Erica Jolene Stearns was born with non-isolated esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula. She was mute until the age of 3, g-tube dependent until the age of 5, and tracheostomy dependent until the age of 15. Throughout her childhood and early adulthood, she witnessed her parents face numerous challenges as they confronted many complex medical issues.…

On October 16, 2020, at approximately 4:30pm, 19 year-old Colton was on his way home from work driving his reliable Chevy Cobalt. He had proudly saved and bought himself a Dodge Charger in March 2020 before the pandemic started, but he liked saving his “pride and joy” for special occasions vs. day-to-day travel.  Colton was…

Ryder became a patient at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon long before he was even born. The long-anticipated son and 4th child of parents Sarah and Nathan, Ryder has successfully won the hearts of his 3 older sisters and his second family here at the hospital. Sarah recalls the trip to her obstetrician for her 19…

“When you find out you are pregnant, you expect to have a perfectly healthy pregnancy and at the end a perfectly healthy baby,“ states Paris, mother of (now) 17-month-old Maverick. “It took me a long time to come to terms with his diagnosis, but now I look back and realize how blessed we are to…

Kristi and Eric Townsend from St. Peters, MO were married in 2018.  Having married later in life, they knew they wanted to start a family right away.  For nearly two years their attempts were unsuccessful, despite rounds of testing and infertility treatments. The couple had almost resolved themselves to believe they would never have children…

Watching sassy two-year-old Aaryn have a meltdown, or dancing and singing to her favorite cartoons, one would never guess that she had a much more fragile start to life. For Mom Hannah – watching this “normal” child behavior is a gift she wasn’t sure she’d ever get.   Hannah was working in 2017 as a…

During the early stages of pregnancy with Faith, doctors informed her family that she had a one in 17 chance of having Down Syndrome. Her family was devastated, but after much prayer and encouragement from loved ones, they quickly came to terms with this. When Faith was born she didn’t have any characteristics of Down…

Three-year-old Maren, from Aviston, IL was a perfectly healthy, energetic two-year-old, up until October 2019. At that time, she became ill with some persistent low-grade fevers, generally low energy, and a complaint of her neck hurting. At first, parents Neely (Mom) and Chris (Dad) suspected a minor viral process, so they electively kept her home…

Hepatitis C is an infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV can lead to liver failure, liver cancer, or chronic liver disease, and is a leading reason for liver transplants in the United States. HCV is more common in adults than in children. Children who have HCV most often acquired…

That simple body function is almost a miracle for a child who has experienced constipation, stool leakage and difficulty with bowel movements since shortly after birth. “She was a fast learner, crawling at 4 months and then walking at 9 months,” said her mother Katherine. “But when it came to going to the bathroom, she…

13-year-old Aiden Ellis enters the swimming pool at Hazelwood Central High School, gearing up to practice his favorite stroke, the butterfly. Ellis is a competitive swimmer, making it to the division championships last year and finishing seventh in the 50-meter fly as a member of the Heat, a regional select swim club. “I love being…

Shaun Patterson was in tears. After years of hard work, he learned he would miss his high school graduation because he would have to remain in the hospital for weeks or months while awaiting a heart transplant. Shaun had been born with congenital heart defects that erased his dreams of playing basketball but he set…

When Benjamin was born in 2015 – six weeks early – his parents Kate and Clay were not prepared for the host of scary diagnoses that immediately followed. Ben has a clinical diagnosis of CHARGE Syndrome, a complex genetic syndrome that affects 1 in 10,000 children and often causes life-threatening birth defects. In Ben’s case,…

As a scheduler for an obstetrician’s office, Amy Rhoades from Wright City, MO is no stranger to dealing with expecting mothers. In the fall of 2018, Amy found herself walking the journey of pregnancy herself when she learned she was expecting twins with a due date of January 2019. There was a long history of…

Walking the halls of the inpatient Hematology-Oncology Unit on 4 North at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, one will typically see children from infancy through their late teens. But lately, those halls have also been home for 27-year-old Kirby Frost. Kirby (KJ) is a lineman who works for the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers). Originally…

