Patient Stories

Changing the Outcome: Patients and Families Share Their Experiences

Patient Stories by Condition / Diagnosis

Meet the patients and families from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center who have shared their stories:

Audiology

• Gavin, diagnosed with severe to profound hearing loss just one month before he turned 3
• Hailey, diagnosed with nerve deafness when she was 14 months old
• Jesse, diagnosed with a central auditory processing disorder when he was 12 years old
• Julia, diagnosed with enlarged vestibular aqueduct syndrome at age 3

Brachial Plexus Injury

• Shaunese, diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury at birth
• Amari Bumpus, diagnosed with Erb's Palsy and underwent nerve repair surgery when she was less than six months old
• Ben Adkins, underwent surgery after being diagnosed with brachial plexus palsy
• Samantha Baker, who suffered a traumatic brachial plexus injury following a car accident
• Matthew Coleman, underwent shoulder surgery at age 5 to improve shoulder alignment and function
• Miah Tobin, who was diagnosed with brachial plexus birth palsy at age three months
• Randee Seevers, who was diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury at birth

Cancer / Blood Diseases

• Brianna Bookman, diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 9 months and underwent a bone marrow transplant at age 1
• JD Westbrook, diagnosed with hemophilia, learned how to self-infuse
• When Mimi was 5 months old, she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia
• Sarah Campbell, diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma at age 9

Cerebral Palsy

• Morgan Lee, suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at only 3 months old

Cystic Fibrosis

• The Blackwelder Family, four of their eight children suffer from cystic fibrosis (CF)

Diabetes

• Sam Kelly, diagnosed with diabetes at age 8

Ears, Nose and Throat / Otolaryngology

• Douglas Keats, born with a congential defect of his windpipe
• Dina, born with a rare condition called subglottic hemangioma
• Ethan Cox underwent airway reconstruction when he was 3 years old, due to complications as an infant

Eosinophilic Disorders

• Brandon was 14 when he began missing school due to chronic nausea and vomiting. Four years later, he was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis

Epilepsy / Seizure Disorders

• Arianna Bick, diagnosed with infantile spasms at age 5 months

Fetal Care / Surgery

• Fetal Care Center of Cincinnati team changes the Outcome for Caroline Addison (a story about Bronchial Atresia / Lung Mass)
• Fetal Surgery Saves Bradley Robert Carlson (a story about Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome)
• Fetal Surgery Saves Ryan Zachary, a Baby with Heart Enough for Two (a story about Twin-Reversed Arterial Perfusion Sequence, or TRAP Sequence)
• Fetal Care Center of Cincinnati Team Provides a Happy Ending for Allison Meyer (a story about illeal duplication cyst)
• Abram Friend, born with a rare condition called congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)

Heart

• Fatma Abdul Aziz, born with life-threatening heart defects
• When he was just three days old, Matthew Emmerling underwent a cardiac catheterization
• Dayla Porter, diagnosed with tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia shortly after birth
• Matthew Williams, born with a complex heart problem, where he only had one chamber to pump blood through his body

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

• David Larson, diagnosed with systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 2

Kidney Diseases / Transplants

• Brandon Kilgore, became the 400th kidney transplant recipient at Cincinnati Children's on September 18, 2003

Liver

• Eric Fritz, diagnosed with biliary atresia at 6 weeks old
• At just 6 weeks old, Dominique was diagnosed with biliary atresia
• Alvin Santiago, who underwent a liver transplant in 2001
• Kyle Wimberg, diagnosed with a rare liver condition called tyrosinemia at age 1

Mental Health

• Annie Barkley, diagnosed with chronic depression as a freshman in high school
• Bradley Ann Wertepny, diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 14

Obesity

• Alex Dupuis spent 10 years battling her weight before she underwent bariatric surgery at age 15
• Brittany Ringer, battled with childhood obesity

Orthopaedics

• Coming all the way from Costa Rica, Allison's feet were turned completely inward before she received help from the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at Cincinnati Children's

Prematurity

• Brianna Jones, entered the world via an emergency C-section 15 weeks early, measuring 13 inches long and weighing 1 pound, 9 ounces

Safety and Injury Prevention

• Logan didn't suffer a single scratch after a serious car accident, thanks to his properly installed child safety seat

Scoliosis

• CJ Sultini, diagnosed with scoliosis by a school physical therapist

Skin Conditions / Diseases

• Shane Digiovanna, diagnosed with epidermolysis bullosa (EB) and deafness at birth

Sleep Disorders

• Matthew Mackowiak, diagnosed with severe sleep apnea

Tuberous Sclerosis

• Ryan McVicker, diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis at age 6 months

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