It's About Children - Issue 2, 2015 by East Tennessee Children's Hospital

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CPR class for parents and teens age 14 and older

Shoney’s KidCare Photo ID program

MEDIC blood drive

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6 p.m. to 10 p.m.Children’s Hospital’s Koppel Plaza Building(Meschendorf Conference Room)Class costs $25.Call 865-541-8165 to register. Learn CPR so you can respond to emergencies in your home.

Noon to 6 p.m. at Foothills Mall [Aug. 9]3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at The Grande Event Center as part of Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett’s annual Back to School Bash [Aug. 10]It’s free.You don’t have to register to attend. Provides photo IDs of children, so parents have information readily available for authorities if their child is reported missing. Visit www.shoneysknox.com/kids for more information.

7 a.m. to 4 p.m.Children’s Hospital’s Koppel Plaza Building(Meschendorf Conference Room)It’s free.Call 865-541-8165 for more information. All blood used at Children’s Hospital is provided through MEDIC. One donation can help up to three people. Donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh more than 110 pounds and have an ID.

Mark Your Calendar

2 It’s About Children, Issue 2 • 2015

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15 Long-distance care

When little seizures set off big alarms

The other side of the bedrails

See how we’re using telemedicine to connect our pediatric experts with patients miles away in the Morristown area.

Meet Gabby Seay, a young girl whose development was threatened by a rare condition called infantile spasms that started when she was just months old.

Find out what inspired Casey Owens, a former patient, to be a second-floor nurse at Children’s Hospital.

It’s About Children is a publication of the Marketing Department at

East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.Editor: Paul Parson

Designer: Deborah HostermanCover photo by Michael Dayah

Connect with us:www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren

[email protected]

Spotlight

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Safe Sitter class for children ages 11 to 14

Car seat inspections

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9 a.m. to 3 p.m.Children’s Hospital’s Koppel Plaza Building(Meschendorf Conference Room)Class costs $25.Call 865-541-8165 to register. Learn correct babysitting techniques, emergency responses and how to use babysitting as a business.

9 a.m. to 1 p.m.Blount County Fire Department’s East Broadway Avenue stationIt’s free.You don’t have to register to attend. We’ll teach you everything you need to know to make sure your car seat is used and installed correctly.

7 a.m. to 4 p.m.Children’s Hospital’s Koppel Plaza Building(Meschendorf Conference Room)It’s free.Call 865-541-8165 for more information. All blood used at Children’s Hospital is provided through MEDIC. One donation can help up to three people. Donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh more than 110 pounds and have an ID.

3Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren

Photo by Michael Dayah


Story by E. Anderson

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“When it started happening again, I grabbed my phone and started recording. I got about 30 seconds of it on video,” he said.

, the doctor scheduled a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test for Gabby. “He said it could be no big deal, or it could be something called infantile spasms,” Chris said. “I did the worst thing you could possibly do. I started Googling infantile spasms, and I kept coming across all these frightening, terrifying stories of children who were misdiagnosed or who weren’t treated immediately. Some of these children lost all the development they gained. From what I was reading, days and hours mattered in diagnosis and treatment. And Gabby’s MRI appointment was two weeks away. I told my wife to get dressed because we’re going to Children’s Hospital.” It wasn’t Chris’ first time at Children’s Hospital. As a lifelong resident of Knoxville, he’d been treated there as a child—once for a broken hand and another time to have his tonsils removed. “You sort of take for granted that we live practically next door to this wonderful place,” Chris said.