Carlie Rose Jackson was born at 31 weeks gestation on August 16, 2018 at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital. Along with some anticipated feeding and growing issues, Carlie also had tracheobronchomalacia, which is the collapse of the airway when a baby exhales, making it difficult for her to breathe. Tracheobronchomalacia can result in recurring respiratory illnesses…

When Matthew Shores was 2 months old in 2010, Matthew’s pediatrician noticed that he had an abnormal triangular head shape, including forehead ridging. He referred the family to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital at SLU. It was here that Matthew’s mother Candice met Dr. Alexander Lin, MD, the Director of the St. Louis Cleft-Craniofacial…

Nikki Warnecke was an outgoing, ambitious, and hardworking girl who followed closely in the footsteps of her older sister, Mallory. She loved music – she played banjo for her bluegrass band, the Pickin’ Chicks. In July of 2015, she was enjoying her summer break before starting her senior year at New Athens High School, where…

Jessica and Mykel Ernest from Poplar Bluff, Missouri were happily expecting their second child in early 2019, when the unexpected happened. At 20 weeks and 6 days, Jessica began losing amniotic fluid. This was devastating news to the couple, as both knew the risks of this happening so early in her pregnancy. Though she was…

In December 2008, Tiffany Haberberger found out at 17 weeks of pregnancy that her unborn daughter had a very complex congenital heart defect known as hypoplastic left heart.  For a child with this heart defect, most of the left side of the heart is small and underdeveloped. This usually affects the mitral valve, the aortic valve,…

Seven-year-old Beckham is the son of Greg and Trish Bass and brother to 9-year-old Annalyn. Last summer, Beckham began experiencing stomach and leg pain and running an unexplained fever. One day in late July, he was playing baseball when he began limping and having difficulty running the bases. The next morning, blood work results led…

Luke Robert Beck is the 9-year-old son of Danny and Ronda Beck. He is the sixth of seven children in his family, having three brothers and three sisters. Luke started his journey at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon on May 19, 2017 at the age of 7, when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Luke’s…

On July 27, 2016, Micheal Vu Jr. was born six weeks early. Unknown to his parents, Melissa and Micheal Vu, their son had multiple congenital anomalies. Micheal Jr. was born with a tethered cord, anal atresia, multiple cardiac defects, tracheoesophageal fistula, cleft palate, renal defects, a limb abnormality (his right hand does not have a…

Sarah Wilson, and her husband, Jeremy, dreamed of having another baby. After going through IVF and a miscarriage, they feared that dream may never come true, until they received a positive pregnancy test. When Sarah was 26 weeks pregnant, they learned that their unborn baby had a congenital heart defect. Upon recommendation from her obstetrician,…

“You never think it is going to happen to you. One day you’re sitting in the doctor’s office talking about what you’re going to make for dinner that night… The next minute the doctor comes in and is telling you that your baby will need open heart surgery after she is born.” This is how…

Jennifer Haver remembers her pregnancy with daughter, Lakynn, now two years old, very vividly. In the early months, she was closely monitored by her obstetrician at SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital-Lake St. Louis for depression, anxiety, fatigue and tachycardia. Jennifer was placed on medication to address these symptoms and remained out of work for a…

September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Two years ago this month, in 2016, that month of national observance would not have meant anything to Tana Simcox. But fast forward to current day, and childhood cancer is her daily awareness with 5-year-old son, Lucas. In September 2016, Lucas began complaining of “belly pain.” Her son…

“From a mother’s standpoint — and you know mothers have a biased opinion — I think he is doing great. I think the Lord aligned us with the right doctors and the right people at the right time. They are my family,” says Jamie Montgomery, the mother of 1-year-old Jamierson. Jamierson was born on August…

Baby William Stephenson was born full term on April 22, 2016 at Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and body. Immediately after the delivery, William stopped breathing. William’s mother, Desirae recalled, “There was a lot activity going on. Doctors were working to get him breathing again and took…

Tiffani Jones, a teaching assistant in the Illinois Special School District was expecting her first child, in early March, 2016. Unexpectedly, Tiffani contracted pneumonia in December 2015. Complications required her to be hospitalized for the remainder of her pregnancy at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital. Her illness lingered on and baby Konnor was born at…

