The portrait series is designed to bring patient stories into the spotlight, offering support and shifting how society perceives facial differences.

The collection was created by a mother and artist whose own daughter was born with a cleft lip. Now touring the U.S. for the first time, the artist hopes to challenge conventional beauty standards and promote inclusivity.

Hannah Bergman emphasized that the goal of the exhibit is to ease the journey for patients and families.

“The patient wasn’t born broken. They just happened to be a beautiful person who’s born with a cleft, and our whole team exists to try to make that process a little easier for them,” Bergman said.

Artist Katie Manning hopes that the United States tour will inspire viewers to embrace diversity and connect through shared humanity.

See the full story via KCTV 5

Children's Mercy Cleft Lip and Palate Program

After spending her entire life living with a rare heart defect, 16-year-old Kaylee Stuart is looking forward to something she has never had before, a chance to live without limitations.

Kaylee is the daughter of Relaford Warren Stuart and Krista Stuart of Hays. She was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart does not fully develop and cannot effectively pump blood. As a result, the right side of the heart must pump blood to the lungs and the rest of the body.

Relaford said Kaylee recently underwent a heart transplant at Children's Mercy in Kansas City. He said the family was told to expect a wait of up to two years after she was placed on the transplant list April 6.

"We got the call a little over six weeks after we were on the list saying, 'Hey, we got a match. You need to get here.'" he said.

Read the full story via the Hays Post

The Ward Family Heart Center at Children's Mercy

The Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children's Mercy

Children’s Mercy Kansas City will transform its main campus with the biggest single capital investment in the hospital system's 129-year history — a $1 billion-plus patient tower on Hospital Hill.

Children's Mercy on Wednesday formally announced an expansion of its flagship Adele Hall Campus with an acute care patient tower fronting Gillham Road.

Early plans call for a new home for the hospital's pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, as well as an expansion of its emergency department to increase patient capacity. The tower is in the early stages of design, the hospital system said.

"The complexity of pediatric care continues to evolve, and we find ourselves at a point of great responsibility with the promises that we've made to the community, when we are the only quaternary pediatric enterprise in about a 200-mile radius," Children's Mercy CEO Dr. Alejandro Quiroga said in an interview. "So capacity, when we are in such a position of responsibility, is a big issue, and when we do analysis, we know that, to be able to have a bed available for everybody, we're going to have to grow the acute care part of our facilities."

Read the full article via The Kansas City Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: Children’s Mercy Announces New Acute Care Tower at Adele Hall Campus to Meet Urgent Growing Pediatric Needs

If you were to meet Wyatt today, you’d see a joyful, energetic little boy who loves Disney movies, baseball and making people laugh. Happiest when he’s with his family, Wyatt is finally getting to enjoy the simple moments of childhood, but his journey hasn’t been simple.

Wyatt’s care at Children’s Mercy began before he was born. At a routine 20-week ultrasound, what should have been a joyful milestone quickly became devastating. His parents learned that his kidneys, ureters and bladder were severely swollen, and they weren’t sure if their baby would survive.

“Transitioning from being a mom of one healthy kiddo to a medical mom is a shift nothing can fully prepare you for,” his mom, Hannah, said.

Soon after, the family was referred to Children’s Mercy, where the Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center took over care for the remainder of Hannah’s pregnancy. For 17 weeks, specialists from fetal health, neonatology and nephrology worked together to guide the family through an overwhelming time such as answering questions, explaining what to expect and offering reassurance along the way.

See the full story and the tower lighting via KCTV 5

The Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children's Mercy

Children’s Mercy is proud to announce the addition of Troy Spilde, MD, to its Springfield team as a Pediatric General Surgeon. This strategic expansion reflects the continued commitment to delivering exceptional pediatric care to families in southwest Missouri.

Dr. Spilde brings more than 20 years of experience in pediatric general surgery and marks a return to Children’s Mercy where he completed his fellowship training after graduating from University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences and completing his residency at UMKC/Truman Medical Center. His fellowship training included a Pediatric Surgery Research Fellowship year, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship and Pediatric Surgery Fellowship.

His career also includes previous leadership roles at Mercy Springfield and St. John’s Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Ill. In addition to these roles, he has also served as an Assistant Professor in Clinical Surgery at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Missouri, reflecting a deep commitment to advancing care and collaboration.

Dr. Spilde focuses on delivering the highest standard of care for patients and will work closely with Children’s Mercy and Mercy Springfield department of surgery teams whose leadership and dedication have been instrumental in building a strong foundation for pediatric care in Springfield.

“We are very excited to welcome Dr. Spilde to the team,” said Debbie Schwartzkopf, DNP, RN, CPHQ, Children’s Mercy with Mercy Interim Chief Administrative Officer. “Dr. Spilde represents the first of what we hope are many new physician hires to help us enhance the pediatric specialty services at Mercy Springfield and to fulfill our commitment to the community to improve the health and well-being of children with specialty pediatric care options closer to home.”

PRESS RELEASE: Children's Mercy and Mercy Springfield Communities to Build Dedicated Pediatric Facility in Springfield

Children's Mercy with Mercy

“I’m so excited. We’ve been planning this for nearly a year, and the day is here!”

It’s 7 a.m., and Kathyn Keeler, MD, an Orthopedist, paces eagerly in the Adele Hall entrance near the operating rooms (OR), her scrub cap pulled tight, her eyes glistening as she and her team await the arrival of 11-year-old Caoimhe (pronounced Keev-a, meaning “beautiful, gentle, kind”). Nearby, a fellow surgeon holds a small lab coat custom embroidered in purple thread that reads: Dr. Caoimhe Harley, Orthopedic Surgery. The scrub cap made just for her includes dainty flowers, one of her favorite symbols of beauty and growth.

While Caoimhe and her family are no strangers to driving 100 miles to Kansas City to receive specialized care for her condition, called progressive hereditary spastic paraparesis, this day was different. Today, Caoimhe works alongside her heroes and serves as a surgeon in the operating room – a dream she has had since early childhood as Children’s Mercy became a regular part of her life story.

See the full story via KCTV 5

Surgery at Children's Mercy

This year, two specialties placed among the top 25 nationwide: Nephrology at #14, and Neurology and Neurosurgery at #23. 

Additionally, for the second consecutive year, Children’s Mercy’s Pediatric and Adolescent Behavioral Health was named a top 50 program. (All mental health programs receive equal recognition.)  

The rankings below reflect the expertise, compassion and commitment the teams provide to patients and families every day. 

Children’s Mercy specialties’ rankings: 

• Nephrology (#14)
• Neurology & Neurosurgery (#23)
• Urology (#26)
• Cardiology & Heart Surgery (#30)
• Gastroenterology & GI Surgery (#33)
• Diabetes & Endocrinology (#36)
• Neonatology (#40)
• Pulmonology & Lung Surgery (#46)
• Behavioral Health (Top 50) 

“At Children’s Mercy, excellence isn’t defined just by rankings—every child we care for, every family we support and every breakthrough we achieve reflects the heart of our mission,” said Alejandro Quiroga, MD, MBA, President and CEO of Children’s Mercy. “Being recognized among the top pediatric hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report is an honor, but what matters most is the trust families place in us and the healing we deliver every day. That’s the true measure of our success.” 

U.S News surveyed nearly 150 pediatric centers, gathering clinical and operational data. This data was then combined with results from a reputational survey in which board-certified pediatric specialists were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty. 

The full rankings and methodology are available at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals. 

By Regan Porter

A nine-month-old girl with a rare, life-threatening liver disease has a new liver.

FOX4 first reported Olivia Dildine’s journey to find a new one last month.

Olivia Dildine is just nine months old, and last week, she received a new liver. Now, she’s recovering at Children’s Mercy.

“It gave me a sense of relief,” her mom, Ciera Chronister, said.

“Everything we fought through and everything she’s been through, and just a huge procedure was worth it.”

At just three weeks old, Olivia was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare and life-threatening liver disease.

See the full story via Fox 4

Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children's Mercy

Children's Mercy Liver Transplant Program

Kansas City-based Children’s Mercy will assume management of Mercy Springfield Communities’ pediatric care after formalizing a partnership announced last year.

John Myers, president of Mercy Springfield Communities, said the pediatric management agreement with Children’s Mercy becomes effective Nov. 1 and covers the health system’s existing pediatric hospital within Mercy Hospital Springfield and its specialty care clinics.

The two organizations are each big players in their own right: Children’s Mercy operates a 367-bed, free-standing children’s hospital in Kansas City and more than a dozen health care facilities in Missouri and Kansas, according to its website. It has over 800 pediatric specialists among its nearly 8,900 employees. Mercy Springfield Communities had 9,217 local employees as of July 2024, according to SBJ’s list of the area’s largest employers, and officials say more than 160 pediatric employees currently work locally for the health system.

A partnership between the two health systems was first announced in March 2024, however this newly signed joint operating agreement provides some of the first details on how the health systems will work together on care.

Myers spoke to Springfield Business Journal along with Amy Fallon, president of regional operations for Children’s Mercy, ahead of an Aug. 14 news conference announcing the signing of the joint operating agreement. 

Read the full article via the Springfield Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: Mercy and Children's Mercy Announce New Details of Partnership and Expanded Pediatric Care at Today's Community Celebration

By Grace Mayer

Children’s Mercy Kansas City tapped a transplant surgeon from Stanford’s pediatric hospital to lead its transplant center and research program.

Dr. Clark Andrew Bonham was named the director of transplant surgery at Children’s Mercy. He also will be the director of the transplant research program at the Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center, part of the pediatric hospital.

Bonham spent 22 years working at Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital affiliated with Stanford Medicine. During his time there, he oversaw transplant teams and directed complex organ, liver and intestinal donor transplant programs, according to a release from Children’s Mercy.

Read the full article via the Kansas City Business Journal

The Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children's Mercy

Children’s Mercy is proud to announce Clark Andrew Bonham, MD, as the new Director of the Division of Transplant Surgery and Director of the Transplant Research Program at its Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center. 

Dr. Bonham, a native of Oklahoma, returns to the Midwest after an illustrious 22-year tenure at Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. At Stanford, he worked with one of the busiest pediatric transplant teams in the country and led multi-disciplinary transplant teams, managed complex organ transplant programs, and directed the Live Donor Liver Transplant and Intestinal Transplant programs.  

“Dr. Bonham’s arrival is significant not just for our hospital, but for every child and family we serve. His vision for the transplant program is rooted in urgency, equity, and excellence – and it will expand access to life-saving care across our region,” said Doug Rivard, DO, Executive Vice President and Physician-in-Chief, Children’s Mercy. “This is what leadership looks like; the right person, at the right time, for the right reasons – and with the power to change lives.” 

Dr. Bonham’s extensive experience in complex transplant care includes leading one of the largest programs in combined organ transplants, such as heart / liver, lung / liver and multi-visceral transplants.  

His achievements at Stanford include:  

• Increasing liver transplant volume by 30% while maintaining excellent outcomes. 
• Leading successful United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) certification processes. 
• Implementing new protocols that reduced the length of stay for patients. 
• Developing strategic partnerships to expand the patient referral network. 
• Performing the first laparoscopic live donor hepatectomy on the West Coast. 
• Achieving unprecedented outcomes in intestinal transplants with no losses to rejection since 2014. 

“We cannot be more excited for Dr. Bonham to lead the surgical program for the Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center,” said Shawn St. Peter, MD, Senior Vice President & Surgeon-in-Chief, Children’s Mercy. “Throughout his career he has been a pioneer in the field of transplant surgery, as well as a respected leader, teacher and mentor.” 

The Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children’s Mercy has a rich history of providing exceptional transplant care to pediatric patients. Established with a mission to offer life-saving organ transplants to children in need, the Center has grown to become a leader in pediatric heart, kidney, and liver transplant surgery.  

Dr. Bonham shared his excitement about joining Children’s Mercy: “I look forward to joining the team at Children’s Mercy to build on the accomplishments of the abdominal transplant program. Leadership at Children’s Mercy has an ambitious vision to create an unprecedented center of excellence to offer complex transplant care to all children, serving as a magnet for care available nowhere else. I look forward to playing a part in reaching new heights at Children’s Mercy.” 

