Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Champions

Champions is a Children's Miracle Network Hospitals program that brings attention to the important work being done at its 170 children’s hospitals. It does this by honoring 51 remarkable kids who have faced severe medical challenges, and helping them tell their stories.

The Champions program designates a child in every state who has bravely battled a serious injury or illness. The Champions represent the nearly 17 million children treated at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals every year. The 2011 Champions have dealt with a wide variety of injuries and illnesses including genetic diseases, organ transplants and traumas, as well as various types of cancer.

The Champions travel for a week in October, first to Washington, D.C., where they traditionally meet with their state senators on Capitol Hill, and the President of the United States during a visit to the White House. They then take a private chartered flight, provided by Delta Air Lines, to Orlando, Fla. There, champions meet Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals sponsors, hospital representatives and media partners who all convene to celebrate a year of medical miracles during the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Celebration event at Walt Disney World Resort.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Sydney's Story

Sydney
Age 7

Mississippi
Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children

Bilateral Wilms Tumor

“Sydney stole my heart from the very beginning,” says one of Sydney’s attending nurses. At just 7-years-old, Sydney is a cancer survivor living with half a kidney. She is unique not only for what she has endured at so young an age, but also because she hasn’t let it stop her from enjoying life and having fun.

When she was just over a year old, Sydney’s mom noticed blood in her urine and took her to the pediatrician. At 14-month-old, Sydney was diagnosed with Bilateral Wilms Tumor, a rare form of cancer that occurs in the kidney and can affect either kidney. In Sydney’s case, both of her kidneys had cancerous tumors. Sydney was sent to the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children where doctors removed her left kidney and a portion of her right kidney. She then began chemotherapy and radiation treatments to rid the remaining portion of her kidney from cancer.

Sydney has beaten cancer and her smiling face shows only happiness and excitement for life. She loves to dance, sing and play with her brother. She counts every moment as a blessing and wants to help others in whatever way she can.