This December 11th & 12th listen as patients and their families share the incredible stories of hope and healing experienced at Rady Children's Hospital. Your generosity and support during our iHeart Rady Children's Give A Thon will fund lifesaving technology and research, provide a safety net for children with little or no private medical insurance and create a healing environment for patients and their families. Thank you so much San Diego.
NewsRadio 600 KOGO and Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego invite you to join us this holiday season for the iHeart Rady Children’s Give A Thon.
Donations to Rady Children's Hospital can be made by:
- Make an online donation by clicking HERE
- Call 1-800-258-0007 during the Give A Thon, this December 11 & 12
- Text KOGO to 51555
- If you have an Amazon Echo device, say "Alexa, donate to Rady Children’s Give-A-Thon"
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Meet some of the children who are happy and healthy today, thanks to Rady Children's Hospital and the support of generous donors like you!
Aritzve
In the fall of 2016, then 4-year-old Aritzve had ankle pain that was getting increasingly worse. A pediatrician treated her for a sprained ankle, but the pain never subsided. When she stopped walking on Christmas Eve, Aritzve’s mom took her to the local emergency department where she received an X-ray and lab work, but was still treated for a sprain. In March, Aritzve was referred to Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego where she saw a hematologist and was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She immediately began treatment and today, Aritzve is in remission. She is learning to walk again with physical therapy, and is expected to fully complete treatment in June 2019.
Kamden
Danielle and Ryan thought they had the perfect pregnancy. Until a 20 week ultrasound showed something they never expected – their little baby’s heart was on the other side of his chest. He was diagnosed with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, a condition that occurs when the diaphragm muscle — the muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen — fails to close during prenatal development, and the contents from the abdomen (stomach, intestines and/or liver) migrate into the chest through this hole.
At 38 weeks, Kamden was born and transported to Rady Children’s. Four days later, Kamden had an operation and they were able to move his intestines out of his chest cavity. Kamden’s operation was successful, and he was able to go home after only five weeks.
Because of a small lung, Kamden may never breathe completely normally, so his parents put him in swim lessons to help his lungs to function at the best possible capacity. Today, Kamden’s heart is completely healed and he only needs to do check-ups with his cardiologist once a year.
Michelle
Michelle Solis started dancing at the age of 7. It became her passion but gradually moving became debilitating. After dancing through constant hip pain for years, she started physical therapy at the 360 Sports Medicine program at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. Additional examinations revealed that she had hip dysplasia in both of her hips. When she would dance, her hip joint would slide around inside the socket, causing excruciating pain.
Michelle underwent surgery that required two months in a wheelchair and another two months on crutches before she could start walking again. While the procedure went well, Michelle developed depression, being away from what she loved, dance, for so long. She was evaluated and received personal treatment at the psychiatry department at Rady Children’s and is dancing again, receiving scholarships after attending high school regional dance festival, and placing highly in the classical ballet competition, Youth America Grand Prix.
Joey
At 23 weeks pregnant, Jamie went in for a routine ultrasound. Everything seemed fine until the tech lingered over the baby’s heart and then fell silent. She immediately consulted a doctor who shared that Jamie and Joe’s tiny baby was showing markers for Down syndrome.
Baby Joey was born at full term via natural birth and was taken to the NICU minutes after his birth because of low oxygen levels. He spent 17 days in the NICU and was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, forcing him to be on oxygen for the first 17 months of his life. He also underwent a procedure to close a hole in his heart.
In January 2017, Joey and both of his sisters were sick with strep throat and fevers. The girls got better but Joey didn’t. Jamie took Joey to the pediatrician who thought perhaps his spleen was enlarged, so they ordered an ultrasound. The doctor also looked at Joey’s stomach and noticed a rash. He was referred to Rady Children’s where Jamie’s biggest fear was confirmed: Joey had cancer.
Joey was admitted to Rady Children’s for 23 days as he received chemotherapy. Joey is now 5 and is due to finish treatment in July 2020, just in time for his 6th birthday.
Scarlett
Temecula resident and first-time mom Katie Gibson was just 29 weeks into her pregnancy when she was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a potentially deadly condition that led to kidney failure and an emergency C-section. After she gave birth to daughter Scarlett at nearby Rancho Springs Medical Center, Katie remained in the hospital while her fragile preemie bypassed the Rady Children’s Level 2 neonatal intensive care unit on site and was transported nearly 60 miles south to Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. There, Scarlett was cared for in the Hospital’s Level 4 NICU where experts monitored her progress and helped her to grow. Level 4 is the highest designation available from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
At the time, Scarlett was the smallest baby ever born at Rancho Springs—she was just two pounds.
Today, Scarlett is a healthy 4-year-old, thriving in the 90th percentile for her age group.