Many families with toddlers know it well - the so-called terrible twos. But for the Sullivan family, witnessing their son Xander thrive as a toddler is nothing but a gift.

We call him a Sour Patch kid because he just– he will be wild, crazy. But then he is the sweetest, loving boy,” mother Trisha Sullivan said.

Xander has celebrated his two-year anniversary of receiving a life-saving liver transplant at 5 months old.

“So, when he was born, everything was fine. He’s a nine-and-a-half-pound fat boy,” Sullivan recounted. “After a week or two, he started turning jaundice yellow, which my oldest was also jaundice, so we didn’t think much of it.”

Check-ups at the doctor’s also suggested Xander’s jaundice was not of major concern. But as time wore on, Sullivan suspected something was wrong.

Doctors diagnosed Xander with Biliary Atresia, a rare pediatric liver disease.

Xander needed a liver transplant, and fast. He joined the more than 100,000 people on the waitlist for an organ transplant in the United States. After two and a half months, Sullivan received “the call,” letting the family know Xander had a potential organ match.

After undergoing a transplant at Children’s Mercy Hospital, Xander started to blossom.

Dr. Ryan Fischer is the chief of hepatology and transplant medicine at Children’s Mercy Hospital. He cared for Xander through his entire transplant journey.

“It is a success story. And at the same time, it’s what we expect for every patient that we take care of,” Dr. Fischer said.

But there’s no success story without organ donation.

“I work in liver, but that could be kidney, heart, lung, intestine, maybe a combination. And so, the need for those organs is significant,” Dr. Fischer said.

See the full story via KCTV 5

The Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children's Mercy

By Tara Haelle

Antibiotic management of acute uncomplicated appendicitis among children was inferior to appendectomy, a randomized non-inferiority trial showed.

For nearly 850 children with available primary outcome data, treatment failure at 12 months occurred in 34% of those who received antibiotics compared with 7% of those who underwent appendectomy, a difference of 26.7% (90% CI 22.4-30.9) that exceeded the 20% non-inferiority margin, reported Shawn St. Peter, MD, of Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, and colleagues in The Lancet.

Read the full article via MedPage Today

Surgery at Children's Mercy

High-impact journal The Lancet just published a first-of-its-kind study led by Shawn St. Peter, MD, Senior Vice President, Surgeon-in-Chief and Interim Chief Scientific Officer, Children's Mercy Kansas City.

“Appendicectomy* versus antibiotics for acute uncomplicated appendicitis in children” describes the APPY Trial, the first large-scale, randomized clinical trial on the subject. Dr. St. Peter’s co-authors from Children’s Mercy included Janelle R. Noel-MacDonnell, PhD, Health Services and Outcomes, and Pete Muenks, ACRP-CP, Senior Clinical Research Coordinator, Children’s Mercy Research Institute (CMRI).

The APPY trial ran between January 2016 and December 2021. It included 11 children’s hospitals and 936 patients, 5 to 16 years old, with suspected non-perforated appendicitis. Families who chose to participate in the trial were randomly assigned a treatment path: antibiotics or appendectomy.

The study compares the failure rates of those two unequal options: Antibiotics avoid surgery but can come with unpleasant side effects and a chance of recurrence. Appendectomies are low-risk surgeries with short recovery times and no risk of recurrence. 

“The question is what recurrence rate would you accept in order to avoid an operation?” said Dr. St. Peter. “As a working group, we settled on greater than a 20% difference in failure rates would be inferior.”

With a failure rate difference outside of that acceptable range, the study concluded that “antibiotic treatment for uncomplicated appendicitis in children was inferior to appendectomy in this trial.”

The study also found that the total time spent in the hospital was shorter with appendectomies. That outcome was influenced by the antibiotic treatment’s in-hospital IV protocol and recurrences that sent patients back to the hospital. However, patients treated by antibiotics bounced back to “normal function” a little faster than appendectomy patients, who needed to recover from surgery.

A real-world study

For patients treated with surgery, the study considered a negative appendectomy (when the removed appendix shows no signs of disease) a failure (7%). For patients treated with antibiotics, failure was defined as needing to have an appendectomy within one year (34%). Most of those appendectomies happened within the first 100 days.

“What does Mom think of that number?” said Dr. St. Peter of that 1/3 chance of appendicitis recurrence after antibiotic treatment. “It’s within the eye of the beholder. If somebody’s terrified of an operation, that might seem reasonable.”

The antibiotics failure rate included patients who were assigned antibiotic treatment but whose families later requested an appendectomy. “This is a pragmatic, real-world study,” said Dr. St. Peter. “You’re going to have dissatisfied families that within a day or two are going to say, ‘enough.’”

Research informs future treatment guidelines

The study fills a needed gap in appendicitis treatment literature and provides evidence-based talking points for discussing treatment options with parents.

"We know what the failure rates are for all stratifications of patients with appendicitis,” said Dr. St. Peter. “Now that we’ve got the playing rules, we can put together the game.”

The team will continue to research the most beneficial place for antibiotics in appendicitis treatment pathways. They are currently submitting a grant to study sending patients home from the ER with oral antibiotics (instead of the current study’s protocol of starting with 12+ hours of IV antibiotics). “If that were to be successful, then, the next evolution could be point-of-care antibiotic treatment for early appendicitis.”

* “Appendicectomy” is the British spelling of “appendectomy” used by The Lancet.

Surgery at Children's Mercy Kansas City

For the first time in more than a decade, this year’s rankings included a new specialty – Pediatric and Adolescent Behavioral Health. Children’s Mercy is featured as one of the top 50 programs in the country. All programs receive equal recognition in this inaugural year. This is a testament to all the work being done to address the mental health needs of children and teens in our community.

Six Children’s Mercy specialties rank among the top 25 nationally this year, with the Nephrology team ranking #9. The Neonatology team made a big jump to #11 up from #48 last year, and Cardiology and Heart Surgery jumped from #43 to #26.

Children’s Mercy specialties’ rankings:

·        Nephrology (#9)

·        Neonatology (#11)

·        Urology (#20 tie)

·        Gastroenterology & GI Surgery (#21 tie)

·        Neurology & Neurosurgery (#21)

·        Diabetes & Endocrinology (#23)

·        Cardiology & Heart Surgery (#26)

·        Pulmonology & Lung Surgery (#28)

·        Orthopedics (#35)

·        Cancer (#39)

·        Behavioral Health (Top 50)

“Being among the top pediatric hospitals nationally is worth celebrating,” said Paul Kempinski, MS, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy Kansas City. “Children’s Mercy finished first in Missouri and tied for third place in the Midwest region, which includes more than 40 hospitals across 13 states. The rankings are a true testament to our team’s hard work, expertise and dedication to the patients and families we serve.”

In surveying nearly 200 pediatric centers, U.S. News gathered clinical and operation data. This data was then combined with results from a reputational survey in which board-certified pediatric specialists were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty.

Those pediatric specialties consist of: behavioral health; cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and GI surgery; neonatology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics, pulmonology and lung surgery and urology.   

The full rankings and methodology are available at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals.

Braedon, who played football, baseball and wrestled for Junction City (Kan.) High School, is a focused, determined kid who loves hunting and fishing. “Braedon is my quiet, introverted kid,” said Terrah. “He can read the room and study people better than anyone I know.” 

Terrah, who is a nurse midwife at Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka, took Braedon to several different orthopedic and sports medicine specialists to try to find the source of his pain. “We thought at first that it was a brachioplexus injury from wrestling,” Terrah recalled. “He would lose feeling in his left arm and hand off and on. It would get better, he’d be cleared for sports, and then end up in severe pain again.”

After months of dealing with this frustrating cycle, Braedon began to struggle with his mental health as well. “One night, we had a really tough, desperate 4 a.m. conversation,” Terrah shared. “Braedon was just begging me to fix the problem. The advocate in me just couldn’t give up on him.” 

The Stroda family is full of fighting spirit. Terrah herself is a cancer survivor, but unfortunately her husband Brandon passed away from cancer in 2017. “Since the passing of Braedon’s dad, our family has a ‘don’t quit’ motto,” Terrah said. “You can’t sit in that hopelessness.” 

Braedon himself has been a patient at Children’s Mercy since he was one week old. He was born with a cleft lip and palate and the Craniofacial team has performed 14 surgeries over the years to correct that. So while hospital life was nothing new for them, this situation felt different.

The search for answers continues

Terrah made Braedon an appointment with the Children’s Mercy Sports Medicine team, who suspected there was more than a sports-related injury at the root of Braedon’s pain and referred him to John Anderson, MD, in the Spine Clinic. More in-depth imaging studies showed an osteoid osteoma, a small, non-cancerous mass on his spine near the base of his skull. 

“It was unclear at the time if the mass was contributing to the pain,” said Christian Kaufman, MD, FAANS, a neurosurgeon who was part of Braedon’s care team. “After very careful review, it started to make sense: Yes, it fits that this small benign lesion does seem to be a probable cause of his pain. But then the next big challenge is how do we get to this location, because it’s a very challenging one.”

Traditional surgical approaches to remove the mass on Braedon’s spine were very risky. “His mass was unique in that it was in a really difficult anatomic place,” said Douglas Rivard, DO, Executive Vice President and Physician-in-Chief and an interventional radiologist on Braedon’s care team. “Initially, we tried to access Braedon’s mass in radiology and [computerized tomography (CT)] and we just didn't have a good anatomic window. One of the main arteries that feeds the back of his brain was in the way, so we had to cut short that procedure and regroup.”

If at first you don’t succeed...

That first unsuccessful attempt to remove the mass in April 2023 was a big disappointment for Braedon, his family and his surgical team. However, Dr. Rivard was determined to find another way. He spent time reading, researching and thinking about Braedon’s situation while on a previously scheduled vacation shortly after the first attempt to remove the mass. When he came back to work, he pulled in several other Children’s Mercy specialists, including plastic surgeon Shao Jiang, MD, and additional members of the neurosurgery team. Together, they came up with a new plan.

Rather than entering through the back of the neck, Braedon’s team decided to try a trans-oral approach: going through the mouth. “As pediatric plastic surgeons who do cleft surgery, that’s an area that we typically can access pretty easily,” said Dr. Jiang. “So I just scrubbed in and used a special retractor for cleft lip and palate to open up the mouth and allow the neurosurgeons to use a neural navigation tool to pinpoint and access exactly where the lesion was.”

“Collaboration is the key to everything” 

A trans-oral approach to the cervical spine is sometimes used for adults, but this was the first time the Children’s Mercy team had successfully used that strategy on a pediatric patient. All of Braedon’s doctors stressed that it was the collaboration and top-tier facilities at Children’s Mercy that made this unique surgery possible. “I think that our collegiality here is so good that we could pull aside any expert walking down the hall and say, ‘Hey, you know what, I have this particular clinical challenge, and I would appreciate if you could consider it,’” reflected Dr. Jiang.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Kaufman agreed. “It was a combination of multiple fields coming together to figure out how to use these new and innovative tools and ways to get there safely,” he said. “Collaboration is the key to everything — that's why it went so well,” he emphasized. The surgical team knew there were still risks to the alternative approach, but they felt that together, they could have a better chance at removing the painful mass.

Joyful tears

Terrah vividly remembers the moment Dr. Rivard came to update her after the second surgery in June of 2023: “He couldn’t get to me fast enough! He made a beeline for me and had a massive smile and said, ‘We got it!’” And we both had a moment. It was a very intense, phenomenal, inspiring moment for me to see that it actually worked.” 

Braedon, on the other hand, wanted to see proof. Terrah recalls that as soon as he woke up, he insisted on seeing Dr. Rivard so he could know for sure that the mass was out.

Things improved significantly for Braedon after the procedure, and he was enjoying school, hunting and hanging out with his friends again. But a few months later, his pain started up again. The type of tumor Braedon had emits prostaglandin, a substance that causes bone pain. Even with only a tiny amount of tumor cells remaining, the tumor had continued to replicate itself and had grown back in the same area. 

