Patient Stories

Read the latest patient stories from Children's Medical Center Foundation 

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  Emma

  Thanks to her daily medications, Emma, 15, lives a pretty typical life. Her eclectic interests range from making soap and bath bombs to reading and archery.

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  Jocelyn

  Her aplastic anemia came on suddenly and intensely. The previously energetic sixth-grader began experiencing crushing fatigue, bouts of bleeding from her gums and frequent blood transfusions.

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  Lincoln

  At age 2, Lincoln was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a fast-growing cancer that begins in the bone marrow and spreads out to the body through the blood.

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  Olivia

  In 2023, Olivia celebrated the 5-year anniversary of her transplant conducted at The Heart Center at Children’s Health in Dallas — the place she calls the balloon hospital.

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  Amelia

  Amelia wants to be a doctor when she grows up. She wants to help people, just like her physicians and nurses at Children’s Health have helped her since she was a baby.

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  Shay

  For a while, 5-year-old Shay wanted to be a doctor for babies when she grew up. But these days, she’s all about the pizza. She might want to work at a pizza place or be a pizza maker.

• 

  Stella

  Summer and Travis rode a rollercoaster of emotions since becoming pregnant - with one valley being a routine ultrasound at 20 weeks revealing that their daughter Stella’s brain wasn’t forming as expected.

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  Carlos' Update

  Transplant patient Carlos and his family find expert care and support at The Heart Center at Children’s Health.

• 

  Riley

  Diagnosed with heart failure, Riley lay in her hospital bed at Children’s Health℠ in Dallas thinking about the day that completely sidelined her active life.

• 

  Ricky

  “One minute Ricky was starting summer vacation and sleeping over at his best friend’s house, and the next we were rushing to the ER in Dallas,” Priscilla said.

• 

  Preston

  Preston likes to smile, crack jokes and try to make everyone feel comfortable – even when he’s going through a lot. 

• 

  Maddie Jo

  Maddie Jo took her diagnosis in stride. A bubbly, outgoing kid, she kept a positive attitude and simply told her mom “okay, what’s next?” after each appointment.

• 

  Brantley

  Brandi found out that her son, Brantley, had this congenital heart defect when she was only 16 weeks pregnant. She knew that he would face tough challenges.

• 

  Ashlie

  After lifting weights, Ashlie began having severe pain in her legs and loss of strength. She was brought to the Dallas ED, where our stroke and neurology teams determined she was experiencing a spinal cord stroke.

• 

  Ryder

  A bout with RSV as a baby has turned into a lifelong battle for our hero Ryder.

• 

  Drew

  Drew can no longer play high-impact sports like soccer, baseball or basketball. He can’t risk an impact to his jaw, which was weakened by a rare form of cancer. But he can put up the fight of a lifetime.  

• 

  David

  In a trip to the ED, it was discovered that David's bile ducts, which help filter toxins from the body, weren't working properly, and they needed to do surgery.

• 

  Eleanor

  The first thing that Laura and Raul remember about their infant daughter Eleanor — after the open-heart surgery that saved her life — were her pink toes.

• 

  Clayton

  Clayton’s diagnosis began during a trip to the pediatrician, prompted because they noticed his belly was distended and beginning to protrude more to one side.

• 

  Annabella

  For the past 6 years, Annabella and her family have sponsored and decorated a Christmas tree that brightens the lobby of the Solid Organ Transplant Center at the Children’s Health℠ Dallas campus.

• 

  Amairy

  When you first meet Amairy, now 6, she can be shy, but her reserved nature certainly doesn’t define her. She’s even been known to have two-hour dance parties with her child life specialist.

• 

  Adalynn

  “Before Children's Health, Adalynn was sick and throwing up and nobody could explain it. The doctors at Children’s Health did the research and testing and kept fighting to figure out why she was getting so sick. We would not be here if it was not for Children's Health.”

• 

  Kaleb

  Living with heterotaxy syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can affect the development of important systems like the heart and gastrointestinal tract, Kaleb wouldn’t be here without our innovative team at Children’s Health.

