Medical Insights Episodes

It's another day in September, which means we are going to be recognizing National Sickle Cell Awareness Month. Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited blood disorder in which blood cells may become sickle shaped and harden, causing a lot of pain. On this episode, I am bringing back Lisa's Story: A Daughter with Sickle Cell Disease. I want to bring to light sicklecelldisease.org's theme for 2021, which is Sickle Cell Matters. This impactful disease can permeate every part of a person's life, from de...

When it comes to talking about cancer with kids, there is no one that compares to Holly Senn (Certified Child Life Specialist at Inova L.J. Murphy Children's Hospital). We're going to share some tips for parents, teachers, and anyone else who works with children, so that you can approach this serious topic in a really open, kind, and educational way. In this episode, we talk about… [1:16] Holly's experience in the Child Life field [3:19] Working with hematology-oncology families [4:30] Engaging ...

This episode is sponsored by SmileMakers. Use code ONCALL20 for 20% off your order of smile making stickers, toys, patient supplies, and more! Meet Bonnie, her husband and her three adult children. Bonnie calls herself "the replacement kid" after her parents lost their son to Type 1 Diabetes. Because of their history, Bonnie was hyper aware of the signs and symptoms and ended up diagnosing her own son at 5 years old with a urine test strip on the bathroom floor of their own home. Have you heard...

Answering parent questions in a 12 minute talk. This episode is sponsored by SmileMakers. Use code ONCALL25 for 20% off your order of smile making stickers, toys, patient supplies, and more! Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist gives specific language to use when talking with your child about an upcoming surgery. +When to bring up the topic before surgery day +Things to do prior to surgery to get prepared +How to address pain, fear and the unknown Have you heard? The Child Life On Call mobile ...

Answering parent questions in a 12 minute talk. Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with Christine Bomberger, Music Therapist at Cleveland Clinic Children's. We talk about: +Why music therapy should be a staple in every children's hospital +An example of how "Baby Shark" helped a child through a painful dressing change +How you can seek out music therapists in your community Have you heard? The Child Life On Call mobile app for parents, kids and their care team will be available in 2022...

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with Cortney Given, Life Coach and Host of the Mindset for Medical Moms Podcast. Cortney could have never guessed that the high school paper she wrote HLHS would be given to her second daughter. Having just moved to Hawaii to start a family adventure, Cortney and her daughter had to relocate back to California for medical care. In this episode, we talk about: +How living apart from her oldest daughter and husband to seek medical care was challenging a...

Answering parent questions in a 12 minute talk. Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with Lauren Holley, CCLS and Professor discusses the topic: How to Talk to Kids About Death. We talk about: +How to concretely explain death to kids at all stages of development +What emotional responses kids may display after the conversation +Ways to keep the conversation "ongoing" to help kids feel supported When parents feel empowered, everyone wins – kids thrive and the care team excels! Links and R...

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with Jessica Patay, Founder and Executive Director of We Are Brave Together. Her own story as a mom of a child with special needs began in 2003 when her second son, Ryan, was born and diagnosed with a rare, genetic disorder, called Prader-Willi syndrome. Within two days of receiving this diagnosis, she received a phone call from a mentor mom from the Prader-Willi California Foundation. Immediately she felt relief and comfort knowing she was NOT ALONE....

"It was a life or death... that was our life and we rose to the occasion." Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with Laurie Strongin from Hope for Henry. We talk about: +How parenthood started out with hearing the news no parent wants to hear +How Laurie's growing family lived out of hotels and Ronald McDonald Homes for years +The impact her first born's death has had on his siblings +How the first birthday without a "birthday boy" sparked a mission that has reached over 55,000 children ...

Answering Parent Questions: How Do I Tell My Kids that I Have Cancer? Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist gives you tips, language and things to consider when you're telling children about a cancer diagnosis in the family. We talk about: +How to assess your child's reaction to the news +Concrete language to describe cancer and chemotherapy +Ways to keep the conversation open-ended Have you heard? The Child Life On Call mobile app for parents, kids and their care team will be available in ...

Episode 69 | Liza's Story - A daugther with Lyme Disease "I don't think I would have ever done the work on myself had it not been for my daughter's struggle." Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with Liza Blas from Very Happy Stories. We talk about: +How Liza found her purpose and began her own healing journey +Liza believes her daughter's highly sensitive characteristics played into her chronic health issues +Resources to help other parents going through experiences like theirs Resou...