Barrett Earnest has a calm demeanor and contemplative eyes. In six short months of life, he has undergone 10 medical procedures to address a cleft lip and palate, a heart defect and lung problems. His family anticipates several more procedures to deal with other health issues before Barrett turns 5 years old. “I promised myself…

Eighteen years old. Eighteen years at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Now an adult patient, Michael Ball literally can’t remember a time – when the hospital, its people, or the disease that keeps him here – were not a part of his everyday life. Michael Ball was born March 30, 2000, one month premature.…

Jack Naunheim was born on New Year’s Day, 2014. His mother, Myrrah, recalls how much she tried to “control” having him born on New Year’s Eve….but despite her efforts…. Jack obviously had other plans. Now at age 4, Jack has shown his family that “life not going as planned” can provide a strength and appreciation…

Henry’s mother Leticia was at a routine 20-week ultrasound when her obstetrician informed her that she had abnormally low amount of amniotic fluid, and that her growing baby’s kidneys AND bladder were significantly inflamed. She was quickly referred from her hometown doctor’s office in Carbondale, IL to the St. Louis Fetal Care Institute (FCI) at…

We found out we were pregnant in July of 2016. We had two other sons and eagerly awaited our 20-week ultrasound in October. We hadn’t done a gender reveal with either of our other children and had planned a football-themed reveal for after practice with our eldest son’s team (dad was a coach on the team).…

The simple act of playing with a ball might not have been possible without the help of a special device that enables Kevin to breathe easier. Called neurally-adjusted ventilator assist, or NAVA, the system has a unique sensing mechanism that detects electrical activity in the diaphragm whenever a patient wants to take a breath and…

Third-grader D.J. Adams is great at math. “He has won trophies and certificates in math. I don’t know where he gets that — his parents hate math!” says his mother, Andrea Dodd. But she knows the source of another of his outstanding traits. “He talks A LOT. He picks that up from me because I…

Michael’s Superhero It was early in the morning so few people — or germs — were passing through the hospital’s atrium. Sarah Loness unbuckled Michael from his stroller and placed his feet on the floor. Spotting the water bubble sculpture across the room, he was off in a flash. Less than a month after a…

I learned at my 10-week ultrasound that my husband and I would be blessed with having twins. When I returned to the doctor’s office at 29 weeks, I laid on the table to receive a routine ultrasound. The ultrasound tech seemed a bit different and almost eerie in her silence while looking at the screen. She…

How are we so lucky? “Lots and lots of wonderful kids come into The Costas Center every day. Most of them are doing well and it is a really positive, upbeat place. Lily takes that up one or two notches,” says Christopher Hugge, MD, SLUCare physician of pediatric hematology/oncology at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s…

I never expected I’d have a child who needed more than me. Of course, no one ever does. My plan was to have baby number four, one we planned to the date, hoping to have a large family to share our love with. I expected the usual routine, bottles, diapers, sleepless nights. God had a…

Seven-year-old Gage Dugan loves to play baseball on the Britton’s Bullpen team from Olney, IL. In December of 2012 Gage was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his shin bone and has been in remission since 2015. However, in 2014 he was diagnosed with cryopyrin-associated autoinflammatory syndrome, also known as CAPS, which makes him very susceptible to…

It hurt and looked pretty bad after another wrestler fell on Brock Beins at practice, dislocating his elbow. “When you have a child who is injured, it is panic,” says Brock’s mother, Sandra. “Sam, the athletic trainer at Pattonville, told us to contact Katie at Cardinal Glennon SportsCare.” Brock, 17, is a senior at Pattonville…

Ace-ing Her Recovery By all accounts, 14-year-old Dru Hemmann is “ace-ing” her recovery. The Perryville, MO teen has made a remarkable comeback following a traumatic injury and has returned to the sport she loves — competitive volleyball. Her family credits her comeback to an indomitable spirit and a fierce drive to succeed. While off-road riding…

It was, unusually, a gloomy day on 4 North, where doctors and nurses faithfully maintain a cheerful atmosphere for patients undergoing inpatient treatments for cancer and blood diseases. “A nurse said he could feel that something wasn’t right,” says Carol Anne Lorenz. “Then someone told him, ‘Thomas Lorenz is up here — Joey’s nephew.’” Carol…