• 

  Charley's Care Team

  Meet the team of heroes that cared for Children's Health patient Charley during her two kidney transplants.

• 

  Charley

  Charley was born with one healthy kidney, but two transplants later, she's a healthy 13-year old thankful for her care team at Children's Health.

• 

  Riya

  Riya was born extremely premature. Despite her tenacity, she passed away at 4 1/2 months old. Now, her parents are on a mission: Raise $75,000 in her honor.

• 

  Thiago

  After being diagnosed with leukemia, Thiago and his mother Laura went to Children's Health to heal. Now in remission, Thiago is back in school and thriving.

• 

  Miceala

  After Micaela’s Army dissolves, nonprofit unanimously votes to establish two endowments to Children’s Health.

• 

  Camille

  Diagnosed three years ago with type 1 diabetes, Camille is balancing life as a student athlete and proud participant in a T1D clinical research study.

• 

  Alexis

  When her leukemia returned, Alexis' brother stepped in with her last hope for a cure.

• 

  Aarini

  After an asthma attack almost took her life as a kindergartener, Aarini is giving back to Children's Health through her art and by talking about her experience.

• 

  Ava

  After a devastating diagnosis at her birth, Ava has defied the odds thanks to the support of her healthcare providers at Children's Health.

• 

  Hank

  "Hi, I'm Hanky and I'm super strong!"

• 

  Isacc

  Diagnosed with leukemia just before his third birthday, Isacc's care is now overseen by the growing oncology team at Children’s Medical Center Plano.

• 

  Preston

  Preston was only a freshman in high school when a surgeon in the emergency room at Children’s Health told him he’d have to remove one of his testicles after a tumor that had caused it to swell to three times its normal size.

• 

  Kasen

  After spiking a 106 degree fever and having uncontrolled vomiting, Kasen was rushed to Children's Health Plano. Within three days, he had started chemotherapy for leukemia.

• 

  Axel

  Born with Alagille syndrome -- a rare, life-threatening liver disease, Axel found a new chance at life through his liver transplant at Children's Health.

• 

  Lincoln

  The moment when Lincoln’s tumor grew – so big that he couldn’t breathe through his mouth and struggled to breathe through his nose -- was one of the scariest for Lincoln’s parents, Shelly and Chris.

• 

  Davi

  Davi was born with a congenital heart defect and has a superpower of making the world feel like Candyland – happy, sweet and colorful.

• 

  Tanner and Caleb

  Brothers Tanner and Caleb are like a lot of siblings. They tease and fight – all in good natured brotherly love. And they’re also each other’s biggest defenders.

• 

  Kadence

  “My granddaughter is everything to me. I wanted the best for her, and I knew Children’s Health had the expertise to give us answers and get Kadence on a healthier path,” Kadence's grandmother Deondriea said.

• 

  Edison

  Diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the team at Children’s Health supported Edison to ‘be the boy he wants to be.’

• 

  Zoey

  Zoey was 18 months old when she was rushed to Children’s Health after a near-drowning accident. On a feeding tube and barely moving, a long road to recovery began.

• 

  Leone

  Leone's parents dress up as superheroes during his treatments at Children's Medical Center Dallas to make him feel like he can defeat anything - even cancer.

• 

  ZaZa

  As one of our spunkiest patients, ZaZa loves showing off her superpowers of running fast and showing cancer who’s boss.

• 

  Rania

  A refugee from war-torn Yemen, Rania’s childhood was chaotic, and she struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Searching for control in an unpredictable world, she focused on one thing she could determine: how much food she ate. 

• 

  Valeria

  Born with Down syndrome, Valeria already saw a number of specialists at Children’s Health for asthma and sleep apnea before she was diagnosed with leukemia.

• 

  Annabella

  Born with a rare liver disease, Annabella was five months old when she was put on the list for a liver transplant at Children’s Health. And a few months later, her family got the call: There was a new liver for Annabella.