Third time’s the charm

“There was a big moment of a loss of hope,” Terrah shared. But true to their family’s fighting spirit, Terrah and Braedon returned to Children’s Mercy for new scans. Dr. Rivard, Dr. Kaufman and the team went back to the drawing board to find a way to tackle the persistent mass on Braedon’s spine. Together with Braedon and Terrah, the team decided to once again use the trans-oral approach to remove the tumor. 

In March of 2024, Braedon had his third surgery to remove the osteoma. “The post-operative recovery was the worst this time,” Terrah recalled. Finally, a few weeks after the third surgery, “I got my kid back,” she said.

Braedon’s doctors were also glad to see a good outcome at last. “It’s especially gratifying on our end that we got to work together and do something really exceptional,” shared Dr. Rivard. And Dr. Jiang agreed: “It’s like putting a puzzle together. That last piece goes in there, you finally see the whole picture and it’s really amazing to know that each piece was where it was supposed to be.”

While he was relieved to have his pain under control, Braedon was deeply disappointed that many of the sports he loved were no longer safe for him to play due to the risk of injury to his neck. “He was a highly competitive, multi-sport athlete until he wasn’t,” Terrah shared. Baseball is the one sport he can still participate in, so for his senior year, he is shifting all his energy into that. “He’s also found there are other things to be a star at: Boys State, student government and student media at his high school,” Terrah said.

Moving forward

With his painful battle behind him at last, Braedon is looking ahead to his future. After he graduates in 2025, he plans to attend Kansas State University to major in engineering, with a particular focus on the medical side of engineering, such as surgical tools like the ones that helped him. “Dr. Rivard really inspired him to see how many options there are for medicine and research,” said Terrah.

Terrah is relieved to have this difficult journey behind them, too. For other families facing tough medical challenges, she said: “Just don’t quit. Listen to your child, but also reflect on what your goals are. Empower yourself to be the advocate for your child. You have to find the right team, which is why we continue to go to Children’s Mercy. They are the ‘don’t quit’ people!” 

With the creativity, collaboration and connections Braedon’s care team brought to his unique case, the future looks bright for Braedon and many other kids who come to Children’s Mercy for their care. “Kids — even pretty big kids like Braedon — are not just small adults,” said Dr. Jiang. “This case expands the options and techniques that were developed in other age groups and for other indications and adapts them for pediatric use.” The surgical team plans to publish a case report and journal article to help other families who are looking for answers to a challenging medical situation.

“Braedon’s story wasn’t a pretty story,” Terrah said, “but it wasn’t his forever story. That’s what Children’s Mercy did — they never stopped until we got it all.”

Neurosurgery and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Children's Mercy

Children's Mercy Kansas City Sports Medicine Center 

Though appendectomies have been the gold standard of care since before the turn of the 20th century, doctors have been treating appendicitis with antibiotics since the 1950s, as soon as they became available — a “dark secret” in the surgery world, says David R. Flum, professor of surgery and director of the Surgical Outcomes Research Center at the University of Washington. A 1959 paper detailed the use of antibiotics to treat nearly 500 people (a mix of adults and children) with appendicitis. They were — and still are — often used in people whose appendicitis is so advanced that surgery risks spreading the infection further. The military relied on antibiotics for service members who got appendicitis while in inaccessible locations, like submarines.

But the treatment didn’t get wider attention until the late 1990s and early 2000s, Flum says, when researchers began to collect data on how often antibiotics don’t work and found that failure was not as common as they thought.

Then came two large, randomized trials in adults. In the first, published in 2015, 257 adults received an antibiotic treatment. Seventy of those patients, or 27 percent, had to have an appendectomy within one year. But the rest were fine.

A second, larger study of 1,552 adults had similar results: Twenty-nine percent of the 776 people who received antibiotics underwent surgery within 90 days; 4 percent of people in the antibiotics group had serious adverse events, compared with 3 percent in the appendectomy group. The New England Journal of Medicine published the results in 2020. The same year, the American College of Surgeons added nonoperative management as an option in its guidelines for treating appendicitis.

Read the full article via The Washington Post

Surgery at Children's Mercy

Children’s Mercy Kansas City (CMKC), as part of its ongoing pediatric collaboration effort with Mercy Springfield Communities, narrowed down the first two specialties it aims to bring to southwest Missouri.

The Kansas City-based hospital system recently acquired a Springfield pediatric cardiology practice after its parent company decided to divest clinics across the country, said Dr. Rob Steele, executive vice president and chief strategy and innovation officer at CMKC.

“We knew that this community cannot lose pediatric specialists,” Steele said at the Discover Children’s Mercy Showcase: Springfield, held at the White River Conference Center July 10. “You just can’t do that. Otherwise, you’d have even more children leaving the community.”

Read the full article via the Springfield Daily Citizen

Children's Mercy Kansas City to Collaborate with Springfield Community on New Pediatric System of Care

By Ryan Collins

The collaboration effort between Mercy Springfield Communities and Children’s Mercy Kansas City (CMKC) to enhance pediatric care in southwest Missouri is moving at a fast pace, and the Kansas City-based hospital will begin seeing patients in southwest Missouri within the coming months.

“We expect to have patients being seen (in Springfield) this calendar year,” Dr. Rob Steele, executive vice president and chief strategy and innovation officer at CMKC, said in a May 29 interview on Mercy’s Springfield campus. “We’re itchy because we’re still in the midst of recruiting, but you know, optimistically, this is within the next couple months.”

The collaboration between the two hospital systems will not be a joint venture, nor a profit-sharing model, said John Myers, president of Mercy Springfield Communities. Instead, CMKC will pay Mercy to lease space within Mercy’s existing facilities, but CMKC will operate independently and without oversight from Mercy. The physicians and staff of the new Springfield pediatric practice will be exclusively employed by CMKC.

The model the two systems are aiming for is called a “hospital in a hospital,” but that type of operation still has to be approved by regulators, Myers said. The amount of square feet that CMKC will lease and the cost is still being hashed out, but it will be a significant quantity of space.

Read the full article via Springfield Daily Citizen

Children's Mercy Kansas City

About Children's Mercy Kansas City

Last fall, Alexandra Duarte, who is now 16, went to see her endocrinologist at Texas Children’s Hospital, outside Houston. From age 10, she had been living with polycystic ovary syndrome and, more recently, prediabetes. After Alexandra described her recent quinceañera, the doctor brought up an operation that might benefit her, one that might help her lose weight and, as a result, improve these obesity-related problems.

Alexandra, who smiles shyly and speaks softly but confidently, says she was “a little skeptical at first because, like, it’s a surgery.” But her mother, Gabriela Velez, suggested that her daughter consider it. “Ever since I was a toddler, my mom knew that I was struggling with obesity,” Alexandra says.

Through the years, Alexandra seemed to have tried everything. She went through periods when she avoided all carbs and days when she drank only water. She turned to commercial products, from Herbalife to diet pills to meal-replacement shakes. Desperation — and hope — led her to try gimmicky lotions that promised to burn fat. Puberty seemed to make things worse. Her doctors dispensed “basically the same talk everyone else gives me,” she says: Follow the government’s MyPlate plan; eat lots of vegetables; have anything, but don’t overdo it.

Read the full story via The New York Times Magazine

Children's Mercy Kansas City Weight Management Program

Children’s Mercy formally invested five endowed faculty positions in the fields of healthy lifestyles, clinical pharmacology, neurology, surgery and developmental and behavioral health at the Fall 2023 Investiture Ceremony on Tuesday, October 24, 2023.

The Children’s Mercy Research Institute was the perfect setting to celebrate the elevation of this esteemed group of clinicians, researchers and leaders to academic medicine’s highest achievement and the generous donors who made these endowed positions possible.

Philanthropy has powered the hospital, treatment and cures for children for more than 125 years. Thanks to our philanthropic community, Children’s Mercy has more than doubled its total number of endowed chairs - bringing more answers to children and families when they need them most!

“Through extraordinary donor investment, endowed positions provide ongoing financial support to advance excellence in pediatric medicine, research and teaching, while elevating the academic profile of Children’s Mercy and its stature as a national leader,” said Paul Kempinski, Children’s Mercy President and CEO, Alice Berry, DDS, and Katharine Berry, MD, Endowed Chair in Executive Leadership. “The impact: best-in-class experts and care for children and families who call Kansas City and our region home.”

Honorees

Sarah E. Hampl, MD

Kemper Endowed Professorship for Healthy Lifestyles

Bridgette L. Jones, MD, MSCR

Marion Merrell Dow/Missouri Endowed Chair in Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology

Jean-Baptiste Le Pichon, MD, PhD, FAAP

Madison Lauren Sargent Endowed Professorship in Neurology/Angelman Syndrome

Tolulope A. Oyetunji, MD, MPH, FACS, FAAP

Thomas Holder/Keith Ashcraft Chair in Pediatric Surgical Research

 Shayla A. Sullivant, MD

Joy and Stewart Koesten Endowed Professorship in Developmental and Behavioral Health

Learn more about the honorees and donors

Thank you to the Kemper Family Foundations, UMB Bank, n.a. Trustee, the Marion Merrell Dow Foundation, Fred Lyons, Ed Connolly, Patrick and Laura Sargent, Maddie’s Mission Foundation, The Shaw Family Foundation, Thomas Holder and Keith Ashcraft, and Joy and Stewart Koesten for their visionary leadership and generosity in establishing these vital positions for the continued work of building a world of well-being for all children.

A severe burn injury is traumatic for anyone. But for a  4-year-old having to submit to weekly hospital visits for hands-on treatment of that burn, the aftermath can be particularly stressful.

When Children’s Mercy Kansas City in Kansas City, Mo., decided to relocate its burn clinic to accommodate a pediatric intensive care unit expansion at the hospital a couple of years ago, the clinic staff saw an opportunity to do something special to address this difficult reality. And the idea for an immersive, positive-distraction experience officially took flight.

“Our previous burn space was a good-sized space, and it had all the equipment and resources to provide excellent burn care,” says Daniel Marx, nurse manager for the Burn Specialty Team and Burn Clinic at Children’s Mercy. But the clinicians wanted to do more with the new space, located in a different part of the same campus. They approached the design team with a stack of research on the benefits of decreasing fear, anxiety, and perceived pain to the treatment process.

Read the full article via Healthcare Design

Burn and Trauma Care at Children's Mercy

By Sharon Chen

Children’s Mercy has reached a medical milestone: 400 kidney transplants performed.

John Paredes is patient 400 and he has the picture to prove it. In it, you can see the 19-year-old smiling ear to ear as he holds decorated cardboard cut-outs of the number.

“400th I mean I don’t even know how to explain what it feels like,” said Paredes.

400 is just a number to us, but to John it’s so much more.

“In a way, this help made me stronger as a person, in a way it proves that I was able to do this,” said Paredes.

John ended up in Kansas City with Dr. Brad Warady at Children’s Mercy.

“John’s been on a very long journey a long and difficult journey,” said Warady.

Warady is a Pediatric Nephrologist, but also Division Director at Children’s Mercy. Warady pushed to put John on a pediatric transplant list.

“He was lucky enough to go on the transplant list and get a kidney five days later,” said Warady.

For almost 40 years, Warady has been helping patients like John. It started in 1984 when he established the Dialysis and Transplantation Program at Children’s Mercy. Two years later, the hospital performed its very first transplant.

See the full story via KCTV 5

Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children's Mercy

U.S. News surveyed nearly 300 pediatric hospitals. Three Children’s Mercy specialties rank among the top 20 nationally this year, with the Nephrology team ranked #10. The Diabetes & Endocrinology team tied for #15, and orthopedics made a big jump from #30 just one year ago to #18. 

 Children’s Mercy specialties’ rankings: 

• Cardiology & Heart Surgery (#43) 
• Diabetes & Endocrinology (#15) 
• Gastroenterology & GI Surgery (#27) 
• Neonatology (#48) 
• Nephrology/Kidney (#10) 
• Neurology & Neurosurgery (#30) 
• Orthopedics (#18) 
• Pulmonology & Lung Surgery (#33) 
• Urology (#26) 

“Being among the top pediatric hospitals nationally is worth celebrating,” said Paul Kempinski, MS, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy. “Children’s Mercy finished first in Missouri and tied for seventh place in the Midwest region, which includes more than 40 hospitals across 13 states. The rankings are a true testament to our team’s expertise, high standards and dedication to the patients and families we serve.” 

