Four in a series. When it comes to mental health and suicide, minority children face unique and underreported challenges. From access to care to stigma, there are several barriers minorities face. On top of that, LGBTQ+ children and teens account for...

Three in a series. Statistics, no matter how alarming, sometimes blur into faceless numbers when parents hear them on TV or read them in a news story.That’s until it’s your child in the emergency room, hooked to an IV while receiving treatment for in...

It was in her daughter’s darkest moments that Taylor Rogers clung to hope. A diagnosis of less than one in a million; she knew life would be hard, but tiny three-year-old Rubye continues to bring great joy to their lives.From the moment she was born,...

Two in a series. Humans are social beings. History teaches us that even the early nomads moved together in tribes, finding strength, safety and security in numbers. We are wired for togetherness.So what happens when we can’t be together? What does it...

Growing up in Cleburne, Texas, life was not always easy for Julia. As a young child with autism, she suffered physical abuse at the hands of her biological family. The violence was so bad, it left scars. She was placed into foster care, and at age 12...

One in a series. One year into COVID-19, it’s clear the pandemic is taking a toll on the mental wellbeing of children and teens.In March, a record 43 patients were admitted to Cook Children’s Medical Center after attempting suicide. This staggering f...

By Bianka Soria-Olmos, D.O.The last few weeks have been hard, to say the least. Although the new year brought hope that we would begin to look to a “return to normal” after one year of the COVID-19 pandemic, things haven’t felt so positive. It is onl...

The decision to choose brain surgery is never easy for a parent.But for some patients with severe seizures who have not responded to medications or who have had significant side effects with medications, epilepsy surgery might be the best option. The...

By Michelle Bailey, M.D.I encourage breastfeeding when possible, but FED is BEST. If breastfeeding isn’t working out for mom or baby, we have plenty of other options with formulas. There are so many types of formulas that the process of choosing whic...

For most children, the game Operation was just for fun. For Kanika Bowen-Jallow, M.D., a pediatric surgeon at Cook Children’s, the game sparked a passion that would lead to a career and a distinct honor.“I loved the game,” Dr. Bowen-Jallow recalled. ...

It’s a story of life and death, bringing together a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurse and grieving parents. A child that only lived a few days at Cook Children’s Medical Center in 1996 and her legacy still thriving 25 years later. A story of ...

By Diane Arnaout, M.D.When I graduated from my pediatric residency 11 years ago, I knew there would be questions from parents daily about their child's growth, development, illness, behavior, etc. "What’s this new movement?""Is this behavior normal?"...

“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...

Rebecca Benson had a feeling the weather predictions would be wrong when she woke up Thursday, Feb. 11. As she suspected, no winter storm arrived overnight to cancel school for her two children. Like any other day, she quietly put on her scrubs while...

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...

How many people imagine their first job would be the same place they’d work almost half a century later? That is the story for Cook Children’s longest tenured Black employee, Arlene Scott. She has upheld the Promise of Cook Children’s for more than h...

For many parents, the thought of taking their young daughter to a gynecologist can be scary. It can also be difficult to know when and why to make such an appointment. Cook Children’s hopes to alleviate some of this fear and uncertainty with the laun...

If you're a parent, you likely have a lot of questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, especially when it comes to giving it to your children. There are two vaccines currently available that have been approved for emergency use by the Federal Drug Admini...

For many of the children removed from their homes and entering the foster care system, it’s vital to see a pediatrician as soon as possible.That sense of urgency for these kids moved the state of Texas to pass a law in 2017 that made it mandatory for...

Calamine lotion.This common remedy for itchiness is the reason Director of Pharmacy Ozioma Olowu decided to pursue a pharmacy career.“In high school, I was given the chance to visit Rutgers University’s pharmacy school and we got to create (or compou...

A North Texas mother whose daughter was recently hospitalized with a rare but serious disease is raising awareness in hopes of helping other families. Tara Copeland’s 5-year-old daughter Peyton was diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in ...

Revised: Dec. 31, 2020We know that you have many questions about the COVID-19 vaccine and when it will be available for children. Information is changing rapidly, but we want to do our best to answer your questions with what we know so far.About the ...

Melodie Davis pulls into the north garage just before 8 a.m. She parks on the fifth floor and unloads large bags full of gifts from the back of her white SUV.“These are a couple of toys for our PICU and TCU families,” she says, donning a plaid scarf ...

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...

By Bianka Soria-Olmos, D.O. When I heard that the COVID-19 vaccine had received authorization for emergency use, I was happy, full of hope and anticipation. Last week, I began seeing many colleagues in other cities posting their comments while receiv...

Five-year-old Dean Michaelis is full of life, despite suffering from a rare disease that causes his throat to feel like it’s always on fire.“Eosinophilic esophagitis is a condition where the esophagus is irritated. This happens because of an immune o...

This year has been especially difficult, but in the midst of the pandemic, there’s one silver lining.As of Dec. 5, hundreds of children have been tested for flu and RSV at Cook Children’s Medical Center, and none have come back positive. Ramon Kinloc...

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...

Christi Thornhill’s willingness to participate in a COVID-19 vaccination trial was driven by both a professional and personal conviction. As a seasoned nurse practitioner and director of trauma services at Cook Children’s Medical Center, she thought ...

Cook Children’s Medical Center is the first pediatric hospital in the DFW Metroplex to implant a potentially life-changing treatment device in a patient suffering from epilepsy. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, 13-year-old Wyatt Keele of Lavaca, Ark., underwent...