• 

  Eli

  “I want Eli to have a normal life,” Eli's dad said. “And the only thing I want to be different about him is the scar on his chest, which is a badge of honor for going through what he did.”

• 

  Leo and Reagan

  In June, Reagan combined his love of baseball and his desire to increase awareness of sickle cell at a baseball tournament that was held on World Sickle Cell Day.

• 

  Carlos

  While Carlos and his family waited for a new heart at Children's Medical Center Dallas, they found friendship and support from fellow heart patient families.

• 

  Harrison

  Fighting cardiomyopathy during COVID-19, Harrison has been waiting patiently for his new heart at Children's Health.

• 

  Abby

  A victim of online bullying, Abby questioned her worth. 'What if I wasn't here anymore?' she thought. That's when her journey led her to the SPARC program at Children's Health.

• 

  Myra

  If you spent time with the always-smiling Myra, you’d never believe she was in an unthinkable battle against mixed phenotype acute leukemia for most of her life.

• 

  Lylah

  Research treatment at Children's Health has allowed Lylah a chance to do ballet and play baseball, even while battling Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

• 

  Mitchell

  Crossing the finish line at a 5K is something Mitchell wasn't sure he'd ever be able to do. Because of physical therapy done at Children's Health, now he's running as much as he can.

• 

  Kepley

  Arriving at 24 weeks and five days, Kepley James entered the world at 1 pound, 10 ounces. Still so small that you could see her lungs through the skin on her chest.  

• 

  Elli

  As they peered over the isolette in the NICU, Jennifer and Angie saw past the crooked smile of Elli’s cleft lip and the congenital heart defect and saw a child they loved instantly.

• 

  Arya

  “As of that moment, our lives would never be the same,” Arya's mom said. “I felt strongly that if God had chosen me to care for her, then my job was to do whatever it takes to do exactly that.”

• 

  Amelia

  Looking at this bubbly 5-year-old, you wouldn’t know she had a complex medical history, and that when she was a baby, the Children’s Health foster clinic saved her life.

• 

  Addison

  Adopted at birth, Addison suffered from frequent ear infections and severe balance issues, which compromised her hearing and delayed her walking until she was almost 18 months old.

• 

  Noah

  One of our Halloween-loving patients, Noah, made a special trip to Spirit Halloween to get a behind-the-scenes look at how their spooky animatronics work.

• 

  Ava

  Ava loves Broadway musicals, is obsessed with sharks and wants to be a marine biologist. And like many people, she hasn’t always liked how she looks.

• 

  Camila

  Her aunt taught her how to apply blush to accentuate her cheekbones and eyeliner to brighten her eyes. But no one prepared Camila on how to fight cancer.

• 

  Davion

  A muggy Friday evening in late May, wearing a polyester blue gown over a shirt and tie, is not the typical stuff of teenage dreams. But Davion fought for his life to not miss this moment.

• 

  Finley

  “We’d sang her a million-and-one songs trying to put her to bed or rock her to sleep at night, and she’d never heard any of it,” Finley's mom said. “She’d never even heard us say, ‘I love you.’”

• 

  Obie

  Elaine, a mother of four, doesn’t take for granted the chance to rock her youngest, Obie. For the first two months of his life, Elaine couldn’t hold him. An incubator at Children’s Health was his crib.

• 

  Jacob

  Friends and neighbors of PGA golfer John Senden used to ask how to improve their golf game when they’d see him. Now, they want to know how his 15-year-old son is doing.

• 

  Zena

  For six months, a Children’s Health hospital room adorned with cutouts of butterflies, hearts and unicorns has been a temporary home for 2-year-old Zena and her mom, Kenda.

• 

  Hanna

  During her journey at Children's Health, Hanna collected more than 700 Beads of Courage to represent different milestones or treatments, more than any other patient in the trauma program.

• 

  Elianna

  Elianna was born with two severe heart defects and had her first heart surgery when she was just 13 days old – her heart was the size of a walnut.