In surveying the pediatric centers, U.S. News gathered clinical and operation data. This data was then combined with results from a reputational survey in which board-certified pediatric specialists were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty. 

Those pediatric specialties consist of: cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and GI surgery; neonatology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology and lung surgery and urology.    

The full rankings and methodology are available at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals. 

The Children’s Mercy Research Institute was the perfect setting to celebrate the elevation of this esteemed group of clinicians, researchers and leaders to academic medicine’s highest achievement and the generous donors who made these endowed positions possible.

Philanthropy has powered the hospital, treatment and cures for children for more than 125 years. Thanks to our philanthropic community, Children’s Mercy has more than doubled its total number of endowed chairs - bringing more answers to children and families when they need them most!

“Through extraordinary donor investment, endowed positions provide ongoing financial support to advance excellence in pediatric medicine, research and teaching, while elevating the academic profile of Children’s Mercy and its stature as a national leader,” said Paul Kempinski, Children’s Mercy President and CEO, Alice Berry, DDS, and Katharine Berry, MD, Endowed Chair in Executive Leadership. “The impact: best-in-class experts and care for children and families who call Kansas City and our region home.”

Honorees

Aliessa P. Barnes, MD

The Melva and Randall L. O’Donnell Chair in Pediatric Cardiology

Steven Olsen, MD

Swatek Family Endowed Chair in Neonatology

Jon Wagner, DO

Matson Family Endowed Professorship in Cardiology Research

Norman Y. Otsuka, MD, MSc, FRCSC, FAAP, FACS, FAOA

Dr. Brad and Dawn Olney Chair in Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery

Rangaraj Selvarangan, PhD, BVSc, D(ABMM), FIDSA, F(AAM)

William R. Brown/Missouri Endowed Chair in Medical Genetics and Molecular Medicine

To learn more about the honorees and donors, please visit 2023 Investiture Ceremony (office.com).

Thank you to Dr. Randall and Melva O’Donnell, Ken and Mary Matson, Steve and Kathy Swatek, Dr. Brad and Dawn Olney, and William R. Brown for their visionary leadership and generosity in establishing these vital positions for the continued work of building a world of well-being for all children.

By Asia Cymone Smith

Andrew and MaKenzie Villarreal were as excited as any first-time parents to welcome their son Brysen into the world.

But when MaKenzie went in for her 18-week scan, they knew something would be different about their journey.

After being referred to a maternal-fetal specialist, the diagnosis came in: Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.

“He’s essentially a normal, happy baby other than living with half a heart,” MaKenzie said about Brysen – who is now almost two years old.

Brysen has undergone two open-heart surgeries at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. He has another planned for this summer.

“Our amazing cardiothoracic surgeons do a series of surgeries to make sure blue blood goes to the lungs and gets oxygenated and red blood goes to the body,” said Dr. Aliessa Barnes of Children’s Mercy.

Brysen also requires doctor visits every three months. He is currently prescribed daily aspirin.

“It’s put a lot of strain. But it’s so worth it, and I would do it again,” said MaKenzie.

And while Brysen doesn’t look different at first glance, he is one of many kids living with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). Dr. Barnes explained that looking okay doesn’t mean the diagnosis is any less severe.

“The resiliency of the family, obviously the patient, is why I went into pediatrics. Every day, kids teach me what real bravery looks like,” Dr. Barnes said.

See the full story via KSN

Ward Family Heart Center at Children's Mercy Kansas City

What to expect during heart surgery

By Shannon Rousseau

An incredible display of teamwork at Children’s Mercy Hospital.

An 18-year-old is Kansas City’s first pediatric patient to undergo a dual heart and liver transplant.

The operation happened in October 2022, when the patient was 17 years old. He was born with a rare genetic condition that caused him to go into cardiac failure. The teen had an LVAD device (which helps pump blood to the heart) implanted two to three months before the historic operation.

“It was a labor of love. There was a lot too it, but it paid off,” said Dr. Aliessa Barnes of the 14-hour operation.

She’s a heart transplant physician and the co-director of the Solid Organ Transplant Center. She, along with more than 30 others, worked to place the teenager’s new heart and liver.

Only a handful of U.S. hospitals perform this type of procedure, according to Dr. Bhargava Mullapudi, a pediatric transplant surgeon with Children’s Mercy.

“There are very few institutions in the country such as Stanford, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and now Children’s Mercy that are doing ‘en bloc,’ which means the heart and liver are connected, and both the organs are put in at the same time,” Mullapudi said.

See the full story via Fox 4

Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children's Mercy

The Ward Family Heart Center at Children's Mercy

The Pediatric Liver Transplant Program at Children's Mercy

By Emily Holwick

A doctor’s visit at Children’s Mercy’s heart clinic may look like a routine checkup, but the past seven months have been anything but routine for the Steele family.

“The journey itself was one that has been really miraculous in a lot of ways,” said Jonathan Steele.

He and his wife Lisa, who live in Olathe, found out their 5-year-old son Jake needed a heart transplant last November. He was hospitalized at Children's Mercy while he waited for a donor.

As they faced the unknown, another family was on a similar journey. Little A.J. Winkler was in a room nearby, also in need of a new heart.

“Oh, he's a strong little thing,” his mom, Trista Yates, said as she held her almost-1-year-old in her lap.

A.J. and Jake became fast friends, visiting each other and playing together as the weeks and months went by.

In early June, both boys finally got the life-saving call. They had their heart transplant surgeries just four days apart. After finally being able to go home, a post-surgery checkup also became a reunion for the boys and their families.

See the full story via KMBC 9

Ward Family Heart Center at Children's Mercy

Heart Transplant Program at Children's Mercy

U.S. News surveyed nearly 200 pediatric hospitals. Seven Children’s Mercy specialties rank among the top 25 nationally this year, with the Nephrology team seeing its highest ranking at #4. Nine of our specialties finished higher than one year ago.

Children’s Mercy specialties’ rankings:

·       Nephrology/Kidney (#4)

·       Neonatology/Neonatal Care (#14)

·       Urology (#17)

·       Neurology & Neurosurgery (#18)

·       Cardiology & Heart Surgery (#19)

·       Diabetes & Endocrinology (#22)

·       Pulmonology/Respiratory Disorders (#24)

·       Gastroenterology/Digestive Disorders (#28)

·       Orthopedics (#30)

·       Cancer (#34)

“Being ranked in all 10 specialties is not an easy task, especially when considering the relentless stress that COVID-19 put on our organization last year,” said Paul Kempinski, MS, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy. “To be among the top institutions in the nation speaks volumes about our expertise, outcomes and reputation, but also about our resiliency and resolve to provide the highest-quality care to our patients and their families, during even the most tumultuous of times.”

In surveying the pediatric centers, U.S. News gathered clinical and operation data. This data was then combined with results from a reputational survey in which board-certified pediatric specialists were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty.

Those pediatric specialties consist of: cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and digestive disorders; neonatology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics, pulmonology and respiratory disorders; and urology.   

The full rankings and methodology are available at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals.

Children who have greater acute appendicitis pain may be less likely to improve if they're treated with antibiotics alone, according to a secondary analysis of a nonrandomized clinical trial.

"While approximately 35% of families chose nonoperative management, a high pain score between 7-10 on a 10-point scale nearly doubled in-hospital treatment failure," Rebecca M. Rentea, MD, a pediatric surgeon and the director of the Comprehensive Colorectal Center at Children's Mercy Kansas City, Missouri, told Medscape Medical News in an email.

"Even if nonoperative management of pediatric appendicitis did not work — resulting in the need to remove the appendix in 34% of cases — families were happy with their decisions 1 year later," added Rentea, who co-authored an invited commentary about the study.

Read the full article via Medscape

Surgery at Children's Mercy

The Nickels family has spent many hours at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, having their youngest son’s cleft lip and palate surgically repaired. Inspired by their experience, the family wanted to give back to the hospital to ensure world-class care for all kids for years to come.

In February, the national accessories brand founded by Kansas City native and entrepreneur Kilee Nickels announced the launch of the Love Will collection, a capsule collection benefitting Children's Mercy Kansas City.

For each accessory purchased from the Love Will collection, Nickel & Suede will donate all net proceeds to the I Love Children's Mercy Fund which provides advanced medical treatment, compassionate care and fuels world-class research to create a world of well-being for kids.

“As a mom of five active boys, we’ve been the recipient of many services at Children’s Mercy,” Nickels said. “From my youngest son, Rush’s cleft lip to several other broken arms and injuries, I know that we will always be taken care of and that I can trust my kids to the amazing doctors and nurses at Children’s Mercy. We’re so proud to partner with such an incredible organization that impacts so many children and their families.”

Love Will collection on Fox 4

Nickel & Suede's Love Will collection

Learn more about ways to give to Children's Mercy

Children’s Mercy specialties’ rankings, with one in the nation’s top 10:

• Nephrology (#10)
• Urology (#21)
• Cardiology & Heart Surgery (#23)
• Neurology & Neurosurgery (#26)
• Orthopedics (#28)
• Cancer (#29)
• Gastroenterology & GI Surgery (#31)
• Pulmonology (#35)
• Diabetes & Endocrine Disorders (#43)
• Neonatal Care (#46)

“Having all 10 specialties ranked for the sixth year is a remarkable achievement when considering only about two dozen children’s hospitals rank in all 10 specialties each year,” said Paul Kempinski, MS, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy. “The excellent care given by our entire team is keeping families closer to the communities in which they live and providing a sense of comfort and familiarity, and I think that contributes to the treatment and healing process."

This year, U.S. News surveyed nearly 200 pediatric centers to gather clinical and operational data. This data was then combined with results from a reputational survey in which board-certified pediatric specialists representing the 10 areas were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty.

Those pediatric specialties consist of: cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and GI surgery; neonatology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics, pulmonology; and urology.

The full rankings and methodology are available at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals.

About Children’s Mercy Kansas City

Founded in 1897, Children’s Mercy is one of the nation’s top pediatric medical centers. With not-for-profit hospitals in Missouri and Kansas, and numerous specialty clinics in both states, Children’s Mercy provides the highest level of care for children from birth through the age of 21. U.S. News & World Report has repeatedly ranked Children’s Mercy as one of “America's Best Children's Hospitals.” For the fourth time in a row, Children’s Mercy has achieved Magnet nursing designation, awarded to only about 8 percent of all hospitals nationally, for excellence in quality care. Its faculty of more than 800 pediatric subspecialists and researchers across more than 40 subspecialties are actively involved in clinical care, pediatric research, and educating the next generation of pediatric subspecialists. Thanks to generous philanthropic and volunteer support, Children’s Mercy provides medical care to every child who passes through its doors, regardless of a family’s ability to pay. For more information about Children’s Mercy and its research, visit childrensmercy.org. For breaking news and videos, follow us on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Around the same time, a Baldwin City, Kan., triathlete with a huge heart was determined to donate one of his kidneys after learning about living kidney donation. When doctors at Children’s Mercy and The University of Kansas Health System realized the triathlete’s kidney was a similar match – if not better – for the longtime Children’s Mercy patient, and that the nurse could in turn donate to someone else, the “chain” reaction began.

One of the living donors matched a Wichita man who had been waiting four years on dialysis for a kidney. His mother was no match for him, but her kidney was perfect for a Savonburg, Kan., man on the waitlist for two years.

A total of six surgeries took place at Children’s Mercy and at The University of Kansas Health System on Monday, Oct. 29 and Tuesday, Oct. 30 – three to remove the living donors’ kidneys and three to implant the gift of life into their waiting recipients. Kidney chains traditionally begin with an altruistic donor willing to give their healthy kidney to someone in need – often a complete stranger. Through the thoughtful pairings of this chain, three people were able to get the gift of life instead of one. This was also the first time that a pediatric patient at Children’s Mercy was involved in a transplant chain.

“When we considered this opportunity, I spoke to the nephrologist at The University of Kansas Health System about the need to be assured that having our nurse Christa donate to a second person was not going to have a negative impact on Dayshanae in terms of the donor/recipient match. And so we had to look very, very closely at the match between the altruistic donor and Dayshanae, and Christa and the second recipient, and we found that the matches were favorable in both cases,” Bradley Warady, MD, Director of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology and Director of Dialysis and Transplantation at Children’s Mercy said.

