In the world of sports, muscles matter. They are the force behind strength, power and endurance. Muscles play a role in mobility, stability, circulation, respiration, temperature regulation and even injury prevention. Healthy, well-conditioned muscle...

Are you thinking about purchasing a car seat online? Beware. Counterfeit car seats may look just like the real thing, but they can put your child in serious danger. “I'm aware of eight fake car seats that have been found by car seat technicians at ho...

You might notice something new from Cook Children's on local TV.  We've launched several PSAs regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and children ages 5-11. Cook Children's physicians and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker tell us why they support COVID-19 vacci...

It started with a sore throat, then she lost her voice. Three days later test results confirmed Haylee Richard, 16, a Denison High School junior, had Covid-19.Her mom, Hillary Richard, was concerned, but not overly. She kept an eye on her eldest daug...

By Bianka Soria-Olmos, D.O.Mixed emotions including frustration, worry and anxiousness (to name a few) fill my being yet again on the eve of the day my kids return back to school. It is no longer a new experience for me or the many other parents who ...

Pediatric COVID-19 cases skyrocketed this past week, with Cook Children’s Medical Center reporting one-in-three children tested turning up positive—all less than a month after the first omicron case was reported in North Texas.Positive cases now acco...

COVID-19 cases among children are on the rise nationally, as well as at Cook Children’s Medical Center. Mary Suzanne Whitworth, M.D., medical director of Infectious Diseases, addressed more than a dozen reporters in a news conference via Zoom this af...

We all know the infamous quote from Ralphie’s mother in “The Christmas Story” after he asked for the toy BB gun of his Christmas dreams.“You’ll shoot your eye out,” she said.Toy guns have changed since the release of that 1983 classic depicting a 194...

Every December, the Cook Children's Medical Center campus in Fort Worth transforms into a magical winter wonderland.Larger-than-life holiday displays cover the grounds, garland and candy cane ribbon wrap every light pole, a 32-foot tree stands in the...

Dressed in a Santa onesie for the holidays, 5 ½-month-old Parker lies in a crib, his arms and legs paddling the air as expressive blue eyes dance back-and-forth between his mom and nurse.Parker arrived at Cook Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit ...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also be full of FA-LA-LA-LA-lots of stress. Trying to pick the perfect gift for the kids in your life—one that they’ll love and enjoy for more than a minute—can be a tricky guessing game.We don’t c...

Multiple times each night, as Baylie Williams sleeps, sudden electrical bursts in her brain will misfire and send the 4-year-old girl into seizures.Her head and arms lift. Her eyes open, turned to the side. Her body goes rigid and she loses bladder c...

Now that children as young as 5 can get the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, parents might be wondering how to make the shot as smooth and painless as possible.It’s not uncommon for kids to be nervous about needles. So the experts at Cook Children’s offer...

Marc Mazade, M.D. gets a lot questions of the COVID-19 vaccine, especially now that it's available for children ages 5 to 11. As medical director of Infection Control and Prevention at Cook Children’s Medical Center, he wanted to provide answers to s...

By Justin Smith, M.D. aka The Doc SmittyThere’s been a ton of surprises related to the COVID pandemic and skipping flu season last year was another one I never saw coming.Masks and social distancing definitely played a role but the absolute lack of c...

By Ashley Pagenkopf, MS, CCLSA little over 18 months ago, I wrote the article “Everyone is Grieving Something.” So much has happened since that time – so much that none of us could have anticipated. That was only a month into the pandemic, and I had ...

Like any 11 year old, Ben Holland looks forward to dressing up for Halloween trick-or-treats. His wheelchair gets a costume too.Joe Holland sketches out and builds the elaborate designs every October that transform his son’s wheelchair into the vehic...

By Diane Arnaout, M.D. Heck yes I am.Because…candy.Candy my children will eventually forget about and I will enjoy.Last year, things seemed pretty new and scary when it came to COVID. We were still figuring out how it spread, how kids were affected, ...

After months of careful research and review, a COVID-19 vaccine could be approved for children ages 5-11 as soon as next week. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Oct. 26, to consider the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for t...

Three top pediatric health organizations have declared a national state of emergency in children’s mental health, attributing it to the enormous toll the Covid-19 pandemic has taken on the nation’s youth and urging lawmakers to address the matter imm...

If you grew up playing an early version of Super Mario Bros. on a Nintendo, you’re likely a digital native. Computers, personal gaming systems, cell phones and the internet have always been the norm in your world. Technology is a welcome connector, t...

The last beam is in place at Cook Children’s Medical Center – Prosper, commencing the countdown for a grand opening in 2022. The pediatric health care system shared a ‘topping out’ video with the community to celebrate the much-anticipated milestone....

Luke Waggoner’s epileptic seizures were getting worse, striking multiple times a day sometimes in back-to-back clusters that sent him to the hospital.The seizures caused the 13-year-old Arlington boy to jerk or jump uncontrollably. He might fall back...

The oncology team at Cook Children’s had calculated a high probability that the chemotherapy Zechariah Silva needed to fight Hodgkin’s lymphoma would damage the cells in his reproductive organs.So before starting chemo, Zechariah underwent a quick su...

Physicians are sounding the alarm on yet another health concern that may be exacerbated by the pandemic. Within the past year doctors have noticed a dramatic increase in teens experiencing the sudden onset of tics, or involuntary and uncontrollable s...

By Diane Arnaout, M.D. Let’s imagine a scenario that no parent wants to think about.Let’s say your child starts acting weird over the past few weeks. She seems tired. She’s sleeping more, and laying around all the time.She starts to drink more water....

It’s alarming but not uncommon these days in health care settings to see children and teens who gained a significant amount of weight in the past year … 20, 30, 40 or even 50 pounds.What played a role? In some cases, junk food and lack of exercise as...

This photo series documents the week of Aug. 30, 2021 at Cook Children's Medical Center. ...

By Diane Arnaout, M.D.Hey friends. Our phone lines are blowing up with exposure and quarantine questions. I love that you guys are calling – it’s the right thing to do! And we are here for ya.But just wanted to spell out some common scenarios so that...

By Diane Arnaout, M.D.I am a doctor.As a doctor, I enjoy talking with my doctor friends.I text with other doctors, am in Facebook groups with other doctors, and enjoy sharing a nice meal or drink with them pretty often.I am a lucky doctor. I have man...