Archive for Archives
Back to school during COVID-19: Children with special needs
If this were a normal year, summer would be wrapping up and kids would be returning to the routines of another school year. But school will be different this fall. From staggered start times to classrooms set up for physical distance, kids are in for an unpredictable year. The many changes may be especially difficult ... Read More
Diagnosed with clubfeet before he was born: Gabriel’s story
Cheryl Bratt and her wife, Sue, expected a routine visit when they went in for their 18-week ultrasound. Cheryl, a professor, had scheduled the test before her morning class. The radiologist was reassuring through the entire ultrasound — until the end. “Then she told us the baby had clubfeet and we needed to see a specialist.” Just ... Read More
Sports injuries: Why ignoring pain is bad for athletes
“No guts, no glory.” “No pain, no gain.” “Rub some dirt in it.” Sports clichés like these encourage young athletes to push themselves even when their bodies tell them to stop. But sucking it up raises players’ risk of sports injuries. If he could, Dr. Mininder Kocher, chief of the Sports Medicine Division, would erase ... Read More
Back to school and COVID-19: Tips for divorced parents
Fall 2020 will go down in history as one of the most complicated back-to-school seasons ever. The uncertainties of the academic year and COVID-19 have put parents in a bind: how to give kids the benefits of in-person learning without putting them — or the rest of the family — at risk of infection. For ... Read More
Provider Spotlight: Meet Carla Coutinho
Before joining the clinical team at Boston Children’s Primary Care at Martha Eliot, Carla Reis Coutinho was a pediatric nurse in Lowell, Massachusetts. Earlier in her career, she provided educational and career counseling for students who speak English as a second language. What’s your job at Boston Children’s Primary Care at Martha Eliot? As a ... Read More
Asthma, softball, and COVID-19: Gwen’s story
Gwendolyn Castro has a competitive streak. Whether playing softball or debating topics like universal health care, the 15-year-old wants to be the best at whatever she does. Her mom, Alicia Cacho, doesn’t want Gwen’s asthma to hold her back in any way. Over the years, both have learned that the best way to keep asthma ... Read More
Don’t let COVID-19 silence you: Voting in 2020
Voting is your right and your way to make a difference in children’s lives. When you cast your vote, you’re letting elected officials know where you stand on issues such as access to health care, behavioral health, and child nutrition programs. In this spirit of civic engagement, Boston Children’s Hospital encourages all eligible citizens to make their voices ... Read More
Bone cancer surgery: A difficult choice
Nolan and Natasha might never have met if they hadn’t been diagnosed with bone cancer. Nolan, 13, is a natural athlete who lives in Maine. Natasha, 11, lives in Rhode Island and loves music and theater. As kids go, the two are pretty different — except for their osteosarcoma diagnoses and the surgery to remove ... Read More
Nurses, COVID-19, and PTSD: When it hurts to care
When Boston Children’s Michelle Schuster, MSN, RN, CPHON, inpatient oncology/hematology staff nurse and Patricia Dwyer, PhD, RN, CNOR, nurse scientist, set out to study post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in nurses, they weren’t thinking about COVID-19. The two had been studying PTSD in nurses for almost two years when the pandemic hit. Key takeaways· PTSD is ... Read More
When your baby has clubfoot: Answers for expecting parents
Treatment for clubfoot usually begins within a few weeks of a child’s birth. With prenatal ultrasound, parents often learn about clubfoot weeks or months before their child’s arrival. Below, Dr. Collin May of the Lower Extremity Program in Boston Children’s Orthopedic Center answers questions about how meeting with an orthopedic specialist can ease expecting parents’ ... Read More