Emma, 2

Emma, who was born in Washington, suffered meconium aspiration at birth and was very sick. She was on life-support for one week and made a miraculous recovery, though she had residual medical problems.

When Emma’s family moved to Virginia, she continued her recovery at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. Her early hospitalization and breathing problems had caused a severe aversion to eating. To receive nutrition, her little body relied on a G-tube. She screamed at the sight of a bottle.

After months of working with a CHKD oral feeding therapy expert, Emma progressed to opening her mouth at the sight of a spoon to learning that she loves to eat – especially dried pies which she gobbles voraciously.

Her mother, Jennifer, says it’s difficult to describe how traumatic it was to have a baby who won’t eat. “Our life is totally changed. Emma went from being a non-eater to a normal child. I can’t thank our therapist and CHKD enough for that.”

Garrett, 13

Deborah Wong was in Chicago on a business trip when she received a phone call that every mother dreads: Her 12-year-old son, Garrett, was at CHKD being treated for severe burns.

She could barely think as she rushed to get home. En route on a seemingly endless flight, Deborah prayed for her son and tried not to imagine the scene that had brought him to the hospital.

Garrett, an excellent science and math student, had been working on a science fair project. He loves studying airplanes and engines, so he built a working model airplane engine.

When Garrett tried to ignite the fuse, something went wrong. A flame shot up his pants leg. He was in excruciating pain with second and third degree burns on his ankle, calf and leg.

Garrett was rushed to the closest hospital where it was determined that he needed care from the pediatric intensive care specialists at CHKD. The hospital’s transport team was dispatched and within hours of the accident, Garrett was lying in the hospital’s PICU where doctors monitored his progress and nurses tried keep him as comfortable as possible.

Treatment included daily cleansings to prevent infection and remove dead skin cells. He was hospitalized for 18 days during which time he received a skin graft. Now healed, Garrett works with his mother’s emergency medical services colleagues to teach other children how to avoid what he went through.

Caroline, 11 months

Caroline and twin sister, Erin, joined their Virginia Beach family five weeks before their due date. Much to the relief of their parents, Jill and Brian Wainger, both baby girls were healthy. They were doing well when everyone in the family caught a cold. Caroline’s cold, however, took a turn for the worse and turned into RSV, a potentially life-threatening respiratory infection for little babies.

It happened all of a sudden and, based on her baby’s ashen complexion, her difficulty breathing and mother’s intuition, Jill called for ambulance. She begged them to take Caroline to CHKD, but according to policy, she was taken to the nearest hospital. Shortly after arrival at a local hospital and a round of tests, it was determined that she did need the pediatric specialists at CHKD.

When the CHKD transport team arrived, the nurse on-board recognized that Caroline was suffering from a rare complication of extremely low sodium levels and was able to stabilize her condition en route. By the time they arrived at CHKD, Caroline was fully awake, her eyes focused, and she screamed – “a blessed scream," her mother recalls.

Once at CHKD, Caroline’s condition steadily improved. After two weeks in the hospital, the Waingers were elated to take their baby home. “CHKD and the transport team saved Caroline's life and indelibly touched ours. We will be forever grateful," Brian said.

Jerry, 6

At 18 months of age, little Jerry was diagnosed with a heart murmur, a whooshing sound which can occur in perfectly normal hearts. These are called “innocent murmurs,” because most are not related to a problem.

Jerry was fine until five years later when his family doctor noticed a change in the sound and sent him to a CHKD for further testing. A pediatric cardiologist discovered that a valve in Jerry’s heart didn’t close properly. Blood backing up caused his heart to pump harder than it should.

Surgery was the only solution. Thankfully, CHKD’s heart surgery program was able to make that happen quickly. The successful surgery was performed on a Thursday and Jerry spent that night in the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit. By Friday, he was in the playroom and was ready to go home on Saturday.

Jerry’s mother, Anita, remembers those scary days well and expresses her gratitude to the doctors and nurses who saved her son’s life. She laughs when she recalls that Jerry loved his nurses in the PICU so much that he threw a fit when it was time to go.

Maggie, 16

In May 2005, at the end of Maggie’s 5th grade year, she felt a bump on her chest. Her mother asked if it hurt. Though it didn’t, she still took Maggie to the doctor. The doctor arranged for a biopsy and the family was horrified to learn that Maggie was in stage 4 cancer – Hodgkins lymphoma.

By the time it was discovered, the cancer had spread to Maggie’s lungs. She was put on an aggressive chemotherapy plan followed by radiation. After that phase of treatment, came more bad news. Scans revealed that the cancer had grown. Maggie had “innumerable” tumors throughout her chest.

At that point, it was determined that a stem cell transplant was necessary. When enough cells couldn’t be salvaged from Maggie’s blood, doctors performed CHKD’s first combination bone marrow/stem cell transplant. Maggie had a wonderful response and the procedure was deemed a success.

She was cancer free until March 2006 when a “hot spot” was discovered requiring more radiation. Since then, Maggie has been doing well, catching up on living the life of a healthy, active teenager. She’s in remission and is a student at the Governors School for the Arts. Maggie says she’s grateful for the wonderful treatment she received at CHKD and she’d like to thank all of her caregivers, nurses and doctors – especially her oncologist Dr. William Owen.

Cody, 1

On the first day of his life, Cody experienced more medical action than many experience throughout childhood. He was born with a rare, life-threatening heart defect at Langley AFB Hospital. The CHKD Transport Team was dispatched to take Cody to Portsmouth Naval, where he was diagnosed with total anomalous pulmonary venous return – TAPVR – a rare and often lethal heart defect.