“This was a wonderful collaboration between Children’s Mercy and the University of Kansas Health System. And because of that, future chains will likely occur for other kids followed in the Children’s Mercy End-Stage Kidney Disease program. Our philosophy is to do whatever we can do to expedite successful transplantation in our kids, and shorten their time on dialysis.”

“This event and collaboration with Children’s Mercy illustrates how creative transplant teams can get to make sure a living donor’s desire to help a friend, family or even a stranger is met,” Timothy Schmitt, MD, director of transplantation at The University of Kansas Hospital said.

“The gift of life donated by living donors is always inspiring,” Sean Kumer, MD, PhD, physician vice president of operatives services at The University of Kansas Hospital said. “While our transplant teams have the confidence to do what it takes to benefit our patients, none of this would have been possible without the selfless actions of the organ donors.”

“Living related kidney transplantation is still the best option today for providing long term kidney survival for our pediatric recipients, with half of these kidneys surviving more than 15 years. Unfortunately, a lot of children do not have access to a living donor because they do not have a suitable donor,” Walter Andrews, MD, surgeon at Children’s Mercy said.

“At Children’s Mercy we have several children who are very difficult matches for even a deceased kidney and paired donation provides them with hope that a compatible kidney can be found.”

That motivating factor led staff at both hospitals to do whatever was necessary to create this successful chain.

The structure of this six-patient chain looked like this.

At any given time, around 600,000 people are on dialysis and nearly 100,000 are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. Yet fewer than 20,000 transplants were done in 2017, of which only 5,835 involved living donors.

Between the two hospitals, hundreds of patients are listed for a kidney transplant and anxiously await a kidney from a deceased donor. The collaboration on this living donor transplant chain and future chains which target the best matches between donors and recipients, will allow more patients – and specifically more pediatric patients – to get the lifesaving transplant they need in much less time.

And there’s yet another story as the perfect postscript: The nurse who wanted to donate her kidney to her friend but was willing to give it to a stranger also becomes the first recipient of the “Warady Benefit” at Children’s Mercy. Honoring Dr. Bradley Warady, who has championed organ donation throughout his career, the benefit will allow employees who become living donors to use up to 40 hours of additional Extended Illness Time as they recover from surgery.

EDITORS/PRODUCERS: Video interviews with patients and physicians as well as surgical broll are available for use by all news outlets and can be found here:

Children’s Mercy link

The University of Kansas Health System link

By Donna Pitman

A Kansas City baby is thriving despite a life-threatening condition, thanks to a surgery done while she was still inside her mother's womb.

Brendan and Jean McPherson are picture-perfect now, despite the first picture of their little one showing something very concerning.

"The sonogram tech said, 'There's something we need the doctor to check,'" Jean McPherson remembered. "He came back in and said she had spina bifida."

As 25-and-a-half weeks pregnant, Jean, and the baby they named Mary Kate, were in the hands of surgeons at Children's Mercy.

Surgeons were asked to repair what they could of Mary Kate's spinal column, and lessen any long-term damage from her exposed spinal cord.

Dr. Mike Vlastos has several of these surgeries under his belt, but said these instances never become routine.

"This is ultimate team play in medicine in that all of these individuals come together to focus on a mom and a baby during this surgery," Vlastos said.

See the full story via KMBC 9

Learn more about the Fetal Health Center at Children's Mercy

When it comes to our kids, we will do anything for them. But, when they become sick, we feel absolutely helpless.

So, Children's Mercy is trying to keep parents fully involved when it comes to their kids' procedures and surgeries with an app called EASE.

For the Crusha family, this was their first time using the app as they were waiting for their daughter Sophia to get out of surgery.

On Wednesday, Sophia was having a cardiac catheterization. This is to help her in the long run and give her a normal life.

You could call it the medical version of Snapchat.

Essentially the provider in the room is able to send updates to the parents own phone and those updates disappear within approximately 60 seconds," said Stacey Gibson, a nurse practitioner in the Children's Mercy Heart Center.

But, the app doesn't just alert parents.

"I think the other thing with us there's lots of family that are praying and wanting to get updated at the same time. So, we were able to send invitations to them. So, it's like we are all here in the waiting room," said Crusha.

They are making sure parents feel they are right in the surgery room.

Right now, the hospital is just conducting a trial run, but they hope to have it in every part of the hospital soon.

Read the full story via 41 Action News

Learn more about Surgery at Children's Mercy

At the exam, the technician noticed something concerning. After consulting with a maternal/fetal medicine specialist, the doctor delivered an unsettling diagnosis to the couple—the baby had open myelomeningocele—also known as spina bifida.

Spina bifida happens if the spinal column of the fetus doesn't close completely during the first month of pregnancy. This occurs in one in 3,000 live births in the U.S. If not repaired, it can damage the child’s nerves and spinal cord, resulting in lifelong disabilities that include leg weakness or paralysis and loss of bowel and bladder control.

“When I heard that diagnosis, I felt like the wind had just been knocked out of me,” Jean said. “I had heard of spina bifida, but honestly, I could not have told you what that meant. A whirlwind of questions went through my head … ‘What does it mean? How will she be? Will she walk? Will she have cognitive issues?’ I was afraid for our baby.”

Fast Learners

Early on, the McPhersons learned there are primarily two options to treat spina bifida—leading-edge fetal surgery to close the opening in the baby’s spine before birth; or traditional surgical repair after delivery.

According to research, results from fetal spina bifida surgery are much better than results from traditional surgical repair after birth. In fact, fetal surgery greatly reduces the risk that the infant may need a shunt to drain fluid away from the brain, caused by hydrocephalus. It also has been shown to preserve neurological and leg function. The only catch? Fetal surgery is offered at just a handful of hospitals across the nation.

“I was 20 weeks pregnant, and the fetal surgery has to be performed by 25 ½ weeks,” Jean explained. “We didn’t have any time to waste.”

Because Jean knew long term their baby might need treatment and follow-up care, she scheduled an appointment at Children’s Mercy where the couple consulted the experts in the Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center.

“We wanted to know what our options were and to better understand the diagnosis,” Jean said, “but at that point, Children’s Mercy wasn’t really on our radar screen to perform the surgery.”

Fortunately, during their consultation, Emanuel “Mike” Vlastos, MD, fetal surgeon, joined their appointment.

A highly experienced fetal surgeon, Dr. Vlastos has expanded the Children’s Mercy fetal surgery program to include open myelomeningocele repair and other advanced in-utero procedures.

“Immediately, we could tell that Dr. Vlastos has a passion for fetal surgery and tremendous compassion for his patients,” Jean said. “He carefully laid everything out for us, explaining the pros and cons of fetal surgery versus postnatal surgical closure.”

As the McPhersons left the hospital, Jean said she and her husband had an “ah-ha” moment.

“We walked out of Children’s Mercy very confident in Dr. Vlastos’outcomes,” Jean said.

“To us, the benefits of fetal surgery were clear. We decided if we were candidates, we wanted the fetal surgical closure, and we wanted Dr. Vlastos to perform it. We were confident in his skills and in Children’s Mercy.”

Countdown

At 25 ½ weeks of gestation, Dr. Vlastos, along with Paul Grabb, MD, pediatric neurosurgeon, and the fetal surgery team, opened Jean’s uterus to perform this delicate operation. With the baby still in the womb, the doctors exposed the baby’s back, surgically closing the opening in her spine, then returning her to Jean’s uterus for the remainder of the pregnancy.

The surgery went very well for mother and daughter. After only four days in the Fetal Health Center, Jean went home where she was placed on modified bedrest for the next two weeks. Gradually, she eased her way back to her normal routine.

“Every time we hit a developmental milestone, we felt a little more at ease,” Jean said. Finally, at 34 weeks of gestation, Jean and Brendan knew their baby had reached all the major developmental milestones necessary to be born healthy.

“Each check-up had been good, and it looked like she was developing just as expected,” Jean said. Even so, when the experienced mom’s water broke at 36 weeks of gestation, she was nervous.

Textbook Delivery

“All my other deliveries were textbook, and this was my first C-section,” Jean said. “I didn’t know what to expect.”

Thankfully, Dr. Vlastos did. He expertly delivered 7-pound, 7-ounce, Mary Kate, then handed her off to the neonatal delivery care unit for a thorough check.

“When they told us everything looked fine and that her surgical repair had already healed, we breathed a huge sigh of relief, and said a prayer of thanks,” Jean said.” We feel like fetal surgery gave her a great start—the best chance for a good prognosis long term.”

After just a day and a half in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Mary Kate was transferred to the Fetal Health Center to share a room with her mom.

“From there on out, the experience was just like it was with my other babies”, Jean said. “Because her incision had already healed, I was able to hold and cuddle her. Mary Kate was even dismissed from the hospital before I was,” Jean said. “Everything went very smoothly.

Healthy and at Home

At 3 months old, Mary Kate is smiling and cooing.

“She’s a very happy baby with lots of brown hair, just like her mom and her siblings,” Jean said.

Her check-ups to date show no signs of hydrocephalus, and she has good movement all the way down to her toes. Mary Kate will be followed closely this first year to be certain she remains healthy, and she’ll have some physical therapy to strengthen her leg muscles.

“We say all the time if we could have scripted it, this is the way it would have gone,” Jean said. “We wanted to be sure we made the right decision for Mary Kate and for her long-term benefit, not just because it was more convenient to have the surgery done here,” Jean said.

“We felt confident and comfortable that Children’s Mercy was the right place for her care. It was just an added bonus that it was only 10 minutes from our home,” she said.

“That personal, family feel at the Fetal Health Center was very nice and different from my prior birthing experiences at other hospitals,” she added.

Jean’s advice to other moms who might be hearing that same frightening diagnosis of spina bifida is, “Take a deep breath. Everything is going to be okay. I know this all seems overwhelming, but it’s more manageable than you think!

“Looking back, I would choose fetal surgery, Children’s Mercy and Dr. Vlastos again and again,” Jean added. “They had everything covered from A to Z. The care we received was second to none.”

Learn more about the Fetal Health Center at Children's Mercy

Friday night football wouldn't be the same without great marching bands.

This year's edition of the Highway 92 Showdown pits Platte County against Kearney High, and the Bulldog band features a French horn player who says he's enjoying a second chance to live.

"That's the actual liver scar right there," the slender 16-year old said, lifting his shirt to display a scar that covers most of his torso.

That scar, according to Elam, is a reminder of the battle he's winning. Elam said he was born with Alpha One, which is also known as Alpha One antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic disorder that caused his liver to work inefficiently. Elam said at times, the abdominal pain was unbearable.

In 2012, three days before Christmas, Elam had a successful liver transplant at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

"I was always sick," a now-healthy Elam said. "I would end up in the hospital maybe six or seven times every winter."

Now, six years later, Brendan is better. He's a key part of the school's marching band, playing his French horn with deft skill, and he loves to run as a member of the Kearney cross country team.

Stacy Elam told Fox 4 doctors feared Brendan's condition might result in his death in a year, but the new liver led to his restored health. The organ transplant center at Children's Mercy Hospital now bears Brendan's name.

See the full story via Fox 4.

Learn more about the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program at Children's Mercy

Six-year-old Paizlee Crumby was at her mom’s coed softball game when she and her older sister went into the dugout to get some snack money, her mom told KOAM.

While the sisters were in the dugout, “an overthrown ball hit Paizlee in the back of the head,” her mom, Stephanie, told the station.

The impact from the softball knocked the Kansas girl unconscious, and she was life-flighted to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, according to a GoFundMe page set up by the Crumby family. That was on July 14.

Now about three months later — after “a very tough battle,” including a surgery to remove part of her skull and take out a blood clot — Paizlee is back home with her family in Fort Scott.

“It has been a long journey in the hospital,” Paizlee’s dad, Zachary Crumby, posted to Facebook. “She is a little sad that she is leaving the wonderful staff here at Children’s Mercy and I couldn’t be happier she had all of them helping her along the way.”