"Being a child life specialist with this population is not just about supporting them through their hospital experience, its about preparing them for the rest of their life." Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with two child life specialists, Katie and Jessica, from the transplant team at MedStar Georgetown Hospital. These essential members of the care team talk about: The ways they developmentally and emotionally support pediatric transplant families How they address hard questions fo...

"We had to learn everything we could because our son's life was literally on the line." Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with Todd and Morgan who just a few weeks after the birth of their first child were faced with the truth that he had a life threatening condition called Biliary Atresia. The cure? A liver transplant. Despite the many challenges they faced, Todd and Morgan talk about: +How they used family to be their "google doctors" +How to find your voice during bedside rounds...

"I think this may be a parent's worst nightmare." Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist interviews Holly, mom to three children living in Northern California. Holly's son, Austin, was typical until just after his 1st birthday, then started regressing in gross motor including balance and weak tone and eventually spasticity, which is their biggest concern to this day. Holly has a sense of humor and outlook that will make you instantly feel connected to her and her family. She talks about the cr...

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Annie, Certified Child Life Specialist interviews Lindsey, mom to Memphis a son who suffered from Infant Botulism. Lindsey is an experienced mother of three when her son, Memphis, came into the world. She breastfed him like she had her others and when he started refusing to nurse and acting sleepy, she took him urgent care. After two urgent care visits had concluded that Memphis had a cold-virus, his symptoms continued and she took him to the ER where he was quickly diagnosed with Infant Botulis...

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist interviews Dafne, The Chronic Illness Coach. Dafne is mom to three college-age kids and she and her husband live in Houston, Texas. In this episode, we talk about how her children all suffer from chronic illness: Juvenile Type 1 Diabetes, Juvenile Psoriatic Arthritis and Juvenile Ankylosing Spondylitis. She describes how: *Finding a medical team who includes you as the parent is important *Searching for a tribe of people who understand is worth the effort *...

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist interviews Shay Shull from Mix & Match Mama. Shay is a cookbook author, lifestyle blogger, travel agency owner, wife and mama who loves making every day special for my family. Shay is mom to four kids and she and her husband live in McKinney, Texas. Today, we talk about her daughter Ashby and how their family copes with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome (KTS). Ashby is one of her adopted children from China and has had over 22 surgeries since joining their family....

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist interviews Amanda, mom to two micro preemie twins born at 23 weeks. Amanda and her husband met at Baylor University and had a normal pregnancy and delivery with their first son. Their second go at getting pregnant was not as easy and included fertility treatments, bed rest and an traumatic, emergent c-section at 23 weeks. She describes how: *Her faith was instrumental for getting through their experience *Detailed preparation from NICU team before hand help...

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist interviews Effie Parks, mom to Ford who was born with a rare disease called CTNNB1. Effie is the host of the Once Upon a Gene podcast and in this episode she shares about her journey into parenthood and what it's like raising a child with special needs. She describes how: she learned to advocate for her son's needs self-care is non-negotiable she came to the realization that although parenting is different than she envisioned, her son has taught her more ...

Katie Taylor, Certified Child Life Specialist interviews Dana Burnett, Certified Child Life Specialist for the Bougier City, Louisiana school district. Dana talks about her child life journey up until this point and how she has transitioned to supporting K-8th grade students through 1:1 interventions. She focuses on serving students with chronic illness, children facing illness and loss, and children with parents who have an illness. Follow along with Dana on Instagram @takingchildlifetoschool...

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks to Danielle, mom to Della a daughter with Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis. You may know Danielle formally as Danni Starr, the media personality, but she is also momma of two girls, one of which suffers from invisible, chronic illness. Danielle takes us through what the journey to a diagnosis was like (spoiler: it wasn't easy), how their entire family copes with the ups and downs and one surprising revelation: chronic illness isn't all bad. Listen to D...

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist interviews Teresa, a mom of a teenage daughter with Spina Bifida. With no signs of abnormalities during her pregnancy, Teresa was shocked to learn that a fatty lump on her daughter's skin at the base of her spine would lead to a diagnosis of spina bifida occult with a tethered spinal cord. Teresa walks us through the shock of the diagnosis and the power that a one-on-one discussion with an empathetic doctor had on their ability to cope. Motivated by thei...

(This episode was developed in partnership with Aflac. I was compensated for this episode, but all opinions are entirely my own. #ad) In this episode, Katie Taylor, Certified Child Life Specialist talks about the importance of a community for caregivers. She interviews Nichole who shares what her son's experience with cancer has been like. Sara Stewart, Child Life Specialist at Lurie Children's Hospital discusses how she supports children and families during their cancer journey. Nichole refers ...