Expecting our third child, we were blessed that SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital was chosen for us to be our home away from home for our sweet miracle to come.  At 24 weeks, we were told by our OB GYN…a man we had come to love and trust, our baby girl had some sort…

Mia Amerson was only 2 months old when she was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia disease (SCD). Sickle cell anemia is an inherited condition in which there aren’t enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen throughout your body. In sickle cell anemia, the red blood cells become rigid, sticky and are shaped like…

Blake’s journey with SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital began at just 2 days old when he was transferred by ambulance and officially went into kidney failure. At 3 days old his dialysis catheter was surgically placed and we knew our son would need a lifesaving kidney transplant once he met the size and age requirements. During…

“We were at Target trying on shoes.” That’s what Kennedy Burger remembers about the day her SSM Health Cardinal Glennon journey began. Her ankles and feet were so swollen that her local doctor sent her to be evaluated at the Dan Dierdorf Emergency & Trauma Center at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. There, SLUCare…

“This is something that you never think is going to happen to you. You wish you didn’t have to go through these things, but you do and we have been blessed with all of things that have been given to Alec at Cardinal Glennon,” says Jennifer Ingram of Washington, MO. In May 2015 Alec Ingram,…

“Upset tummies are childhood rites of passage. Abdominal pain, constipation, vomiting and diarrhea bring many children to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital,” says Jeffrey Teckman, MD, director of gastroenterology and hepatology. “Within those common complaints are a hundred possible causes. What we do is be sure it is not something rare or dangerous,” says…

Although he first appeared quite healthy to his parents when he was born, D.J.’s health started to go awry when he was only a few months old and his skin turned yellow. His parents were soon told that their son was born with a condition called biliary atresia, a rare disorder that left him without…

Ryan, born in Jamaica with complex congenital heart disease, struggled to breathe almost since the day he was born. “I remember when I was 4 or 5 years old that I couldn’t walk from one room to the next. I would have to fall to the floor to catch my breath.” Unknown to his family…

Last October, Elsa Wiemerslage suddenly became devastatingly nauseous with a fever. Her pediatrician sent her directly to the Dan Dierdorf Emergency and Trauma Center at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. Christopher Hugge, MD, a Costas Center oncologist, spent the night beside Elsa, initiating treatment in the pediatric intensive care unit as tests were ordered to pinpoint…

Chance Wunderle, again, had been asking for it. “He always wants to play,” says the tickler, Kelly Kiel, R.N., a nurse who has been taking care of Chance through the summer and fall. “He’s everyone’s friend. He hugs everyone. He is in and out of all the other kids’ rooms asking them if they want…

“We fell in love with the cardiology staff from the moment we walked in the door,” said Brooke, Hope’s mother. Hope’s journey at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital began in June of 2009, where the family went for a second opinion on their six-week-old daughter’s heart condition. “We fell in love with the cardiology…

A Christmas Lauren Will Never Forget Three days before Christmas of 2010, 12-year-old Lauren Lee was wishing for two things – to find an iPod Touch under her tree and to feel better. “She looked pale, anemic,” said her father, Jim Lee. “That was the clue something was wrong.” Rachel Tarr, a physician assistant at…

The joy of Caleb Ortbals’ birth suddenly dimmed. He inhaled blood before he could exit the womb and entered the world with a perforated lung. Through the fog of anesthesia, his mother vaguely remembers seeing two women in jumpsuits enter the room, rolling a Plexiglas incubator.They were a transport team from SSM Health Cardinal Glennon…

“We will forever hold a special place for the St. Louis Fetal Care Institute at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Without them, we wouldn’t have our son,” said Julie, Billy’s mother. When the Naliborski’s went for their 18th week ultrasound the doctors found out there was a cystic, or solid, mass of nonfunctioning tissue…

“Donors provide financial assistance to help cover the costs of the cleft lip and palate care for families who do not have sufficient resources” Sophia Goodrich was born with a cleft lip and palate. The clefts produced wide gaps in her upper lip, nose and roof of her mouth. “Her pediatrician recommended we go to…

Bryson May has been a Cardinal Glennon Kid since his birth in 2007. He was born prematurely, weighing just less than 2 pounds, and spent seven months in neonatal intensive care. He underwent heart surgery and had difficulty breathing because his lungs were very small and he contracted pneumonia. The complications of his extreme prematurity…