Read the full story via The Wichita Eagle

Learn more about Surgery at Children's Mercy

Childhood obesity is an epidemic in the United States. More than 3-million children are overweight for their age and height. Obesity can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If not addressed, children can have significant health issues throughout their childhood and adulthood.

Dr. Jason Fraser is a pediatric surgeon and performs bariatric surgery at Children’s Mercy. He also serves on the American Pediatric Surgical Association Pediatric Obesity Committee.

Recently, we spoke with Dr. Fraser about the type of surgery he performs, misconceptions about obesity and his advice to parents before considering surgery for their children.

What type of procedures are available for children, and what are the benefits and drawbacks of each?

Dr. Fraser: There are a couple different options: the most common are the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and the laparoscopic gastric bypass. In the sleeve gastrectomy, a good portion of the stomach is removed and this limits the amount of food that can be taken in. In the gastric bypass, a small pouch of stomach is made which is then re-routed to a section of small intestine. This procedure limits the amount of food able to be taken in and also limits the absorption of the food.

We perform the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy at Children’s Mercy. The advantage of the surgery is that it’s minimally-invasive (laparoscopic) and only a few small incisions are made. We use a small camera and special tools to remove a large portion of the stomach, including the part that produces the hunger-inducing hormone ghrelin. That way, when the child eats, they feel full sooner.

The biggest drawback to the sleeve is that most of the stomach is gone, but this procedure doesn’t require the anatomy to be rerouted like it does in gastric bypass.

In a gastric bypass procedure, the surgeon will leave a small pouch of stomach and reroute the lower part of the intestine to the stomach. This procedure limits the amount a food a person can take in and decreases the amount the body can absorb. The biggest long-term risk with bypass is nutrition deficiencies. Because the intestine is rerouted, the patient will need lifelong replacement of vitamins and nutrients.

While both surgeries are very safe, it is felt the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is easier on the developing adolescent body and you do not see the nutritional deficiencies seen in the bypass.

What is the minimum age for surgery and are there other requirements?

Dr. Fraser: We do have a certain criteria to determine if surgery is the best option for a child. Our target demographic is adolescents, ages 10 or older. However, we would consider younger children if there were specific circumstances.

Bariatric surgery patients need to have a body mass index of at least 40 (or above 35 if other medical conditions like type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, fatty liver disease or others are present). They also need to have a stable and supportive home situation because they will need help after the operation.

When a patient meets those criteria they have to participate in six months of supervised medical weight loss. We want to make sure they’re committed to the program and doing what they need to do, because it’s a significant undertaking before and after the operation. Making a change to living a healthy lifestyle before surgery and continuing it after surgery is a big part of being successful. We also want to make sure there are no other medical issues that need to be addressed before an operation and to give them a chance to lose weight without an operation.

The child will meet with a dietician to identify what they’re eating and how they’re eating. They’ll keep a journal of their food and start to transition to how they’ll be eating after the surgery, since the diet will significantly change.

Each child will receive a psychological evaluation to better understand his or her specific needs in the lifestyle change process. The child and family will also regularly meet with a psychologist and/or social worker and exercise physiologist as part of their medical appointments to help implement change.

Everything we do pre-op is getting the patient ready for post-op and the life they’re going to have after surgery.

Why is this multidisciplinary approach important?

Dr. Fraser: The biggest benefit to having our medical and surgical weight loss teams work together in one location is that it provides patients with comprehensive care. Having open communication improves patient access and facilitates patient care. We talk on an almost daily basis about our patients and we’re all working toward the same patient-centered goal.

Some critics say that obesity is a lifestyle issue, and adolescents should lose weight by exercising and changing their diet vs. having the surgery. What do you tell those critics?

Dr. Fraser: Obesity is much more than just a lifestyle issue and to try to distill it down to this is unfair. I tell the critics, yes, you can try and change the lifestyle of these children, and even with this operation they’ll still have to change their lifestyle. This is why prior to an operation there is the required supervised medical weight loss period. But things can gets to a point when lifestyle changes alone are not enough.

Sometimes even when the child eats healthy and loses weight it’s not significant enough to impact the child’s overall health. Then the safest and best thing for them is an operation.

When you have a patient who has severe obesity they’re at risk for having the secondary effects like high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, fatty liver disease and an increased risk of heart disease.

Obesity is disease, like cancer. Sometimes you treat cancer with only chemotherapy and that works, but a lot of people will also need surgery. Left untreated, the cancer will shorten their lives. To deny a proven operation or proven treatment will actually cause them more harm. The same is for obesity, why would we deny these children potentially a life-saving procedure?

What do you tell people who think having surgery is “the easy way” out?

Dr. Fraser: It’s not an easy way out. You have to have tremendous commitment before and after the operation. It’s a complete lifestyle change in what you’re eating, how you’re drinking and how you’re exercising.

There’s a lot of bias out there and misconception that children with obesity are not trying hard enough. However, for many patients they’re eating the right things and exercising, but they just can’t get to the point where they need to be.

As a health care industry, we need to help shift this way of thinking and bias, and give people the education to really understand this epidemic. This is not just a social problem that will take care of itself. To think that way is short-sighted. The more we talk about obesity and how it’s a medical issue, the more people will begin to understand it.

The bottom line is that if you have a patient with significant overweight at 12, then there is a good chance you are going to have a patient with significant overweight well into adulthood and have complications related to their weight.

What advice do you have for parents considering surgery for their child?

Dr. Fraser: The biggest thing I’d say is do your research, talk to your pediatrician and talk to your child. Be open and honest with them and find out what they want. Also, consider talking to a surgeon. Find one that will support your child and your family throughout the entire process.

Bariatric surgery is a safe and successful operation. It doesn’t mean that the patient has failed. It doesn’t mean the parents have failed. It doesn’t mean the provider has failed. It is an established treatment options for patients who need it and can really be a big benefit for them.

Surgery helps decrease complications that come with having obesity, and improves the quality and length of life.

Learn more about Surgical Weight Loss at Children’s Mercy or call 816-234-3199 to schedule a consultation.

1. An easier and organized discharge

Children's Mercy Kansas City sends its younger patients home with a drawstring backpack shaped like the face of a bear and with the hospital's logo printed on it. Not only is it a convenient way to transport paperwork and belongings, but also it gets the hospital's name out there in the community.

Inside each Bear Bag is a two-pocket folder that includes the discharge papers, prescriptions, date and time of follow-up appointments, and a survey card that encourages patients (or their parents) to take a short online survey with a chance to win an iPad Mini. The RN discharging the patient can also place an emesis basin, dressing supplies, snacks and a stuffed animal in the bag.

A Children's Mercy nurse sparked the idea. She remembered how difficult it was to leave a hospital with the discharge instructions and medications while trying to carry her child to the car. Always looking for ways to improve the patient experience, nurses at the hospital developed "The Bear Bag" project.

"We decided a bag that would keep everything in place would be so wonderful for our parents and families," says Gentry Ehlert, BSN, RN, CNOR, assistant director of nursing and the operating room at Children's Mercy. "And a bag that was reusable for children after their visit would help improve our marketing."

Read the full article via Outpatient Surgery Magazine.

Learn more about the Department of Surgery at Children's Mercy.

It’s no secret this country is faced with an opioid epidemic. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 115 people in the United States die every day after overdosing on opioids. An estimated 40 percent of those deaths involve a prescription opioid.

Hydrocodone in combination with acetaminophen is the most prescribed drug in the United States, and the top prescribers of opioids are primary care providers, internists, dentists and orthopaedists.

As a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, we often prescribe pain medication post-surgery. Here’s what parents need to know about opioids and addiction.

Surgery and Addiction

It’s really unusual for patients to have an opioid addiction related to surgery, because pain medication is only prescribed for a couple of weeks after the procedure and dependence takes several weeks.

The bigger problem with addiction is when medication is overprescribed, which can be abused later. For instance, a patient may be prescribed a month’s worth of medication, but only need a week’s worth. Instead of leftover narcotics being properly disposed of, the prescription sits in the medicine cabinet. In my experience, parents typically don’t want to get rid of it in case they may need it later on.

The problem begins when this now 10-year-old becomes a 15-year-old and the prescription is still available. If the child has a propensity to addiction or hangs out with the wrong group of friends, then that prescription can get in the wrong hands. It’s been documented that 80 percent of high school seniors who reported using opioids recreationally used leftover medication from a legitimate prescription.

Monitoring Medications

Narcotics should be stored in a safe and secure place such as a locked cabinet, drawer or box to prevent young children from coming in contact with the prescription and accidently ingesting it, and to reduce teen access to prescription medications.

Parents should also keep track of medications known to be addictive and should be concerned if narcotics are missing from the medicine cabinet. Know where the medication is at all times and keep a count of how many pills are in the bottle.

The best advice to parents is to properly dispose of any leftover medications and as physicians we need to do our part as well.

Prescribing the Right Dose

It’s our responsibility to understand how many pills a patient really needs to recover from a certain condition after surgery or if there are alternative ways to relieve pain without opioids.

When I started out in my career, physicians had no idea how much to prescribe, so patients would receive the maximum amount so they wouldn’t run out. Now the focus is to prescribe only the amount a patient truly needs and help find better ways to manage pain after surgery, but it’s a fine balance. The last thing a physician wants to see is a child suffering after surgery. When a patient goes home, they shouldn’t have to come back to the Emergency Room because they’re hurting.

One way to help ensure that is for a quicker and efficient surgery, so there’s less bleeding and resuscitation, and the patient can recover much faster and easier.

Physicians also need to explore whether narcotics are necessary. For instance, studies show once a fracture is stabilized, the internal pressure starts to go down immediately. That helps pain relief because the tissue isn't swelling anymore. We've can also inject pain medication directly into the joint as well, so by the time that wears off the child is on his way to feeling better.

Better Pain Management

Narcotics aren’t always the answer. There are other ways to make sure your child is comfortable after surgery. I’m a big believer in getting a child’s circadian rhythm or sleep cycle back on track. That’s why it’s important to get kids out of the ICU and up to a floor with windows, so the child is exposed to regular day and night light patterns, which helps regulate the body.

It’s also important for the child to get back to a “normal” lifestyle as soon as possible, so the body functions naturally again. That means going to bed on time, eating nutritious meals and snacks, and drinking plenty of fluids.

There are several others ways you can help your child manage the pain in lieu of pain medications, which includes exercise, massage, heat, ice, relaxation techniques, deep breathing and getting plenty of rest. Distractions are also important, so you’ll want family and friends to visit when it’s appropriate. One of the reasons we do early discharge is to get kids home and outside, so they can start feeling whole again.

Finding the Balance

In the end, the goal is to give the child enough medication to treat the pain, but not over medicate. So the narcotics become a smaller part of the equation.

It will take all of us to help stop the current opioid-related public health emergency. As pediatric orthopaedists we need to manage opioid dosing in a responsible manner and encourage patients to use non-opioid and non-pharmacologic modalities to decrease pain.

Important facts to know when taking opioids.

Learn more about safe medication storage and disposal.

Learn more about Pediatric Orthopedics at Children’s Mercy.

Appendectomy (removal of the appendix) is one of the most common emergent surgeries in children. More than 400 appendectomies are performed at Children’s Mercy each year, and of those patients, nearly 90 percent of those without rupture are discharged within four hours of surgery to recover comfortably at home.

We asked Dr. Tolulope Oyetunji, Director of Health Outcomes Research in the Department of Surgery, to discuss the symptoms of appendicitis and the benefits of same-day discharge.

What is appendicitis?

Dr. Oyetunji: Appendicitis is the inflammation and infection of the appendix, which can cause severe abdominal pain. One in 15 people will get appendicitis during their lifetime, and it’s most common in children and teens, usually between 8 and 20 years of age.

There’s really nothing that can be done to prevent appendicitis from happening based on our current understanding. However, early diagnosis and treatment are key, because if left untreated the appendix can rupture and cause your child to become extremely ill.

What are the symptoms of appendicitis?

Dr. Oyetunji: Every child experiences abdominal pain from time-to-time, but appendicitis has distinct symptoms that go beyond the run-of-the-mill stomachache.

