“I’m so tough, not even a broken heart can stop me.” Those are words Tony and Ashlea Peña hope their daughter Sydni will always live by. Sydni is an energetic toddler with a warrior spirit. She loves to run, jump, and spend time outdoors with her sis...

Throughout the historic and devastating winter storm in Texas, we’ve been able to witness moments of sacrifice, hope, compassion and togetherness. While we know so many families are still struggling, including some of our own, we wanted to share a th...

Cook Children’s Medical Center is seeing an increase in patients with carbon monoxide poisoning as historic frigid temperatures continue across the state. Sam Selby, D.O., emergency medicine physician at Cook Children’s, treated at least 13 patients ...

An alarming government report regarding toxic heavy metals in baby food may have caught your attention. It says these foods are “tainted” with dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury.Is this information cause for concern? Yes, but it’s...

Seizures aren’t as uncommon as one might think. In fact, one in 26 people in the United States will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. Apply that statistic to a typical school classroom, church, wo...

Speak up. Share hope. Add your voice. This is the message of the Okay to Say™ campaign. In a world where we currently face so much uncertainty, the Wellness Alliance for Total Children’s Health (WATCH) of Denton County led by Cook Children’s knows pe...

By Michelle Bailey, M.D.As COVID-19 continues to inundate our society, there arises the question of when to start the countdown clock of quarantine. Let’s say mom gets sick with COVID-19 and stays at home as she is supposed to. Centers for Disease Co...

The events that unfolded at our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6 have left many of us hurting, confused, and anxious about the state of our country. For parents, knowing what to say to their children about the violence can be difficult. Sam McCage, Ph.D., ...

In the spring of 1943, 16-year-old Clarabele "Pit" Dodson had one concern on her mind – getting a tan. She had just graduated from Paschal High School in Fort Worth, Texas, and was attending one of the many pool parties being held by local teens.“Eve...

Seventeen-year-old Virginia Cooper is patiently awaiting acceptance into her dream college. This, a long-awaited hope for her family and neurologist, after 16 years of suffering from seizures. “Virginia has intractable localization related epilepsy o...

As part of an ongoing pursuit to improve the health of every child, Cook Children’s Health Care System is joining forces with Texas A&M School of Law (TAMU Law) to create a new medical-legal partnership. The mission of this collaboration is to provid...

Fort Worth, Texas - Thirty frontline workers are the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at Cook Children’s. Just hours after the shipment arrived, Cook Children’s employees were given the vaccine, with the first two groups of 10 getting the shot a...

If your holiday plans include traveling by car this year, now is the time to make sure you have everything you need to ensure the safest trip possible. With people everywhere hitting the roads, Christmastime tends to be one of the most dangerous for ...

When the world shut down this year, we all turned to one device or another for entertainment, information, socialization, work meetings, education and, if we’re honest, babysitting. Sometimes screen time was, and still is, a necessary lifeline for co...

Compiled by Michelle Bailey, M.D.I pooled a few of my patients with their parents’ permission and asked four questions about COVID-19, school attendance during the pandemic, and the COVID-19 vaccine. Here are their unpressured, unedited responses:Q1....

COVID-19 vaccines are widely considered essential to returning to some sense of normalcy and an end to this pandemic. In the latest findings of the probability-based online Gallup Panel Survey, 63% of Americans say they are willing to be immunized ag...

A video shared in September of Cook Children's patient Aiden Yielding, 13, and his dad, Chuck, dancing together from a distance during Aiden’s chemo treatments quickly went viral and captured the hearts of millions around the world. The latest set of...

By Michelle Bailey, MDWell, we made it to December. What a year! Ups and downs, good and bad.It’s nearly the end of 2020. After a more casual and calm Thanksgiving, it’s now time to gear up for all the December celebrations including Hanukkah, Christ...

At this time, Cook Children’s has NOT canceled any elective surgeries or procedures.Cook Children’s is fortunate to have bed capacity, adequate staffing and ample PPE, and it is not necessary to cancel any surgeries or procedures at this time. In com...

Hospitalizations of children for COVID-19 thankfully remain low, but new data shows Hispanic children in North Texas are disproportionately affected. As of Oct. 31, 53% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at Cook Children’s were Hispanic, while 27% wer...

Natalie Torrez was a healthy, 4-year-old girl. She loved junk food and playing with her siblings. Her mother, Alyssa Salazar, says that all of that changed overnight.“It started as a normal sickness. It was a fever, she looked pale and she was very t...

As Tarrant County continues to see record COVID-19 cases, doctors across Cook Children’s Health Care System urge the community to avoid large gatherings for Thanksgiving. Instead of traditional celebrations, our physicians offer advice on how to conn...

By Alice Phillips, M.D.What lessons has COVID taught me?I have studied a lot in my life. Memorized countless pathways and scientific principles. But some lessons and points of medicine are learned the hard way.Today is day 14/14 of my quarantine at h...

By Justin Smith, M.D.For many of you, we've walked through multiple public health concerns together over the years.EbolaEnterovirus 68SARSAnd my major message has always been:Let's have perspective. Let's stay calm.But today is not that day.We are ei...

With the rise in local COVID-19 cases, Cook Children’s Medical Center is changing its inpatient visitor policy to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus on campus. Beginning Monday, Nov. 16 at 5 a.m., only one primary caregiver will be allowed per...

The tiniest patients at Cook Children's Medical Centerand their families celebrate their first Halloween.  Stitch-a-Wish, the volunteer sewing, knitting and crocheting group for Cook Children's, generously provided the most fragile babies with ori...

If your child has been exposed to COVID-19, you may be wondering what happens next.  All patients with exposure to COVID-19, regardless of symptoms, will need to quarantine for 14 days. This is required, regardless of test results, because COVID-1...

Beginning Nov. 1, landmarks across Fort Worth will light the skyline purple, the official color of epilepsy awareness, in partnership with Cook Children’s. Each year, the Jane and John Justin Neurosciences Center at Cook Children’s makes it a priorit...

Cook Children’s Health Care System has been named to this year’s 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list curated by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. This is the first year for Cook Children’s to make the list and comes after a recent enhan...

Like so many children and teenagers, 15-year-old Emma’s struggle with bullying is lifelong. She compares being picked on by classmates since kindergarten to losing part of her childhood. One day in 7th grade, Emma came home especially upset about ...