Awaiting a Butterfly's Flight Home

Until just weeks ago, Children's Hospital Los Angeles had been the only home Quinn has known. The 7-month-old was born with a life-threatening condition in which her diaphragm failed to develop properly. "Right now your babies are caterpillars, but they will get their wings and become butterflies," her mother says. "When Quinn has her butterfly moment and we go home, it's going to be amazing!"

'A Rare Disease, But Not For Us'

Oliver was born with a lymphatic malformation, a 12-ounce mass under his arm in which lymphatic fluid, instead of draining properly, was developing into large cysts. The doctors at his delivery hospital quickly got in touch with CHLA's Vascular Anomalies Center, led by Dean Anselmo, MD. "It was on the order of 1 in 5,000 to 10,000 births—this is a rare disease, but not for us," says Dr. Anselmo. "We're now one of the largest multidisciplinary vascular clinics in the western United States, and we see kids not just from Southern California but the Middle East, South America and Asia."

Putting the NG in Empathizing

This is what empathy looks like: a nasogastric (NG) tube up Child Life Specialist Amanda Cleary's nose. NG tubes are inserted through the nose and carry food and medicine to a patient's stomach. Cleary has helped hundreds of kids go through this procedure. One day, she decided to experience it for herself.

In His Blood

Three-year-old Braxton was born with hemophilia, a bleeding disorder in which blood can't clot normally. The condition has been tough not only for Braxton, who has suffered bleeding on his brain, but also for his parents. "I remember thinking, 'How are we going to keep this kid alive without sticking him in a bubble?'" says his mother. "I was truly terrified."

How Child Life Specialists Help Kids at Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Child Life Specialists make the hospital less scary for children and help them feel like kids instead of patients. As educated experts in child development and the family unit, they are able to make decisions about how best to help each child and their family through stressful situations. A typical day for a Child Life Specialist includes preparing kids for medical procedures, offering self-expressive creative activities and helping families cope with stress.