Because he needed immediate open-heart surgery to survive, he was transferred to CHKD. Within three hours of birth, Cody was in the OR for an extremely complicated and delicate surgery.

A week and a day after he was born, Cody was strong enough to breathe without the ventilator, and his mother, Jessica, had her first real opportunity to hold him in her arms.

After 14 days, Cody was stable enough to be moved from intensive care to a monitored nursing unit where his biggest challenge was to learn how to eat – a normal developmental process that was pre-empted by more serious concerns.

With help from CHKD’s occupational therapists, he quickly became an eager eater. Twenty two days after his dramatic entrance into the world, Cody went home to meet his big sisters.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. He was then hospitalized with RSV, a potentially life-threatening respiratory illness. He’s also had pneumonia twice.

Since recovering from those illnesses, Cody is growing and doing great – meeting all his developmental milestones including walking and talking.

Today, there is little evidence of the drama that surrounded Cody's birth except for the healing scar on his chest. In the months and years to come, he will be monitored by a pediatric cardiologist, but by all indications today, his blood is circulating normally. Thanks to CHKD and the hospital’s cardiac surgery program, Cody's cheeks – as well as his future – look rosy.

Tyler, 21

During his yearly physical at 10 years of age, mounting symptoms including small stature, hydrocephaly, scoliosis, and a heart murmur pointed toward a genetic condition. Tyler’s pediatrician referred him to the genetic specialists at CHKD who diagnosed Marotaux-Lamy syndrome or MPS VI, an extremely rare genetic disorder caused by an enzyme deficiency.

Tyler has been treated at many of the hospital’s clinics. For years, he received life-saving enzyme-replacement therapy weekly -- 8 hours at a time – until two years ago when he became able to do them at home.

Though Tyler has to make frequent visits to the hospital, he leads a very active life and is studying mechanical engineering at ODU with an eye towards motor sports management.

Chelsea, 15

Just as Chelsea started her freshman year of high school, the cheerleader and a runner began having bouts of dizziness and fatigue.

Her parents took her to the family doctor who found that her resting heart rate was dangerously high. He sent Chelsea to a cardiologist. After 30 seconds into a treadmill test, Chelsea’s heart rate shot up to 300 beats per minute. The test was halted.

“We were shocked when the doctor said, ‘You need to go to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters right away,’” her mother Monica said.

CHKD’s pediatric cardiology team diagnosed atrial tachycardia, a condition in which the upper chambers of the heart beat very fast. Chelsea was admitted to the hospital and a cardiac catheterization was performed. Other problems with Chelsea’s heart were found, including dead tissue in an area that had scar tissue and no electrical activity. Chelsea was in the hospital for one week as the medications were tried. Not long after going home, another spell sent Chelsea back to the PICU. Several other spells followed before doctors found the medication that works for her.

Chelsea is living more normally now with medication, but future surgery may be necessary. “CHKD will definitely be the place when it’s time for surgery,” Monica said. “The people on the cardiology team are so wonderful.”

Jacob, 2

“I have an owie on my back,” were that first words to indicate that all was not well with 2-year-old Jacob last August. His parents knew something was wrong and took him to the doctor. An MRI was ordered and shortly thereafter Jacob was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma.

The pediatric cancer specialists at CHKD immediately put Jake on an aggressive treatment plan including 14 rounds of chemotherapy. Each chemo session required that he be hospitalized for one week. In February, Jacob had his last round of chemo.

His father, James, says, “We’ve fought a lot of battles and we’re confident that Jake is going to be just fine.”

Jake’s once bald head now has a crop of thick blond hair. After spending so many days spent in the hospital, Jake is making up for lost time by playing outside whenever he can.

This past summer, Jake was very busy. He made a Make-a-Wish trip to Pennsylvania to visit the Thomas the Train park, he enjoyed a family reunion in Carolina, and he did lots of camping.

Ethan, 2

CHKD has played a big role in the life of Jessica Doney and her toddler, Ethan. Jessica, now in her mid-‘20s, was just 9 years old when she was treated for brain a tumor at CHKD. Then, 13 years after recovery, Jessica found herself back at CHKD, this time staring down at her premature and very sick baby, Ethan.

Their story began when Jessica suffering from debilitating headaches which brought her to CHKD and the eventual diagnosis of astrocytoma. A large tumor was lodged in her brainstem. Shortly afterward, a CHKD pediatric neurologist performed a 13-hour surgery and successfully removed the tumor. Her recovery lasted more than a year. During that time, Jessica had to learn to walk, talk and eat again through extensive physical and occupational therapy. She has since been cancer-free and CHKD has been distant, though powerful, memory.

Fast-forward to 2006 when Jessica awaited the birth of her son. Ethan was born five weeks early. After two weeks, his condition deteriorated. X-rays revealed abnormalities and tiny gas bubbles on his intestinal walls – symptoms of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) -- a life-threatening illness that destroys the intestines of newborns. His physicians recognized the seriousness of his illness and called for CHKD's mobile intensive care unit.

Ethan was rushed to CHKD where neonatal specialists worked to stabilize him and halt the damaging effects of NEC. He spent the first of six weeks at CHKD on a ventilator and fed through an IV so bacteria couldn’t harm his already diseased stomach. He responded to the treatment well and not long after what should have been his birthday, Ethan went home.

Two years after Ethan's ordeal, and 13 years after his mother's illness, both are healthy, happy and enjoying life.

"Ethan is so amazing. He's such a handful that you'd never know how fragile and tiny he was as a newborn," Jessica said. "I can’t thank everyone enough – the transport team, the chaplains, the NICU support group, the nurses and doctors. The support I received and all of the resources at the hospital got me through that tough time -- two tough times.”