Episodes

For many families navigating chronic illness, it's hard to imagine what the future might look like for their child.This week on Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Vincent Rosche, a patient advocate, fitness enthusiast, and survivor who has spent most of his life navigating complex medical challenges. Diagnosed with chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) at just 9 months old, Vincent grew up with feeding tubes, central lines, frequent hospitalizations, and even ba...

Has your child been burned? Whether it was hot water, ramen noodles, a stove, fireworks, or another accident, this episode guides parents through what to do next.In this episode, Katie sits down with Christella Almonacy, Certified Child Life Specialist at Wellstar's Burn Program, to discuss what families can expect after a child experiences a burn injury. Together, they explore the physical and emotional recovery process, how Child Life Specialists help children cope with painful procedures, a...

What is it really like to have a baby in the NICU?Katie Taylor sits down with NICU nurse, educator, and content creator Alyssa Saldivar (@alyssathenurse) to discuss how families can find confidence, connection, and support during one of the most challenging experiences of parenthood.Alyssa shares her journey of becoming a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, her passion for supporting both families and fellow nurses, and the practical ways parents can become active participants in their baby'...

What happens when a pediatric nurse practitioner suddenly finds herself on the other side of diagnosis?On this week's episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Laura Forcella, a developmental pediatric nurse practitioner and mom to a son with Dup15q syndrome and epilepsy. Laura shares the deeply personal journey of recognizing her son's infantile spasms, navigating a rare disease diagnosis, and balancing life as both a medical professional and a caregiver.Laura op...

When a child needs emergency transport to a children's hospital, families are often facing one of the hardest moments of their lives. Behind every ambulance ride, helicopter flight, or plane transfer is a highly trained team working together to keep children safe, while also supporting parents through the unknown.In this episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Kami Stone, Assistant Clinical Director at Texas Children's Hospital Austin, and Jacob, a transport EMT ...

For many families, going home from the hospital feels like the finish line. But what happens when the emotional impact of a medical experience lingers long after discharge?On this episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Jen Aspengren, founder of Alongside Network, to discuss pediatric medical traumatic stress (PMTS), a common yet often overlooked experience that affects children, parents, siblings, and caregivers following serious medical events.Jen shares her ...

What happens when the healthcare professional becomes the parent sitting on the other side of the diagnosis?In this episode, Katie Taylor sits down with Melissa Apa—a clinical pharmacist, diabetes educator, and mom—to share her family's journey navigating both celiac disease and type 1 diabetes with her young son. Melissa opens up about the emotional overwhelm of receiving life-changing diagnoses, even with years of medical expertise behind her, and how her family learned to adapt, advocate, a...

"I kept telling her, 'We've got this.' And inside, I had no clue what was coming next."What does it look like to be "the strong one" when your world is falling apart?In this episode, Katie Taylor sits down with Jared Muscat—dad, surfer, and self-proclaimed "dad-vocate"—to share his family's unexpected journey into the NICU after a high-risk pregnancy. From a routine 20-week appointment to welcoming his son Ollie at just 25 weeks, Jared opens up about fear, resilience, and what it means to sho...

In this episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Dr. Matt Goldstein—physician, biotech leader, and father—who shares the story of his daughter, Havi, and her diagnosis with Tay-Sachs disease.Despite both parents undergoing genetic screening before starting their family, a testing error led to a missed diagnosis. Javi appeared to develop typically at first, but over time, subtle changes led to a life-altering realization: she had a rare, fatal neurodegenerative con...

Supporting Families in Pediatric Healthcare: Insights from Parent CaregiversIn this episode, we explore the experiences of parent caregivers navigating their child's complex health journeys, emphasizing the importance of advocacy, sharing stories, and hospital-family collaboration. Join us as these incredible parents discuss how they advocate for their children, the role of social media in building community, and what hospital leadership can do to improve family-centered care.Key topics covere...

What happens when a diagnosis labeled "lethal" doesn't tell the full story?In this episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Nicole, a mom of five, who shares her daughter Charlotte's journey with Trisomy 13—a diagnosis often associated with limited survival and quality of life.After receiving devastating news over the phone while at work, Nicole and her husband were told their daughter likely wouldn't survive. But instead of accepting that narrative, they sought...

What does it look like when life changes in an instant—and a family learns to navigate the unimaginable?In this episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Marah, a mom of four, who shares her daughter Abigail's journey after a cardiac arrest at just nine days old. What began as a healthy twin pregnancy quickly shifted into a complex medical path involving a NICU stay, life support, and long-term care needs.As Marah and her husband entered the world of medical paren...

