Checkup Newsroom

By Daron Aldridge For Heather Giattini, RN, Cook Children’s holds a special place in her heart. Less than two years ago her two-and-a-half year son, Brooks, had his first open-heart surgery to address his aortic stenosis (a narrowing of the he...

By Ashley Parrott Life as a parent with a child who has Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is already frightening enough, but could you imagine this diagnosis with two of your kids? Mykhia and Malik, now 11 and 12 years old, were diagnosed with SCD with...

By Katie Lawrence, CPNP & Kaci Osenga, M.D. Pediatric Palliative Care (PPC) has been a board certified subspecialty in pediatrics sponsored by the American Board of Pediatrics since 2008. PPC has been a specialty service at Cook Children’s Medical...

Ryan Conder warms up his right arm and fires off a pitch. Whether it’s a strike or not, doesn’t matter. The miracle’s already occurred. Ryan, 10 years old, wondered if he would ever get the chance to play the game he loves so much after a rare neu...

What started as a normal day with a toddler’s temper tantrum turned into a month-long recovery from a severe stroke. Four-year-old CJ was known for temper tantrums and holding his breath when he was upset. But one morning while getting ready for s...

Kriss and Riley Stewart wanted nothing more than to have a baby of their own. After trying to get pregnant for more than three years, the couple decided to seek help through a fertility specialist. But before doing so, Kriss was diagnosed with Gra...

Although she wouldn’t call herself “100% anti-vax” at the time, Amanda Carroll declined to give her first-born son his hepatitis B vaccine at birth. With the next group of shots scheduled at his 2-month checkup, Amanda and her husband weren’t so s...

In a shelled out floor of the South Tower at Cook Children’s Medical Center, the thud of kicks and punches echo off drywall and concrete. Loud and confident, the words “No! No! No!” ricochet through the room. It may sound like a melee, but this is...

John Richardson, M.D., was destined to be a part of the Cook Children’s family. Dr. Richardson was born at W.I. Cook Memorial Hospital on Nov. 19, 1930, and he remained an important member of the system until his death on April 29, 2019, at the ag...

This is my sweet patient Olivia. Olivia is 7 years old and has fought a battle that most 7 year olds (and 70 year olds) have never and will never face. Olivia has spent the last two years in and out of Cook Children’s battling neuroblastoma. It...

Other than the commemorative labels on them, nothing about these two bricks stands out too much. That is until you sit down and spend time with Bobby Moore. Then you will learn that Moore, who is 68 years old, plans to pass on one of those bricks...

When I was approached to write articles about “Work -Life Balance” I couldn’t help but chuckle a little under my breath. Balance? What’s that? As a busy full-time pediatrician, wife to an even busier attorney, and mother of two small kids, “balanc...

Aug. 29th marks the “angelversary” of the passing of then 7-year-old Kyle Gracin Lewis. Kyle spent the week being the outdoorsy little boy he was – swimming, fishing, boating and camping in Lake Granbury and the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas...

About one minute outside was all it took for 1-year-old Harrison Bakke to be bitten by a baby rattlesnake. It happened just three feet from the door of his home in Abilene, Texas on Tuesday, June 26, 2018. He’s currently being treated at Cook Chi...

Cystic Fibrosis had wreaked havoc on Madison Ramsey’s body since she was born. While she had been in and out of the hospital more times than anyone could count, the vibrant, creative and joyful teen had a way of making the best out of her situation. ...

Fox 4 - An Amarillo toddler heard sound for the first time on Tuesday thanks to a special implant.     ...

Children's Hospital Association - Cook Children's launched a campaign last year called Lifeguard Your Child, its third drowning-prevention campaign in as many years. It all started in June 2015, when 28 children were admitted to the hospital for near...

Parents expect their toddler to be a little moody sometimes. So Autumn and Darrell Thomas didn't think much about their daughter Kynlee's irritable and lethargic behavior. But when they realized she wasn't using her left arm, they became alarmed. ...

Motherhood is more than I thought it would be – the good and the bad. More laughter at his smile and more tears with his failures. More sleepless nights and worries from infancy to adolescence than I expected. More pride at his accomplishments ...

The Peter Pan Birthday Club of Cook Children's is open to all kids ages 12 and under and is designed to foster and encourage philanthropy in children. Click here to learn more.  ...

One of the greatest joys in life is becoming a parent. Babies bring vibrant life and wonder to the world around us and instantly reveal a much deeper capacity for love than we thought possible. Yet no matter how great our effort to help them grow and...

More than 40 years later, the memory of an early morning phone call still makes William (Bill) Scroggie, M.D., tear up. It was 1972, and on the other end of the line was a nurse. She connected Dr. Scroggie with surgeon Dick Ellis, M.D. The news ab...

WFAA - Emergency physician Dan Guzman, M.D. launches 'Aim for Safety' program to show the importance of gun locks and safes. Link to story here.     ...

WFAA - For some families who are about to lose a child, Cook Children's has the ability to record the child's heartbeat and turn it into a song the family will have forever.  Watch the story on WFAA by clicking here.      ...

You may be surprised to see a child life specialist in one of the rooms at Cook Children’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU). After all, this is an area devoted to babies. But spend some time in one of those rooms and you will see a big part of t...

About five years ago, I was at work, walking down a long hallway wearing a pink feather boa, oversized yellow sunglasses, carrying a marshmallow launcher. A staff member I didn’t personally know was walking toward me, squinting his eyes. When we w...

Cook Children's 3D aPPROaCH Lab The new three-dimensional lab for the planning and printing of congenital heart disease (3D aPPROaCH Lab) uses advanced technology to support pre-surgical planning and family education for patients with complex hear...

The last thing Jeff Murray, M.D., wants to do is be interviewed for this story. It’s not about being rude or even shy, it’s just he wants to make darn sure the love is spread around for the people that make up the Neuro-Oncology Program at Cook Ch...

Lynn Jankowiak wonders where her son Michael would be without the benefits provided by the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Michael, who is 24 now, stopped moving his extremities at the age of 18 months and was diagnosed with a debilita...

What would you do to save your child? Would you travel across the world? Would you leave your family behind? Sell everything you own? Give the shirt off your back? Diego and Tatiana Alvarez did all those things to help their son Mirko in his battl...