, she and Chris made the decision that one of them would stay home with their daughter for a year. “We both had good jobs and had saved enough that we could afford for one of us to take a year off to be with her,” Chris said. “I had the newer job, so I won the contest to stay home with her.” Chris relished being a stay-at-home dad—posting photos and videos to his social media sites and sharing his fatherly pride with everyone he knew. There were few details he missed. It was during one Sunday morning that his attentiveness became especially important. Chris was feeding Gabby a bottle when he first noticed it. Gabby stiffened her arms and jerked them upward—similar to the way many infants do while sleeping. She never stopped drinking her bottle, but this little movement happened several times. Though he took note of it, he wasn’t overly concerned. “She did it maybe three or four times in the next five to 10 minutes. I thought it was weird, but it looked so harmless I didn’t think much about it,” he said. But that evening, Missi asked Chris if he’d seen Gabby make the movement. The next day, at an already scheduled doctor appointment for Gabby, Chris and Missi mentioned the spasms to her pediatrician, who said he couldn’t really diagnose her without seeing it. So the next time Gabby had the spasms, Chris was ready.

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“You just never think you’re going to have to give your child injections. We didn’t think we could do it. But everyone was so helpful,” Chris said. “We left there with optimism and hope. They treated us like we were the only family in the hospital.” The month of treatment was tough on Gabby—and her parents. The steroids made Gabby gain weight and become overly irritable. Chris and Missi were emotionally exhausted. “It was a really rough month. Plus, because we knew the statistics, we didn’t have a lot of faith that it would work. We had to be realistic about everything, or we were setting ourselves up to be devastated,” Chris said. Gabby was one of the lucky ones. Her spasms stopped shortly into her treatment, and she’s not had another one in nearly two years. Chris knows how fortunate they are and has tried to spread the word about infantile spasms. “I shared the video of her having the spasms on my Facebook page. I think we have the opportunity to spread the word. If one person sees the video and tells someone


, the doctors watched his video and immediately admitted Gabby, scheduling several tests. “At this point, we’d done a lot more research, so we were a little more prepared for her diagnosis,” Chris said. Karsten Gammeltoft, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital, told the Seays the news they’d been dreading. Gabby had infantile spasms, a rare form of epilepsy. Her spasms were the result of hypsarrhythmia, which Dr. Gammeltoft described as chaotic brain waves. “That’s when it got really scary because it was real,” Chris said. The treatment would be expensive, with a high success rate for stopping spasms but a low success rate in preserving normal development. “We just felt crushed,” Chris said. “It was two years ago, and I can still remember exactly how I felt.”

, Gabby’s treatment required daily steroid injections that her parents gave her. They stayed at Children’s Hospital for five days, and nurses helped make Chris and Missi more comfortable with giving their daughter her treatment.

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else, maybe a child will get treated earlier. Because it looks so harmless, so many parents and even doctors just blow it off as nothing. And then it’s too late,” Chris said.

, Gabby meets weekly with an early intervention teacher to make sure she’s on track developmentally. But when it comes to social skills, Gabby’s teacher, parents and even those meeting her for the first time say she’s an expert. Social and outgoing, she greets people by offering her tiny hand and saying “nice to meet you.” She can perform nearly any animal sound when asked to do so. She’s imaginative and playful—often using a windowsill as a stage for her many toys. She loves pretzels, blowing bubbles and dancing around her home. She recently learned the words to the song Tomorrow from the movie Annie, and she can often be seen twirling outside in her front yard, performing for her parents. “She’s the most hilarious, vibrant, amazing kid. She’s so friendly. I’m assuming she’s going to be a politician—or even the president,” Chris said with a laugh. He and Missi remain grateful for the treatment their daughter received and donate monthly to Children’s Hospital. “You never ever want to spend time in the hospital with your child, but if you do, Children’s Hospital is the perfect place to be,” Chris said.


Visit www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren to meet Gabby Seay and watch the

video that led to her diagnosis of infantile spasms.


Karsten Gammeltoft, M.D.


Story by Jessica Boyd

continued on page 12

Theotherside

of thebedrails.