What happens when your child seems sick, but everything keeps coming back normal?For a lot of parents, the scariest part isn't the diagnosis. It's the not knowing. It's being told everything looks fine when your gut is telling you something is off.This week, Katie sits down with Kayleigh, a medical assistant and mom of three, to share the story of her daughter Kanessa. Almost a year after a freak eye injury that seemed to heal, Kanessa suddenly got sick. At first, it looked like a simple vir...

What happens when your child already senses something life-changing—before anyone has found the words to say it out loud?When serious illness enters a family, children often understand more than we realize. And for caregivers, the challenge becomes not only navigating medical decisions, but also finding the right way to support their children through it all.This week, Katie sits down with Anna Lonon, founder of the Lonon Foundation, to share her family's story of navigating cancer when her hu...

What happens when your instincts tell you something is wrong—but you're dismissed again and again?For many parents, the journey to a diagnosis begins with a gut feeling—and the courage to persist in seeking answers.This week, Katie sits down with Nikki McIntosh, author and advocate, to share the story of her son Miles, who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) at just 18 months old. After noticing delays in his ability to stand and bear weight, Nikki followed her instincts despite ...

Within minutes of arriving at the hospital, Brady and his wife were told their newborn daughter had suffered a severe brain injury.In this episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie sits down with Brady Crandall, founder of Youth Crews, to share his family's journey following a diagnosis of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).What began as a routine pregnancy quickly turned into an emergency delivery, NICU stay, and a new reality as parents of a medically complex child.Brady opens u...

How do you prepare a child for surgery and build trust with their medical team? This episode explores how families and healthcare providers can work together to support children through procedures like tonsillectomy and other medical challenges.This week's guest, Dr. Tali Lando, shares her perspective as a pediatric ENT surgeon, author, and mom of three teenage daughters. She and Katie discuss what it's really like for families navigating medical care with complex kids and how parents can advo...

What does life really look like after a child receives a kidney transplant? Many people think transplant is the end of the journey—but for families, it's often just the beginning.This week's guest, Lyndsey Fedorko, returns to the podcast to share the next chapter of her son James's medical journey—life after a kidney transplant. After years of dialysis, hospitalizations, and uncertainty, James received a life-saving kidney transplant from his aunt, marking the beginning of a new season for the...

This week's guests, perinatal mental health therapists Emily Souder and Mahaley Patel, share the story behind their book Your NICU Story: Reflecting on Your Family's Experience—a guided journal created to help families process the emotional impact of a NICU stay. Mahaley also opens up about her daughter, Sachi, who died after a NICU stay, and how storytelling and narrative healing became a lifeline in her grief.She and Emily talk with Katie about why so many NICU parents carry trauma long afte...

What happens when your child shares something that shifts the future you thought you understood?In this episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie sits down with Kelly Kemp — certified child life specialist of more than 30 years and mom of three — to talk about navigating trust, grief, advocacy, and love after her child was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and came out as transgender.Kelly shares:The phone call that changed everythingNavigating substance use and mental health concer...

How do you help a child respond when someone asks about a scar, burn, or limb difference?This week's guest, Abby Horton, opens up about her journey as a Child Life Specialist working across ICU, burn, surgical, rehab, and inpatient settings—and how those experiences shaped the way she supports families navigating physical differences. From sudden trauma and accidents to limb differences, burn injuries, surgical scars, and hair loss from chemotherapy, Abby shares how parents can gently empower ...

This week's guest opens up about the shock of an emergency C-section at 25 weeks and 3 days, the fear of entering the NICU for the first time, and the powerful role Child Life Specialists played in supporting not only Vincent, but their entire family, including his older brother. She reflects on what helped her cope during long NICU days, how she advocated for herself using her healthcare background, and what she wishes she had known about the "medically complex" label sooner.This episode expl...

When tube feeding enters your life—whether at birth, in childhood, or adulthood—it can feel overwhelming, isolating, and misunderstood. In this special live episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, we center the voices of those with lived experience to explore what tube feeding really looks like beyond the diagnosis and discharge instructions.Host Katie Taylor is joined by parent advocates, a young adult patient, and a pediatric dietitian to share honest, unfiltered perspectives on NG tubes,...

When your child's life is shaped by medical complexity, childhood can quickly become defined by hospital stays, procedures, and limitations. In today's episode, we explore how medically supported camps transform that narrative—creating space for joy, belonging, and healing for children, families, and even healthcare providers themselves.Katie Taylor is joined by Dr. Laura Blaisdell, Chief Medical Officer of SeriousFun Children's Network, and Jamie Gentille, Child Life Specialist Leader and for...