid on his lungs. After a nerve-racking few weeks waiting for answers as to what was causing breathing issues for their son, Carter’s parents, Jennifer and Matt Kraft, were told their son had a rare genetic disorder called ABCA3 Surfactant Protein Deficiency, which prevented his lungs from being able to absorb oxygen. The only treatment for the disorder is a double lung transplant.

Carter was transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital on August 16 because our transplant teams have the depth of skill and unique qualifications to treat patients from newborns to young adults in need of a heart, kidney, liver and lung transplant. In particular, the hospital’s Lung Transplant Program offers a median wait time of less than four months and is one of only two institutions performing 10 or more pediatric lung transplants each year.

Carter spent time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) before undergoing a procedure to repair a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) of his heart. Then, on October 27, Carter underwent the double lung transplant he needed with Dr. Jeff Heinle, interim chief of congenital heart surgery at Texas Children’s.

Now, 12 weeks post-transplant, Carter is doing well and his family is looking forward to returning home to Florida soon.

“We are so pleased that we were able to help Carter and that he is doing so well,” Heinle said. “We are fortunate to work at Texas Children’s Hospital where we have the resources to provide this kind of specialized care to complex, challenging patients.”

For more information on Texas Children’s Transplant Services, click here. To watch a story on KHOU-TV Channel 11’s about Texas Children’s Transplant Services milestone, click here.

January 9, 2018

The 18th Annual Reba Michels Hill Memorial Grand Rounds were held recently. Awards were given to Neonatology non-physicians who have made a significant contribution to advancing the quality to which Dr. Hill was dedicated: compassionate commitment to education, patient care, research and family.

November 14, 2017

Texas Children’s has touched clinical social worker Melanie Pearson on many levels. The organization has given her the job of her dreams. More importantly, the organization and its staff saved the lives of her two sons.

Shortly after delivering her oldest son at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, he was diagnosed with a heart condition. “How fortunate we were to be at one of the greatest teaching hospitals in the country,” Pearson said.

Pearson’s second son came only 14 and a half months later, a month before he was due. Shortly after birth, he was taken to the NICU and cared for by the hospital’s neonatology team. Pearson was only able to hold her newborn son for a few minutes before they had to be separated.

“Only a mother can understand that pain,” she said. “I would not have made it through without my amazing OBGYN and her team. She was the calm in the storm keeping my husband and I updated every step of the way and taking the time to listen and calm our fears.”

Both of Pearson’s sons are doing well today because of the care they received at Texas Children’s. As a result of that care, Pearson said she’s been searching for a way to give back and found it when she learned about the Chevron Houston Marathon’s Run for a Reason charity program.

Texas Children’s Hospital is an official charity for the Houston Marathon and Armaco Half Marathon, taking place on Sunday, January 14, 2018. The Run for a Reason program is a way for runners to run the race of their choice with a guaranteed entry – on behalf of a charity.

“Running for Texas Children’s Hospital is not just about the race, it’s a promise to our patients,” said Eric Blackwell, manager of special event for Texas Children’s. “By signing up to run and fundraise on behalf of Texas Children’s Hospital, your donations will directly impact the lives of countless children. Your race will become the race for our patients who are too sick – sometimes too sick even to play outside. Your support will allow us to expand our care to even more children who need our help.”

Pearson signed up to run the half marathon and said becoming a charity runner was the least she could do to in her effort to repay Texas Children’s for what the hospital has done for her and her family.

“I see it as a small way I can give back to a place that has given me and my family so much,” she said. “I am dedicating this race to the three most important men in my life. My husband and two sons. They are my rock and I wouldn’t be who I am today without them.”

To join Pearson and the Texas Children’s Running Team, click here. To help Pearson and others on the team meet their fundraising goal, click here. And, to volunteer to cheer these awesome runners on the day of the race, Sunday, January 14, click here.

Cheerleaders will be set up between miles 5 and 6, and a Texas Children’s Hospital tent will be stationed in the Bed Bath & Beyond parking lot at 3102 Kirby Drive between Richmond Avenue and West Alabama Street. Cheering begins at 7 a.m. until all runners pass the Texas Children’s tent. Snacks, sign-making materials and T-shirts will be provided to all individuals who sign up to volunteer.

