Forty-five campers attended Camp Keep Smiling March 23-25, participating in everything from arts and crafts to ropes courses and more.
Camp Keep Smiling is a camp for children with cleft lip and palate. Hosted by the nonprofit Camp for All, the camp provides a safe, fun environment for patients between the ages of 10 and 16 to engage in meaningful social interaction and gain self-confidence. Participants can enjoy activities like canoeing, fishing, archery, ropes courses, basketball and arts and crafts.
Admission is free of charge for patients as it is supported directly by donations.
Texas Children’s Pediatric plastic surgeon Dr. Laura Monson, who helped start the camp, leads the camp with other team members from the plastic surgery division. Physicians, nurses, OR staff and child life specialists serve as counselors who notice tremendous strides in the campers towards the end of the session.
March 13, 2018
Less than two months after being separated from her sister Hope in a seven-hour surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital, Anna Grace Richards got to go home.
Anna was discharged from Texas Children’s on March 2 after spending 428 days in the hospital. Hope is expected to be able to go home in the near future. The formerly conjoined identical twin girls were successfully separated at Texas Children’s Hospital on January 13. A multidisciplinary team of nearly 75 surgeons, anesthesiologists, cardiologists and nurses from eight specialties performed the seven-hour procedure.
The girls were born on December 29, 2016, at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, weighing a combined 9 lbs. 12 oz. Delivered via Cesarean-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. They were welcomed by their parents, Jill and Michael, and older brothers Collin and Seth.
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 units (NICU).
The Richards family will remain in Houston until Hope is able to go home.
Click here to read a more detailed story, to watch a video and view a photo gallery below about the separation of Anna and Hope.
March 6, 2018
It’s not every day that physicians at Texas Children’s get the opportunity to treat a child and their parent, but that’s exactly what happened when Caitlin King became a patient of Texas Children’s Pectus Program.
The program is part of Texas Children’s Division of Pediatric Surgery and is run by a specialized team that assesses and treats an assortment of chest wall abnormalities such as pectus excavatum, where the chest has a sunken or caved-in appearance, and pectus carinatum, where the chest bows outward.
Caitlin King, 15, came to Texas Children’s in 2017 seeking help for pectus excavatum, a condition her father, Niky King, had suffered from since he was an early teen. Niky said he got his chest looked at when he was about 12 or 13, but doctors told him there was nothing wrong and that the issue was just cosmetic. When Caitlin was born, Niky said he hoped she would not inherit the same condition, but that if she did, doctors would be able and willing to do something about it.
“My chest affected my life dramatically,” said Niky, who used to have heart palpitations and difficulty taking deep breaths. “I was very self-conscience of it, and am convinced it hindered my ability to do physical activity for a sustained period of time.”
After assessing Catlin, Dr. Mark Mazziotti, a pediatric surgeon with the Pectus Program, assured the teenager and her father that he could correct her pectus excavatum via a minimally invasive surgery called the Nuss procedure. During this procedure, a curved stainless steel bar is inserted in the chest through small incisions on either side, and is guided between the sternum and the heart under direct visualization with a camera through a small incision in the right chest. The bar is left in place for about three years. Recurrence of the pectus excavatum after the bar is removed is very rare.
“This is a very rewarding procedure for the patient,” said Mazziotti, who surgically corrects about 50 pectus excavatum surgeries a year. “We have excellent outcomes, and Caitlin’s case has been no different.”
Since her surgery, Caitlin said “she’s been able to wear whatever she wants” because her chest already looks so much better. She also said she can exercise and maintain a normal, active lifestyle without any hesitation.
“I can’t tell the bar is there at all,” she said. “I’m very happy I decided to move forward with the procedure.”
Caitlin’s procedure went so well, Niky underwent the same procedure three months later. Mazziotti performed the procedure, and because of the severity of Niky’s pectus excavatum, inserted two bars instead of one. The results, Niky said, have been fantastic, just like his daughter’s.
Mazziotti attributes the great outcomes the Caitlin and Niky, and other pectus patients have had to the skill of the surgeons in the program and the fact that they have the ability to offer the most cutting edge technology and procedures. He also said the program’s partnership with anesthesiology and pain management is key as patients typically have to stay in the hospital for several days to recover.
“Texas Children’s Pectus Program is highly specialized and prides itself on offering individualized care,” he said. “We are privileged to be able to treat patients across Texas, the region and the country.”
For more information and to watch a video about our Pectus Program, click here.
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.
February 6, 2018
Texas Children’s Transplant Team recently received a glowing review from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recertification evaluation team during an unannounced four-day visit to survey the program for recertification.
This was the first recertification survey for the entire transplant program, which was initially certified for kidney transplants in 1987 and lung, heart and liver transplants in 2012. The recertification period is every four to six years.
During the team’s recent survey, surveyors reviewed patient medical records, interviewed patient families, staff nurses, and the transplant multidisciplinary team to ascertain continued compliance with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Transplant regulation. They also reviewed more than 50 medical records, and conducted a review of the team’s Transplant Quality program and its integration into the Texas Children’s Hospital Quality Program. The team finished the survey with only one deficiency found in documentation in a medical record.
“The transplant team did amazing,” said Executive Vice President Mark Mullarkey. “The reviewers were so complimentary. It was obvious that the hard work that has occurred in transplant with quality and structure has resulted in something our surveyors felt was fantastic.”
Medical Director of Transplant Services Dr. John Goss said he is proud of his team and the hard work they put into providing the best possible care for some of Texas Children’s most delicate patients.
“Your efforts are significant and make such a difference in the lives of so many,” Goss said.
“Congratulations on a job well done. I know you will continue to strive for the best.”
January 30, 2018
Many of The Department of Surgery’s conglomerate of advanced practice providers (APP) recently attended the department’s first APP Mentorship Program Showcase.
The January 10 event held at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, highlighted work accomplished over the past year by mentors and mentees that have come to build long lasting relationships across the Texas Children’s system.
Supported by Ryan Krasnosky, director of the department’s APP program, and organized and run by APP Project Manager Jordan Rodriguez and APP Clinical Lead Amee Moreno, the goal of the mentorship program is threefold:
1. To promote the benefits of mentoring in the career of APPTo promote the benefits of mentoring in the career of APP
2. Build collaborative relationships throughout the organization
3. Provide a structured mentoring program for surgical APP leaders and future leaders. Provide a structured mentoring program for surgical APP leaders and future leaders.
“We had a great turnout, including support from Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Larry Hollier, Senior Vice President Dr. Angelo Giardino and Chief Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Jed Nuchtern,” Krasnosky said. “Many mentors were present to support the mentees and congratulate them on the enormous success for the year.”
“We would like to thank all of the mentors and mentees who supported the program this year,” Krasnosky added.” “We are looking forward to another successful year of mentorship and building new and lasting relationships in the organization.”
Less than two months after being separated from her sister Hope in a seven-hour surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital, Anna Grace Richards got to go home.
It’s not every day that physicians at Texas Children’s get the opportunity to treat a child and their parent, but that’s exactly what happened when Caitlin King became a patient of Texas Children’s Pectus Program.
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.
Texas Children’s Transplant Team recently received a glowing review from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recertification evaluation team during an unannounced four-day visit to survey the program for recertification.