While appendicitis is rare for children under the age of two, the symptoms for infants and toddlers include: fussiness, inconsolability, a distended abdomen and vomiting.

In older children, symptoms include: mild fever, significant pain in the lower abdomen (typically near the belly button initially that starts intermittently and then becomes constant usually on the right lower side of the abdomen), lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea (usually minimal).

If your child shows symptoms of appendicitis you should contact your pediatrician immediately.

How is appendicitis treated?

Dr. Oyetunji: The standard procedure for care is laparoscopic surgery, which is minimally invasive, when the appendix is not ruptured. At Children’s Mercy, we can still complete the procedure this way even if ruptured. Nearly 90 percent of our patients go home within four hours of surgery if there is no rupture.

What is the advantage of going home the same day as surgery?

Dr. Oyetunji: There are several benefits. First, these are normally healthy children, so getting patients out of the hospital sooner reduces their risks of being around sicker patients.

Second, and the most important benefit according to feedback we have received, is convenience. An appendectomy isn’t a procedure parents can plan for in advance since it’s an emergent situation, and being in the hospital for several days can be a huge disruption for the entire family. In the past, a patient would be in the hospital for two to four days. Now, patients have the option of going home just hours after surgery if the appendix is not ruptured. Children recover better when they’re at home in a more familiar environment, and can sleep in their own beds. It also reduces the number of days kids miss school and parents miss work.

How common is same-day discharge for non-perforated appendectomies?

Dr. Oyetunji: It’s not as common as one would think. Many children treated in adult hospitals and even at some children’s hospitals will be required to stay an additional day or longer after surgery.

From our research we’ve created an evidence-based protocol to offer same-day discharge when possible, because the evidence-based research show it’s not associated with worse outcomes. When we first started offering same-day discharge in 2012 for non-ruptured appendicitis, only 28 percent of patient were going home the same day as surgery. Now that number is up 87 percent. Same-day discharge is a priority for the surgeons, nurses and anesthesiologists, and it’s become part of the culture at this hospital.

Patients can go home as soon as the pain is well-controlled, and resume normal eating habits and activities as soon as they leave the hospital. There are no restrictions.

Why would a child need to stay the night after surgery?

Dr. Oyetunji: While most children go home same day, there are some patients that need to stay the night if surgery ends late or if they have pain, nausea or other medical comorbidities. Some parents prefer their child stays in the hospital overnight and that’s ok too. The bottom line is we want what’s best for the patient and what is most convenient for the family.

Learn more about Appendicitis Surgery at Children’s Mercy.

Fireworks seem to be all around us at Fourth of July celebrations, but the bright and colorful displays pose a danger to children.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, an average of 280 people present to Emergency Departments daily in the days surrounding the holiday.

Between June 30th and July 2nd - five kids were treated for fireworks injuries in the Children's Mercy Adele Hall Emergency Department. They were seen for burns to the hands, arms, eyes, head and neck caused by sparklers, punks and firecrackers. The CPSC says sparklers, which may seem harmless, can burn at 2,000 °F.

Dr. Christine Cheng is the Chief of Hand Surgery in the Children's Mercy department of Orthopedic Surgery. She has seen many injuries occur when kids are playing with fireworks, without their parents' knowledge.

"Often it isn't lack of supervision but rather lack of knowledge that a child has a firework in the first place. Kids can receive fireworks from friends, cousins, older siblings and the parents don't know until it is too late."

Firework safety tips with kids in mind:

• Do not permit children to handle fireworks.
• Check to make sure children don't have fireworks given to them by friends or other kids.
• Do not use or make homemade fireworks.
• Do not open fireworks.
• Do not misuse fireworks.
• Supervise all use of fireworks.
• Only use fireworks outdoors.
• Have a designated single shooter for firework ignition. Read all labels/warnings/instructions.
• Never hold a firework that is not meant to be held.
• Light only one firework at a time.
• Never relight a firework that does not go off. Wait 20 minutes before handling it and place it in bucket of water.
• Have a bucket of water and hose ready to put out any fires.
• Used fireworks should be soaked in water, placed in a nonflammable trash can away from any flammable objects.

About one-third of all fireworks-related injuries are to the hands and fingers. About 20% of all injuries are to the head and face, and eye injuries account for about 10% of all fireworks-related injuries. The eye injuries are usually due to the use of bottle rockets and other projectile fireworks.

Dr. Denise Dowd is an emergency physician at Children's Mercy. She says age and gender are a real predictor of the likelihood of injury.

"Boys within the age range of 7 or 8 years to 15 or 16 years make up most of those injured by fireworks. They are more likely to take risks, and boys are always much more prone to injuries when compared with girls. When kids of that age get a hold of things like fireworks, they are not using mature judgement. This is why we advise against children using fireworks."

Dowd also has this advice on when a child injured by a firework should see a doctor.

"If they have any kind of burn that affects 1-percent or more of their body’s surface - about the size of the palm of the hand - they absolutely need to be seen in an ED. They also need to be seen if they have a burn or injury to their face, their feet or anything around the joints. A lot of these injuries are fairly serious. We can handle them very well in the ED, and we often discharge kids home, but the best thing to do is completely avoid injury by not using fireworks."

Read more of Dr. Dowd's interview on firework-related injuries via Healio.

Learn more about the Department of Surgery at Children's Mercy.

Learn more about our two Children's Mercy Emergency Departments.

Dr. Shawn St. Peter, Surgeon-in-Chief

When your child needs surgery, whether routine or a life-saving procedure, you want the best surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, radiologists and intensivists who specialize in taking care of children. I’m proud to say Children’s Mercy was recently verified as a level 1 Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). This means we’ve met national quality and safety standards that only a handful of other Children’s hospitals have achieved. Children’s Mercy is one of only 10 pediatric hospitals in the country, and the only hospital in Missouri and Kansas, to be verified as a Level 1 Children’s Surgery Center.

Why Level 1 Verification Matters

Children’s Mercy has the highest level of neonatal and pediatric intensive care units supported by every pediatric subspecialty, which is unique to the region. We are prepared for any circumstance around the clock with pediatric specialists. It doesn’t matter how sick your child is or how urgent the situation, we can take care of your child.

What many people don’t realize is we also take care of the less complex conditions; fractures, ear tubes, tonsils, and endoscopy. We understand for parents there is no common or routine surgery, which is why every child has access to the same resources and specialists that allowed us to achieve the Level 1 verification.

These capabilities are important regardless of the type of surgery. We only have pediatric anesthesiologists who are vastly experienced with assuring your child has a safe and smooth anesthetic experience from providing comfort and limiting anxiety, to the technical aspects of starting an IV when veins aren’t visible, protecting the small airways and fragile lungs, and producing an uneventful emergence from anesthesia.

The pediatric anesthesiologists understand kids are not just smaller-sized adults and administer anesthesia for more than 27,000 kids per year – that’s 74 per day. Most adult hospitals only treat about 200 kids a year – less than one a day. While routine procedures go well the majority of the time in centers that are not dedicated to children, complications happen. As part of the verification process we had to prove we have the experts and systems in place to handle any scenario and provide the highest level of care. When the situation becomes complicated anywhere in the region, the child will be brought emergently to Children’s Mercy. Knowing your child is being cared for in the center with the capacity for handling the highest levels of complexity and the most unexpected complications provides peace of mind.

How are Hospitals Verified?

The ACS was founded over a hundred years ago with the goal of improving the quality of care for the surgical patient by setting high standards for surgical education and practice. The recent verification is based on other nationally recognized American College of Surgeons programs that have set the highest standard of care. By joining this elite group of Level 1 Children’s Surgery Centers, we are contributing to the innovation of pediatric surgery, which impacts the lives of children right here in Kansas City and elsewhere.

To become a verified center, we had to meet the following criteria:

• Have appropriately-trained and experienced staff to ensure the best surgical care for pediatric patients.

• Dedicated resources to take care of the most complex conditions.

• Provide ongoing education to families, community pediatricians, emergency personnel and fellowship programs.

• Participate in a national data registry that yields semiannual reports of quality for processes and outcomes, and identify opportunities for continuous quality improvements.

• Robust academic research program that brings evidence-based science into clinical practice at the bedside.

The review process was rigorous and stringent. After we submitted our 75 page application, we underwent a thorough site visit by an ACS team of surveyors who reviewed our structure, process and clinical outcomes. The team, which consist of experienced children’s surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses, were onsite for two days and visited all areas of the hospital to make sure we have the people, resources, culture of safety and administrative support to ensure patients receive the highest level of care.

Ongoing Commitment

We take our obligation as a Level 1 Surgery Center seriously. This means continually reviewing clinical data to support a top-notch performance improvement system, which assures we perpetually identify opportunities for improvement as part of the commitment to you and your family that you receive the safest pediatric surgery care in the region.

Learn more about the Department of Surgery at Children's Mercy.

Sick children outside the Kansas City area are transported to Children’s Mercy all the time for specialized pediatric care. But it’s not often that a community physician not only makes the referral, but literally goes the extra mile to bring the patient to our door.

Yet that’s just what happened one evening in late March when the Adele Hall Emergency Department phone rang and Celeste Tarantino, MD, Associate ED Division Director and Section Chief of Emergency Medicine, answered.

The caller was Wayne Morton, MD, a board-certified family physician in Osceola, Missouri. His patient, an 8-year-old boy from an Amish family, was showing symptoms of acute appendicitis, possibly perforated. The family had no car, so Dr. Morton put the child and his parents in his car and made the 100-mile trip to Kansas City.

“Dr. Morton said he hadn’t been here in a while and wanted directions,” Dr. Tarantino recalled. “When I asked if he had a GPS in his car or a smart phone for directions, he told me he was an old-school country doctor and doesn’t use all that ‘fancy stuff.' So I gave him directions, and a little after 10 p.m. they were here.”

Dr. Morton’s suspicions were correct. The youngster soon was out of surgery and admitted for inpatient care receiving IV antibiotics, proving that while the “fancy stuff” is transforming health care, experience and caring commitment still matter.

Children's Mercy: a trusted partner

Dr. Morton had been running errands on his day off at the Morton-van Zanten Clinic in Osceola, a town of about 1,000 southeast of Kansas City. While stopping by the family’s home – they are his neighbors – the boy’s mother mentioned her son’s stomachache.

So after completing his chores, Dr. Morton returned to check on the youngster – nothing unusual for a family physician who has been seeing patients for 43 years and still makes occasional house calls. What he found concerned him.

“The boy had all the signs of acute appendicitis,” Dr. Morton said. “His mother said he’d been feeling badly for about 24 hours, so I thought it was likely the appendix was ruptured.”

There was no question in his mind what to do next: go past the hospital in nearby Clinton, Missouri, and head straight to Children’s Mercy.

“There are excellent surgeons at the Clinton hospital, but if the appendix was ruptured, I knew he would need care from pediatric specialists, and it would be two or three hours to transport him from Clinton to Children’s Mercy,” he said. “It’s just an hour and 45-minute drive to Kansas City, so it was quicker to put him and his family in the car and drive them myself.”

Equally important was the family’s trust in Children's Mercy, where years earlier one of their five boys had been treated for an abscess that arose from a tick bite.

“The family had a good experience there before, and if the appendix was ruptured, Children’s Mercy would offer better care for a young patient. That’s why we came there.”

All in a day’s (and night’s) work

While the boy would remain hospitalized at Children's Mercy for several more days, Dr. Morton stayed for about an hour, then headed back home.

“He said he needed to feed his livestock and be ready to see patients at 8 a.m. the next morning,” Dr. Tarantino said.

For Children's Mercy Emergency Department staff, the experience was heart-warming. “Dr. Morton was delightful, and so was the family.”

And Dr. Morton’s reward for making an unplanned trip to Kansas City on his day off to make sure a patient got the care he needed? Buttermilk.

“I like buttermilk, and there’s nothing better than farm-fresh Amish buttermilk,” he said, with obvious appreciation.

Because old-school or high-tech, country or city, it’s still about caring.

Learn more about Appendicitis Surgery at Children’s Mercy.

By Kelly Eckerman

A pediatric surgeon at Children's Mercy is on a mission to change things after seeing seven lawn mower accidents in one summer.