Photo by Michael Dayah

During her time as a patient, Owens learned about the VolunTeens, a summer volunteer program for teenagers at Children’s Hospital. Fueled by her determination to be a nurse, she applied for the program. “I wanted to learn more about what it was like to work at the hospital,” Owens said. So she did. Every summer of high school, from 2005 to 2009, Owens served as a VolunTeen—performing a variety of tasks, from helping with mailings to delivering toys to patients. As a senior, she worked as a volunteer with the transport team, assisting in the ambulances that brought children to the hospital. Her favorite part of the experience was interact-ing with patients. “I got to help a patient make a necklace one time,” she said. “She was 14, and she was having a different experience than I had a few years before, but it was so cool to talk with her about what was going on.” Cheryl Allmon, Director of Volunteer Services and Pro-grams, said Owens had a way of connecting with both patients and Children’s Hospital staff as a volunteer. “She was a natural,” Allmon said.


As a 12-year-old patient at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Casey Owens had a dream—to grow up to be just like the second-floor nurses who treated her. Inspired by the care and support the nurses showed her and her family during the many days and nights she spent in the hospital, Owens wanted to help children just like her one day. Today, her dream is a reality, as each day she embodies that same passion for her patients that was shown to her 12 years ago.

In October 2003, after months of a terrible cough, Owens had a chest X-ray. It revealed a cancerous mass the size of a softball. The tumor was on her thymus gland between her sternum and lungs—an uncommon condition known as thymoma. Owens’ pediatrician referred her to Children’s Hospital, where she was treated by Ray Pais, M.D., a pediatric oncologist. From her Emergency Department visits to her lengthy stays on the second floor, the one thing that most shaped her experience at Children’s Hospital was the people. Owens could sense the love her nurses had for their jobs and their patients by how they treated her and her family and by how much fun they had. “I basically lived at Children’s Hospital when I was 12,” she said. “I wanted to be like the nurses. Ever since then, all I wanted to do was be a nurse on the second floor at Children’s Hospital.” The seventh-grader underwent months of chemotherapy, and her tumor was eventually removed by surgery.


A patient firstA volunteer experience

After graduating from Morristown-Hamblen High School West, Owens went to nursing school at Tennessee Technological University, where she spent her last semester doing clinical rotations at Children’s Hospital. Following a stint as a patient care assistant from August 2013 to January 2014, Owens became a night-shift nurse on the second floor—a part of Children’s Hospital where she spent many nights as a child. She even works alongside some of the nurses who cared for her as a patient—like Justin Abbott, an assistant nurse manager on second floor. And, she does nothing but brag about her coworkers. “I love the people I work with. It’s good to be around people who like their job and want to take care of their pa-tients. Anyone I work with, I would want to take care of my children one day,” said Owens, who is 24, recently engaged to Lucas Ramey and starting her journey to be a certified oncology nurse. And, not a day goes by that Owens doesn’t tap into her experience as a patient at Children’s Hospital to help her better care for the children being treated here—whether it’s

in her regular clinical duties or taking the time to just talk with a patient. “It’s fun to help make kids smile,” Owens said. “That’s what I like most.”

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A dedicated young woman


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Owens’ commitment to her patients hasn’t gone unnoticed, especially by one familiar face. In the summer of 2014, Allmon brought her 17-year-old son Brett to the Children’s Hospital Emergency Department, where he was ultimately transferred to the second floor to stay the night. “Who walks in but Casey,” Allmon said. “Talk about coming full circle.” Allmon said Owens was a compassionate nurse, just like she thought she would be. “Children’s Hospital gets in your blood,” Allmon said. “When you see what the hospital is like, you want to be a part of it. I think that’s what happened to Casey. The compassion she felt when she was here is something she

is able to give to others now.”

Visit www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren to meet Casey Owens and experience her passion for working at Children’s Hospital.


A compassionate nurse

News

Visit www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren to learn more about sleep medicine.

