Stories of Extraordinary Care

Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, with Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford as its anchor, is the only network in the area – and one of the few in the country – exclusively dedicated to delivering extraordinary pediatric and obstetric care. Whether it is creating groundbreaking research and clinical care techniques, performing countless surgeries with care and precision, helping babies start life strong with world-class prenatal care, or rolling patients down the halls in fun red wagons, we make sure that every child who enters as a patient feels like a kid.

Extraordinary research. Extraordinary expertise. Extraordinary compassion. That’s Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.

Extraordinary treatment

Twelve-year-old Jacob Goeders is winning his fight against leukemia with the help of a few trusty sidekicks: His oncologists and nurses at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Members of Jacob’s cancer-busting team are part of the Children’s Oncology Group, the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research, and have devoted decades to creating cancer therapies and clinical trials in order to find a cure. From those trials came therapies and protocols that allowed Jacob to finish chemotherapy in 2014 and have his life back.

Extraordinary collaboration

Fourteen-year-old Jaden Turner loves basketball, dancing and boxing, but his favorites suddenly became a no-no due to chronic migraines. These were not your average headaches; his migraines were so severe that being exposed to anything more than dim light or a soft voice was agonizingly painful. Through a Stanford Children’s Health collaboration with California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, pediatric neurologist Susy Jeng, MD, got rid of the mysterious pain by aggressively treating Jaden’s irritated nerves. Jaden has been headache-free for almost a year, and is now ready for high school.

Extraordinary save

A “Potter’s Syndrome” diagnosis was the worst possible news for expectant mom Jaime Herrera Beutler: Her baby would be born with a life-threatening condition of non-functioning kidneys. But the family did not give up. After birth, preemie Abigail Rose Beutler came to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, where extraordinary care led to an extraordinary save. The deep experience of our neonatology and nephrology teams provided Abigail with treatments that saved her life. She is now healthier, happy and at home – and getting strong enough for a kidney transplant later this year.

Extraordinary research

Mysterious symptoms in one young patient – including her inability to make tears – set pediatric geneticist Gregory Enns, MD, on a search for answers that drew together parents and scientists from around the world. The result? Discovering a new genetic disease called NGLY1 deficiency. Having the heads, hands and hearts to not only treat diseases but also discover them is what makes doctors at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford extraordinary. “The relief of finally getting a diagnosis is just life-changing,” said Kristen Wilsey, mother of Grace Wilsey, 4, the patient who started Enns’ search.

Extraordinary surgery

Two-year-old Jailum McIsaac of Campbell, Calif., was suddenly hit with life-threatening bleeding in the brain in late 2013. Quick action brought him to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, where a team led by neurosurgeon Michael Edwards, MD, was ready. “It seemed like there were 30 people in the room saving my little boy’s life,” said Jailum’s mom, Monica Sidhu. “My husband and I were wondering if our baby would make it, but Dr. Edwards had a plan.” That plan included a therapy to relieve the pressure on Jailum’s brain, followed by rehabilitation and then successful brain surgery in April, 2014. With Jailum now cured, the family is giving thanks for the extraordinary care for their extraordinary kid.

Extraordinary imaging

It’s an all-important new trend in X-ray imaging: keep the amount of radiation low. This is especially important for kids who need multiple X-rays over time. At Stanford Children’s Health Specialty Services Emeryville, 13-year-old scoliosis patient Chaeli Borchers of Walnut Creek, Calif., is grateful that a new technology called EOS imaging is being offered. It’s the first system of its type for kids in need of orthopedic imaging in Northern California, said orthopedic surgeon James Policy, MD, and is between one-fifth and one-third of the exposure from a standard digital X-ray. “This is what you want for a child that has scoliosis and will need X-rays multiple times a year for many years,” Policy said.

Extraordinary innovation

Jackson Thomas had a difficult start in life. His mom, Heather, suffered a placental abruption during labor, depriving Jackson of oxygen for several minutes before birth and putting him at risk of permanent brain injury. He was rushed to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and treated with three days of controlled hypothermia, a therapy that our research has shown slows metabolism and gives the brain time to heal. It’s one of many extraordinary innovations our neurology NICU uses to protect babies’ growing brains. Jackson’s treatment worked, and he has no signs of brain damage. Today, Jackson is an active 2-year-old who likes to say “I love you, Mommy.”

Extraordinary turnaround

Karate star Finn Green of Huntington Beach, Calif., had a mysterious stomachache last year that turned out to be a malignant nodule in the 5-year-old’s liver. Hoping to avoid a liver transplant, mom Stephanie found Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford after searching for the best place to save her son’s liver. Surgeon Waldo Concepcion, MD, concluded that he and his team would be able to remove the tumor safely without a transplant. “It was the scariest of situations, and Dr. Concepcion just turned it around,” Stephanie said.

Extraordinary transplant

Zachary Teczon was born with biliary atresia, the leading cause of childhood liver failure. When he was 7 months old, his doctors decided he needed an immediate liver transplant. “I was scared but happy that he was going to have a new life,” said mom Jennifer Delia. Fortunately, a liver became available that day, and transplant surgeon Carlos Esquivel, MD, PhD, operated the next morning. “Liver failure patients are some of the sickest in the hospital,” Esquivel said, noting his team’s decades of success with fragile patients that other hospitals turn away. Today, Zachary is a healthy 2-year-old who loves to run, play with his big brother, and talk and talk and talk. Delia, explaining the extraordinary care her boy received, said “The nurses and doctors on the liver transplant team cared for Zachary as if he was their own child.”

Extraordinary investigation

Sofia Jarvis was 2 years old when a mysterious polio-like illness suddenly paralyzed her left arm. After Sofia was diagnosed in 2011, pediatric neurologist Keith Van Haren, MD, noticed similar cases of paralysis in other California children and began tracking the problem with the state’s department of public health. “We really want to know what caused this,” said Sofia’s mom, Jessica Tomei. The researchers are trying to confirm their suspicion that a virus is responsible. “We think these cases represent a modest increase in a very rare phenomenon,” Van Haren said, adding that understanding the problem will help reassure parents across California.