Chester Clark, 8, is back visiting the hospital, where he spent a lot of time after a lawn mower accident three years ago. Chester lost his leg above the knee.

"The last thing I remember is my grandpa was the person who accidentally ran me over," Chester said.

"He looked, but Chester was short enough that when you turn around you can't see that far down. So he never saw Chester," said Chester's mother, Lisa Mycanka.

"Any of these are always very distressing to me, and his injury was very severe, just about life-threatening," said Dr. Dale Jarka.

See the full story via KMBC 9.

Learn more about the orthopedic surgery program at Children's Mercy.

Of those waiting, nearly 2,000 are children.

Kidney Transplant

Brian Navarro                                                                                    Dr. Bradley Warady

Many of the children on the waiting list are on dialysis and in need of a kidney.

“In the case of children, dialysis should be seen as the bridge to transplant; it's not the end-all therapy,” said Dr. Bradley Warady, Director, Division of Pediatric Nephrology at Children’s Mercy. “These kids are hooked up to a machine anywhere from three to seven days a week to sustain their lives until a new kidney becomes available.”

19-year-old Brian Navarro Raytown, Mo., knows firsthand what it’s like to be tethered to a dialysis machine. He received a kidney transplant last April, a year after he was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and was coming to the hospital three days a week for dialysis.

“My quality of life is so much better after my transplant. I have more energy, I don't feel sick and I can focus more at school now,” Brian said.

Not only was his transplant life-saving, it was life-changing for the entire family.

“It impacted my parents’ lives too, because I depended on them for transportation and some of my care.”

More than half the children on the kidney transplant waiting list and on dialysis will receive a kidney within one year after starting dialysis, and 40 percent of all pediatric kidney transplant recipients will receive a kidney from an adult living donor.

“Whenever possible, we prefer to give a child an adult organ, which gives the children the best possible chance for prolonged function of the kidney,” said Dr. Warady. “In addition, the life expectancy of the transplanted patient far exceeds that of the patient on prolonged dialysis.”

Liver Transplant

Dr. James Daniel and Kailyn McMillin (then and now)                                          Gail McMillin (Kailyn's mom), Vicki Fioravanti  

Kailyn McMillin recently celebrated the 14th anniversary of her liver transplant at Children’s Mercy, and reunited with her physician, Dr. James “Jack” Daniel, Medical Director of Liver Transportation and Vicki Fioravanti, RN, Transplant Coordinator.

Kailyn was 18 years old when she received her transplant and waited more than a year before a compatible donor was found. She’s now 32.

“I feel fortunate every day that I can get up and go to work full-time, and be a relatively normal person. I was grateful when I was younger, but I think as I get older I’m even more thankful, because I realize how things could have gone another way.”

Vicki said seeing Kailyn as a thriving adult was “incredible.”

“We see kids who, 30 years ago, would have died because there was nothing we could do to help them,” said Vicki, who has been a transplant coordinator for most of her 42-year nursing career, 19 of them at Children’s Mercy. “Today, through the generosity of an organ donor, they get a transplant, go home, grow, play, and do the things a kid is supposed to do. We get wedding invitations and baby announcements from kids we’ve transplanted who grow up and have children. It makes all the nights we’re up all night worth it. It’s the big payoff in this job.”

Dr. Daniel said Kailyn is a good example of what organ donation can do.

“Our goal in working with kids is to make sure they grow up to be adults and have a good life, and that’s what we’re seeing with Kailyn," Dr. Daniel said. "Sometimes people need organ transplants later in life just to keep alive, but Kailyn’s transplantation gave her a future.”

Heart Transplant

Maggie Mae Gorrell                                       Maggie's Family                                              Stacy Reynolds

Children’s Mercy has performed 14 heart transplants since February 2015, and waiting for transplant day can be the hardest part for patients and families.

Right now, there are six patients on the heart transplant list, which includes 15-month-old Maggie Mae Gorrell. She’s been on the list since Oct. 10, 2017. Maggie’s mom says a new heart will mean she gets to have a life outside of the hospital.

“She won’t be attached to the machine that is keeping her alive, instead she’ll be with her sister, and maybe fly in her dad’s plane,” said Kristen Gorrell, Maggie’s mother. “The miracle of transplant means a real life, not a sick life.”

Stacy Reynolds, Heart Transplant APN, says people don’t realize how many children are waiting for organs and they often think of heart failure as an adult issue. She understands organ donation isn’t an easy decision for families to make, but it truly makes a difference.

“I want them to understand that, in the most horrible situation they could face, they have an opportunity to positively impact the life of another child,” Reynolds said.

Kristen added if Maggie doesn’t get her heart, they’ll donate her other organs to help someone else. “If you have to go through tragedy, why not have a glimmer of hope?”

Consider Organ Donation

Dr. Daniel encourages people to consider organ donation.

“There are thousands of people in the United States who need new organs, but can’t get them and it’s a shame. We need to think about how we can help our fellow human beings.”

You can become a living donor, or you can check the box on your driver’s license to donate your organs if something were to happen to you. Make sure to have a conversation with your family, so they know your desire to donate. One donor can save eight lives.

Also speak with your spouse about what you would do if anything were to happen to your child. Would you want your child to be an organ donor? It’s a difficult conversation, but one that’s easier to have in advance of a crisis and when a loved one is critically ill.

“For children who need a kidney, liver or heart transplant, these organs are truly a gift of life,” Dr. Warady said.

Learn more about becoming a living donor or register to be an organ donor.

Learn more about the kidney, liver and heart transplant programs at Children’s Mercy.

Learn more about Children’s Mercy Extended Illness Time Benefit Supports Bone Marrow, Organ Donation.

Click here to watch Dr. Daniel and Kailyn McMillin's reunion.

After three years, teens with severe obesity who underwent stomach reduction surgery to lose weight also significantly improved their heart health.

A study published in Pediatrics shows that blood pressure, cholesterol, inflammation and insulin levels all improved, particularly among those who lost the most weight.

"The potential impact of such risk reduction translates into a reduced likelihood of developing significant heart disease later in life, including atherosclerosis, heart failure and stroke," says study author Marc Michalsky, surgical director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, in an email. "This study serves to reinforce the benefits of bariatric surgery as a safe and effective treatment strategy that should be considered sooner rather than later."

Younger adolescents in the study showed bigger improvements in their cholesterol and inflammation levels than the older teens. Even participants who had normal-range blood pressure, triglycerides or cholesterol levels before surgery saw improved measures.

Nearly a third of all children and teens are overweight or obese in the US, and an estimated 4 to 7 percent have severe obesity. The greater a person's obesity, the greater their risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and organ damage.

The findings are important because many of the participants in this study likely already had some level of cardiac damage, such as thickened arteries or heart walls, says Geetha Raghuveer, a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Mercy Kansas City in Missouri who was not involved in the study.

"If you have very high blood pressure or lipids [cholesterol] or diabetes, you do see cardiovascular changes even at a very young age," Raghuveer says. "They may not be having a heart attack or stroke in their teens and 20s, but they're closer to having those in their 30s and 40s."

Read the full article via NPR.

Learn more about the surgical weight loss program at Children's Mercy.

Learn more about pediatric cardiology services at Children's Mercy's Ward Family Heart Center.

The question is obvious and unavoidable: What’s a world-renowned physician-surgeon-scholar doing in an MBA program?

For Dr. George W. Holcomb III (EMBA ’02), surgeon-in-chief at Children’s Mercy, the program provided far more benefit than he ever imagined.

Shortly after being named to his medical management post, Holcomb enrolled in the Executive MBA program offered by the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“I really wanted to better understand business principles and financial management so that I could more effectively run our Department of Surgery,” Dr. Holcomb said. “What I learned most during my time at the Bloch School was operational management and human resources, and these areas have helped me much more in my position as Surgeon-in-Chief than understanding an income statement or balance sheet.”

Inspired by the people-management skills he received at Bloch, he advocated for Children’s Mercy to engage with the Bloch Executive Education Center to train many of his colleagues – both physicians and non-physician executives.

His service to his patients, his hospital, his university and his community are the reasons why Dr. Holcomb – known as “Whit” to his colleagues – was chosen as the 2017 recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award from the Bloch School.

Best known for his interest in minimally invasive surgery in infants and children, and his emphasis on evidence-based medicine, Dr. Holcomb is the author of more than 240 peer-reviewed publications, 50 book chapters, and editor of six textbooks.

In addition to serving as surgeon-in-chief, he is also a senior vice president and director of the Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery at Children’s Mercy. He also serves as a professor of pediatric surgery at the UMKC School of Medicine.

As an expert in minimally invasive surgery, he has given presentations and attended conferences across the globe, from Europe to Russia, China, South America, India and Cuba.

“I became intrigued with the use of minimally invasive surgery as, even in its early days, it was obvious that there was much less pain and discomfort to the child, which allowed a faster healing process,” he said.

Each year, the UMKC Alumni Association recognizes 16 alumni and one family with top honors. UMKC will honor Holcomb and other outstanding alumni at the 2017 Alumni Awards Luncheon April 20 on campus. The luncheon is one of the university’s largest events and proceeds support student scholarships. Last year’s luncheon attracted more than 500 attendees and garnered more than $120,000 in scholarship funds.

Read the article via UMKC.

Learn more about the Department of Surgery at Children's Mercy.

"Beautiful,” is how Dr. Dima Petrenko responded when asked to summarize the visit he and five of his colleagues from Ukraine made to Children’s Mercy in January.

“There were no questions they didn’t answer,” said Dr. Petrenko, describing Children’s Mercy as a “cozy” place. “They allowed us to be a part of the hospital.”

Dr. Petrenko is the new head of the orthopaedic department in Kharkiv University Hospital and the Sytenko Institure of Spine and Joint Pathology. Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine and the Sytenko Institute is the oldest and most respected musculoskeletal institute in Ukraine, once a part of the former Soviet Union but now a sovereign state in Eastern Europe.

Dr. Petrenko and his colleagues are working to modernize their medical institution by organizing their pediatric surgical service according to American standards. He proposed a learning trip to Kansas City to his colleagues because of his relationship with Richard Schwend, MD, Director-Orthopaedic Research Program and President-Elect of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society North America. Dr. Schwend and Dr. Petrenko met about 10 years ago at a Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.

“We have become very good friends,” Dr. Schwend said. “I have visited them three times. We email a lot, see each other at meetings, and do telemedicine when I have a particularly interesting surgical case.”

In fact, even though this was his first visit to Children's Mercy, because of telemedicine, Dr. Petrenko said, “I saw a lot of familiar faces,” when he visited the OR in person just from having observed surgeries online.

In addition to Dr. Petrenko, an orthopaedic surgeon, Children's Mercy hosted:

• Volodymyr Savenkov, MD, Director of the Kharkiv University Clinic;
• Viktoria Savenkova, MD, Scientific Director;
• Andrey Mezentsev, MD, Senior Researcher;
• Yaroslav Degtyarov, MD, Pediatric Surgeon; and
• Volodymyr Bubna, MD, Hand Surgeon

Dr. Petrenko said highlights of the trip included learning about advanced technology employed by Children's Mercy, including telemedicine; organizational learnings; and insights into the hospital’s research processes.

Dr. Savenkov added, “I would like to thank Children’s Mercy for this opportunity. Our ultimate goal is to establish a long-term collaboration between us, to develop research investigation, professional collaboration and experience exchanges.”

Pamela Frank, Director-International Services, said Children’s Mercy shares interest in collaboration with colleagues around the world to improve the health of all children.

“Many of our Children’s Mercy physicians are engaged internationally, and frequently collaborate with physicians in other countries," she said. "Identifying and supporting such ambassadors like Dr. Schwend is key to positioning Children's Mercy on the world stage. His past work with Kharkiv University Clinic paves the way for a potential long-term and sustainable institutional partnership. Most hospitals create silos for international outreach… Global Health, International Medicine, Medical Travel, International Research, GME, etc. Children's Mercy is developing a more synergetic approach to ‘world health’ which will include not just patient referrals and educational exchanges, but also global branding; physician retention and recruitment; and innovation.”

Learn more about telemedicine and surgery at Children's Mercy.