Long-distance care

In May, Children’s Hospital began using telemedicine to connect our pediatric experts with patients miles away in the Morristown area. Telemedicine does this in real time through the use of special cameras and live video. It starts with your child’s pediatrician referring him to a Children’s Hospital specialist. The appointment takes place at Morristown- Hamblen Healthcare System, with a medical professional present to help. You will see and hear the Children’s Hospital specialist on a screen in your exam room while the specialist will see and hear you and your child on a screen at Children’s Hospital. This saves families the time and money it would cost to travel to Knoxville, and it makes it easier for those with only one vehicle. Thanks to the partnership with Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System, the service is currently offered to patients in the Morristown area, including Greeneville, Newport, Rogersville, Rutledge, Tazewell, Tri-Cities and White Pine. The first pediatric specialty offered is sleep medicine. This technology was purchased by a grant from the Trinity Health Foundation of East Tennessee.


Themed the Greatest Cause on Earth, it was a 12-hour celebration of dancing to upbeat songs like Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off and enjoying activities such as karaoke, a magic show and a bounce house. And, it was the culmination of a year-long fundraiser by For the Kids at UTK that generated more than $43,220 for Children’s Hospital to help the Hematology/Oncology Clinic. More than 400 University of Tennessee students participated; a large part of the event involved their pledge to dance all night for the cause. The UT students were joined by 30 Children’s Hospital patients—all of whom were honored during a heroes walk. The UT students had a “great” reason to celebrate; not only did they exceed the previous year’s total of $28,659, but they also exceeded their goal of $30,000.

Your Dollars at Work

Fundraising fun


Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren 17

Star sponsor- TeamHealth

Event sponsors- Accenture- Clayton Homes- DeRoyal- Fee/Hedrick Family Entertainment Group- Johnson and Galyon Construction- The Wakefield Corporation (TWC)

In-kind sponsors - All Occasions Party Rentals- Beverage Corporation International (BCI)- Dance Tonight- Dillard’s- Garde Bien Spa Salon- GemStore- Knoxville Expo Center- M&M Productions- Prestige Tuxedo- Stowers Machinery Corporation- Sun Tan City - The Grande Event Center

Your Dollars at Work

Star-studded show The competition was intense as 10 local celebrities competed for two mirror ball trophies and raised a record-breaking $145,000 for Children’s Hospital at this year’s Star 102.1 Dancing with the Knoxville Stars. To the tune of Bruno Mars’ Runaway Baby, Star 102.1 midday DJ Becca James grooved her way to the best dancer prize with a beach-inspired foxtrot. Partnered with professional dancer Jake Rivera, James is the first Star 102.1 celeb to win its namesake competition since it started in 2009. WATE news anchor Kristin Farley narrowly beat WWE superstar Kane (aka Glenn Jacobs) for the top fundraiser honor by just $2, with both raising more than $23,000 each. Thanks to this year’s dancers and the donors like you who supported them, proceeds from the event will purchase new ventilators for children who aren’t able to breathe on their own.


Visit www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildrento relive the magic of this year’s Dancing with the Knoxville Stars.

Sweet support There’s nothing better than a piping hot stack of buttermilk pancakes—especially when the delicious dish helps raise around $18,000 for Children’s Hospital. In March, as part of National Pancake Day, hundreds of people like you enjoyed free flapjacks at local IHOPs and in return donated to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals like ours. The money raised by IHOP diners like you will be used to purchase essential medical equipment to help care for patients at the hospital.

Loyal listeners During the course of two days, Star 102.1 listeners like you helped raise more than $133,000 for Children’s Hospital as part of the radio station’s 14th annual Radiothon. Broadcasted live from West Town Mall and hosted by Marc Anthony and Kim Hansard from the Star 102.1 morning show, the radio station mixed in interviews with patients and hospital staff as part of its regular programming. Funds raised by the event help support home health care for children in need, including the purchase of equipment such as ventilators, portable I.V. pumps and sleep apnea monitors.


Nothing puts a smile on aNothing puts a smile on a child’s face quicker than getting a gift— child’s face quicker than getting a gift

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It's About Children - Issue 2, 2015 by East Tennessee Children's Hospital

Health & Medicine