August 22, 2017

On August 5, more than 450 patients and families traveled from all over the country for the 2017 Texas Children’s Newborn Center family reunion. The reunion celebrated former patients who graduated from the Newborn Center in 2016 after spending 10 days or more in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

The reunion was held at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women where parents shared stories of hope and triumph with other NICU families and reconnected with the nurses and doctors who delivered life-saving care to their critically ill babies.

“The NICU reunion is one of the most special times of the year for us,” said Texas Children’s Chief of Neonatology Dr. Gauthum Suresh. “The families were so grateful to be able to come back and share the great progress their babies have made. It gave them the opportunity to visit with the employees, physicians and other families that they spent so much time with while being cared for in our NICU.”

Highlights from the reunion included remarks from Suresh, Newborn Center Vice President Judy Swanson, Newborn Center Family Advisory Committee (NFAC) members Desiree Bradley-Collins and Katy Haynes, and blessings from Texas Children’s chaplain Naguib Kedeas.

The NICU reunion also offered children’s entertainment including a DJ, games, photo booth, face painting, crafts, airbrush tattoos, appearances from Minnie Mouse, SpongeBob Square Pants and Pikachu, and guests enjoyed a good old-fashioned Texas barbecue.

The Newborn Center team thanked everyone who helped organize this successful event including Texas Children’s NFAC Committee and Bad Pants, an organization that has raised more than $1 million to support the Newborn Center through the annual Bad Pants Open golf tournament.

August 1, 2017

As a mother to three young boys, Sarah Yarbrough made sure her babies received the best life-saving gift she could give them – her own breast milk. While breastfeeding has many health benefits for infants, Yarbrough knows the challenges that new mothers often experience during their breastfeeding journey.

“After the birth of my first baby, I had a lot of difficulty with breastfeeding,” said Yarbrough, a lactation consultant at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. “Without the help of a very dedicated postpartum nurse and my mother, I would have had a much harder time.”

Besides being a mom, Yarbrough finds her job at the Pavilion for Women very rewarding – educating new mothers on the health benefits of breastfeeding and helping them achieve their breastfeeding goals.

“We assist mothers with positions and techniques for breastfeeding and develop individualized care plans for families when feedings aren’t going as planned,” Yarbrough said. “We also assist families in all areas of the hospital with their unique breastfeeding situation including NICU moms who need help getting their milk supply established so they can feed their pre-term infants at the appropriate time.”

As a designated Baby Friendly Hospital, the Pavilion for Women has implemented several evidence-based breastfeeding practices which include teaching moms to respond to their infant’s early feeding cues rather than schedule feedings, implementing skin-to-skin contact between mom and baby after delivery and encouraging “rooming in” so mothers and infants can stay together 24 hours a day.

The Pavilion for Women provides other breastfeeding support services which include:

  • Baby Bistro provides one-on-one consultation with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Prenatal and postpartum outpatient visits are available by calling 832-826-8881.
  • The Bistro is located inside Bella Luna Boutique on the third floor of the Pavilion for Women. The Bella Luna provides breast pumps for purchase or rental. Employees pay a monthly rental fee, but have the opportunity to get reimbursed through Texas Children’s Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance provider.
  • Employee pumping locations are located at all Texas Children’s Hospital campuses.
  • Mother’s Milk Bank prepares more than 800 syringes or bottles of milk each day for an average of 100 infants in the neonatal intensive care unit based on instructions provided by physician. Mothers who produce a surplus of breast milk can donate their supply to the Mothers’ Milk Bank.
  • Educational classes on breastfeeding are offered at the Pavilion for Women.

“When I began working at the Pavilion for Women, I was amazed at the amount of support given to breastfeeding moms, not only by the lactation team, but the entire Pavilion staff,” Yarbrough said. “To me, this supportive environment is the ideal place to deliver a baby.”

In recognition of World Breastfeeding Week from July 31 to August 4, the Pavilion for Women’s lactation support team has several activities planned including an event on Wednesday, August 2, at The Auxiliary Bridge that will include games, prizes and a photo booth.