Episodes

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 unknownHave you heard? The Child Life On Call mobile ...

"For me, it's balancing supporting him in full honor of his disabilities and making sure I am advocating for him AND relating to him as fully capable and strong."Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with mom of four, life coach and podcast host, Kara Ryska.Kara's son was diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after he turned 18 months old. We talk about what it's like to hear that piece of information in the waiting room of a hospital and how differently people can react in that moment. ...

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 communityHave 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 supportedWhen 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....

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with Lauren Holley, CCLS and Professor answers the question and discusses the topic: Should Young Kids Go To Funerals?We talk about:+How to assess whether or not your child is ready to attend the funeral+Concrete language to prepare a young child for a funeral+Ways to support your child during and after the funeralHave you heard? The Child Life On Call mobile app for parents, kids and their care team will be available in 2022. Sign up to stay inf...

"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-endedHave you heard? The Child Life On Call mobile app for parents, kids and their care team will be available in ...

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist talks with Sara Olsher, mom, cancer survivor, and owner of Mighty and Bright.Not only does Sara talk with us about getting diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34, but she also talks about how she went through it as a single mother navigating life with a six-year-old.We talk about+How she advocated for herself and encourages parents to ask the same things for themselves that they do for their children+How asking for help was non-negotiable and ...

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 theirsResou...

"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 familiesHow 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...

Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist is interviewed and asked about ways to support children of chronically ill or medically complex children.Questions that Katie discusses include:+How to have hard conversations with children+How to keep siblings included and understood+When is the best time to have a baby after having a child with medical needsMadeline is the host of The Rare Life podcast and this episode is also featured on her show.Have you heard? The Child Life On Call mobile app fo...

"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...

Mijha and her husband live in Atlanta with their three daughters—ages 9, 5, and 8 months at the time of this conversation with Child Life On Call. Her middle daughter, Violet, was born with challenges that became evident only months after birth, leading the family on a journey through genetic testing, therapies, advocacy, and acceptance.Violet's Early StoryViolet spent two nights in the NICU after birth due to jaundice. Though prenatal testing showed no abnormalities, and doctors initially s...

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"It's been rough. It's like your heart is in two different places."Katie, Certified Child Life Specialist interviews Madeline, a mom from Utah that shares her son's experience with having a rare form of skeletal dysplasia and how her daughter has dealt with their journey.Madeline is host of The Rare Life podcast which was inspired by her son, Kimball after his arrival into the world. In this episode, Madeline walks us through what it's been like for her daughter.Madeline is a fierce, inspi...

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 welcomes back Shani (a.k.a. Child Life Mommy) to the podcast.Shani is a Certified Child Life Specialist who has a private practice in Northern California and you can learn more about her community-based program in a previous episode here.But, today Shani puts on her "mom hat" and talks about the journey of having a child with learning differences like #anxiety, #adhd, #dyslexia and #dysgraphia.She describes how:*She has had to learn to advocate to get h...

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 needsself-care is non-negotiableshe came to the realization that although parenting is different than she envisioned, her son has taught her more ...