Featured Stories

Allison was 6 weeks old when she became ill. In the ER, she deteriorated right before our eyes and we were rushed to the NICU. The first 48 hours were spent trying to get ahead of the curve AND figure out what was causing this. We learned Allison had Streptococcus Toxic Shock Syndrome, caused by common strep throat bacteria. Read more

I was 5 months pregnant with Connor when I had the ultrasound. There was something wrong. The tech asked me to wait a second while he consulted with the doctor. The baby had multiple holes in his heart and a missing pulmonary. It was a genetic condition called tetrology of fallot. My mother’s sister had the same condition and died at the age of 7. This was incredibly scary for us. Read more

Evelyn was born in 1997. At two weeks of age, the Cardiology department at Children’s Hospital quickly determined that Evelyn had severe VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect). Her heart had many holes and was enlarged. Her lungs were full of fluid. She was admitted to the hospital immediately. Her cardiologist said there were two options to consider for her care: 1) Surgically close the holes in her heart or 2) give her medication to treat her enlarged heart and wait to see if the holes close on their own. He recommended the second option. After 5 years all but one of her holes had closed. Read more

Gunnar is our miracle, he is our life and he is our gift and here is our story. Gunnar was born August 18, 1998, at 10:00 p.m. at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland. Gunnar was a large baby weighing in at 9 lbs 10 oz. and he was 23 1/2 inches long. As soon as Gunnar was born, he started to have complications. Read more

Kaitlyn was born in July 2003 at a local Seattle hospital. She is my fourth child. We knew something was wrong soon after she was born. The little knit hats they put on the newborns would not stay on her head. We were told that Kaitlyn’s oddly-shaped head was due in part to her entrance into this world. She was a breach baby, but what’s peculiar about all this is she was born by cesarean section. The doctors kept saying that her head would eventually round out and look normal, but it didn’t. Day after day, her little head continued to grow more and more out of shape, looking basically like a football. After numerous doctor visits, a CT scan, and an MRI, we were finally referred to Seattle Children’s Hospital. Read more

When our daughter, Melissa, was 5 years old she was rushed to Childrens Hospital following an intense case of the chicken pox and an unnoticed drug reaction. Our world changed. The length of time her body had been fighting the Chicken Pox and the devastating drug reaction left permanent damage, two-thirds of her immune system was gone. She was diagnosed as only the second case in the world with this rare immune deficiency. Her immunologist worked diligently on her case giving her consistent immunotherapy, but the unforeseen result was her death on March 14, 1994, at the age of 7. Read more

February 7, 2005- My oldest daughter Maggie, who was 7, got up and got herself ready for school. Maggie came in and said that she was dizzy and didnt feel well. I decided to take her to the doctor. I sent her back to bed until it was time to go and had a difficult time waking her an hour later. The doctor was very concerned. They wanted me to take her to Children’s right away. When we got to the ER, we were shown in immediately, and Maggie was taken for a CT scan. It was then that the ER doctor told me that Maggie had a brain tumor. I think the world stopped at that point. Read more

My name is Sue and I was the first emergency patient back in January, 1954. My sister had just had a birthday party when my accident happened. My mother had purchased party favors at Frederick & Nelson. Back in the "olden days" there was not the safe plastic mouth piece you find today on most noisemakers and I inhaled a very sharp piece of metal down my throat. I started having difficulty breathing and turning blue. Fortunately we lived near the new Children’s Hospital in the Laurelhurst area of Seattle. Read more

My name is Laura. On Sept 22, 2002, my son Elijah and I were involved in a car accident. He was three weeks old at the time. We were t-boned at 55 miles an hour. My son was rushed to Everett Colby Campus, airlifted to Harborview and then transferred to Children’s. I believe we spent a total of 6-1/2 weeks at Children’s. Read more

On November 12, 2004, our little girl Hana was born at Swedish Hospital. We were so happy to see her. Shortly after bringing her home, Hana started to look weaker and weaker. She was not able to eat, and her cry sounded very weak. Two days later, we took her to Children’s ER. We still didn’t think anything serious was going on. Read more

My name is Melody and I’m a Senior Analyst in Children’s Service Continuity Department. A number of people have asked me "What’s your Story?" The question has come up more since I announced the formation of the Pedal It Forward guild and the 685 mile European bicycle tour to raise money for Children’s Hospital’s uncompensated care fund. Read more

My name is Shauna. I’m a Charge Nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I’m also a veteran. No, I’ve never served in the military, or anything remotely like that, but I feel like I’m a veteran all the same. Read more

My name is Sarah Herczog and I am 15 years old. I go to Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle because I have mitochondrial disease. Not many people have heard of mitochondrial disease, even though it is as common as childhood cancer. Read more

Our story is centered around the name of our guild, A Common Bond. Each of our journeys started at a slightly different time, but with a common event - the birth of our precious babies. While many people share the common bond of having children, most people don’t experience the events that brought our guild together. Read more

We were introduced to Children’s for the very first time at the birth of our second daughter, Kayla Christine Holdaway. With no forewarning, Kayla had severe physical disabilities that presented themselves immediately after her birth. She was rushed from the Special Care Nursery in Everett to Children’s Hospital in Seattle. From that point on, our lives have been changed forever. Read more

When Shawn was 4 years old, he was suffering from increasing lethargy, deteriorating eyesight and severe headaches that were beyond what his body could endure. After several months of seeing an ophthalmologist, his headaches became so intense they were causing him to vomit from the pain. On October 13, 1998, a visit to a local walk-in clinic led to a CAT scan which revealed our worst fear: he had what appeared to be an abnormality in his brain. Shawn’s Story is part of the Children’s Hospital Story. Read more

My name is Susana. When I was 10, neurologists at Children’s discovered I’d had a stroke. Shortly after, I was diagnosed with MoyaMoya disease. During a delicate surgery, Dr. Richard Ellenbogen and his team successfully rerouted the main arteries that supply blood and oxygen to my brain. My story is part of the Children’s Hospital Story. Watch my story featured on this year’s Miracle Makers special on KOMO-4, Saturday, June 3rd from 7 to 11 p.m. Read more

In the summer of 1989, I was a second year pediatric resident at Children’s. I was doing my first Infant Intensive Care Unit (IICU) rotation. On evenings and weekends, senior resident physicians would come in and help with the workload of admitting and caring for critically ill infants. I loved the IICU — I liked the challenge of caring for such critically ill children and I enjoyed the type of care that they required. I had recently decided that I would go into cardiology for much the same reasons. I liked the intensity of care and the technology used to diagnose and treat children with cardiac malformations. Read more

Children’s Hospital is a wonderful and unique place. My experience here has been one of many blessings. For me, the term "full circle" comes to mind. I had a very difficult childhood, so I can relate first-hand to the challenges our patients and families face. In doing so, I created the character Marv the Milkman. Read more