“The Foundation has continued to supply the NICU with acquisitions of state-of-the-art imaging equipment, surgical devices and new furniture, thanks to more than $320,000 in donations from community events, grateful families and generous donors.” Amelia is a blonde who was born in Illinois. Audrey, a brunette, was born five days later in Missouri. The girls…

When Rocky Manno came home after 11 days at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, Jimmy and Kelly Manno were nervous. The first-time parents had spent only one night at home with their infant son before he required admission to the hospital for jaundice and was quickly moved to intensive care with seizures due to…

Call it instinct, a mother’s love, or desperation, but when Ana Lisbeth Valerio learned that 6-month-old Alexa needed a surgery that her regional hospital could not provide, she went to extraordinary lengths to find help. As the stay-at-home mother of three and farmer’s wife quickly learned, the problem was much greater than finding another hospital…

On a laid-back Sunday morning, Doyle Ward had just ushered his four children outside for some yard work and gardening. In a moment of distraction, no one noticed 22-month-old Kiernan picking up a container from the recycling bin. Suddenly, 16-year-old Sabrina saw the upturned charcoal lighter fluid container and drips of liquid on Kiernan’s mouth…

“I would love for parents to see MaKenna,” says her mother, Lois Ann Maskey. “I am pretty proud of her. She’s such a good kid.” Mom wishes to boast not of MaKenna’s musical ability, however, but the health and life she has enjoyed since she was born with a complex heart disorder. MaKenna was diagnosed…

Life changes when a baby comes into a family. Although work, social and sleep schedules are topsy-turvy until the routine settles in, a baby brings the joy of new love to a family. Most agree that a baby is life-changing, but those changes usually don’t happen until after the baby arrives. The funny thing is,…

In sports terms, “It was bigger than a soccer ball but not quite the size of a basketball,” says John Stith, M.D., an otolaryngologist at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. “I have seen this type of mass only a handful of times in my career. I have never seen one this large. It’s amazing…

“Ian is a pretty good athlete,” says Ken Campbell, the head boys track coach at Northwest High School in Jefferson County, Mo. “I talked to Ian about his diabetes before the season started and he told me there probably wasn’t anything I would need to do. I tried to keep an eye on things and watch…

“The doctors were very nice but straightforward — they told us what the worst outcome could be. If my son had a malignant tumor, he could only have weeks to live,” says Chauncey Ball. “By the grace of God it ended up being just a cyst. It is a blessing.” His son also was blessed…

To mother Angela Ford, the giggles are sounds of miracles. Eighteen weeks before birth, Delaney was diagnosed with a chest mass that would have prevented lung growth during her remaining weeks of gestation. Angela was referred to the St. Louis Fetal Care Institute at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and Delaney became the second…

Abbi Derque, 16, and Kate Derque, 10, were born with a rare genetic disorder that is seldom encountered even in a regional pediatric referral hospital such as SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. As the disorder’s inevitable and nagging complications progressed, both girls were listed as candidates for kidney and liver transplants – a rarity…

The ultrasound at a local imaging center in Springfield, MO showed Heather Morgan she was having a little girl. “I was so excited,” she says. “I couldn’t wait to go to my doctor’s office for their ultrasound, so 
I went to the imaging center first. I was 
so happy!” Her impatience was born out of…

Ask former Cardinals pitcher Andy Benes if he believes in spiritual connections linking people all over the world, and he answers with an enthusiastic ‘yes.’ “Christians are all part of the same spiritual family and we are called to put our faith into action,” says Benes. “God made us aware of a family in need…

“It was eye-opening; this was really what her heart looked like,” she said as she recalled holding the model in the palm of her hand at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. “I was in awe that it was even possible to make something like this to see where everything was positioned.” Brystol Carter was…

“They kept my daughter alive. I want to give back and help other people have the same kind of care we’ve had,” says Staci Budde. Averi Budde, her 7-year-old daughter, is well known at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. She was born with five heart defects, strabismus and a rare chromosomal deletion, which may…

After drowning and being declared dead for almost an hour, John Smith came back to life after his mother prayed at his bedside.