August 2020 Newsletter

August 2020 | Newsletter

IN SERVING How Children’s Health℠ team members are caring for others during COVID-19

CHILDREN’S HEALTH

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n their own words and through their own lens, team members at Children’s Health describe a moment in time as the virus that causes COVID-19 took center stage in our lives. As we move forward, these Children’s Health superheroes continue to care, serve and protect our patient families. THE NURSE — who left a profitable career in business to care for some of our community’s tiniest and sickest. THE CHAPLAIN — who helps his team members find peace amid uncertainty, while searching for his own. THE CHILD LIFE SPECIALISTS AND MUSIC THERAPISTS — who bring laughter to patients isolated from the outside world.

RYAN CAMPBELL

Manager of Spiritual Care, Children’s Medical Center Dallas

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ecause everyone is required to wear a mask, it helps support the solidarity of team members. It’s as if we’re saying, “This is what we’re going to do because we want to keep each other and the patients we serve safe.”

I’m trying to make eye contact with colleagues in the hallways. There is a need for connection.

Being able to connect with other chaplains I work with and colleagues I’m close to — whether they’re psychologists, social workers, Child Life specialists or others — has been helpful, knowing we’re all in this together.

I try to help center the staff members I care for in finding their own sense of hope and meaning and whatever tethers them. In doing that, it helps me remember to do that for myself.

I think that’s the gift of spiritual care: The more you help it grow somewhere else, the more it grows within you.

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hen schools and businesses around us closed earlier this year and many of us were required to stay at home, thousands of Children’s Health team members kept working. Some provide services necessary for patient care and comfort. Others are relied on to keep our hospitals clean, and our families fed. And some pioneered innovative ways to be there for our patients, even if at a distance.

THESE ARE THEIR STORIES.

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ating disorders are very isolating in the sense that you tend to veer away from other people and withdraw. And recovery is about getting support from other people, speaking up, communicating your needs. The virus that causes COVID-19 has made it harder to do that.

Patient support for each other looks a little different now. They can’t just sit on the floor and play a game with one another. And at our community meal in the cafeteria, everyone isn’t at the same table. But they’re not far from one another.

They’re still supporting each other, playing distraction games like the movie game, where you try to guess the name of a movie based on clues another kid gives you.

They’re laughing and making jokes during mealtime, which has always been a challenging time for kids with eating disorders. It doesn’t have anything to do with social distancing.

We’re continuing with our treatments, but we’ve had to become flexible and adapt. During family therapy, for example, we’re sending family members a link to join a virtual session, since we can’t have everyone in the room. Or we meet outside. We’re finding new ways to provide the care we always have.

DR. ANDY McGARRAHAN

Psychologist at the Center for Pediatric Eating Disorders, Children’s Medical Center Plano

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LISA JONES

Child Life Music Therapist and Therapeutic Arts Supervisor, Children’s Medical Center Dallas

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ur families in the hospital are still going through all the things they have always gone through.

There are still beautiful things that happen. You just have to be a lot more creative with how you interact with patients.

Today was a great day. I had a little one who had been crying all day long. We ended up walking down the hallway.

As I played the ukulele and began to sing, he slowly stopped crying. He smiled and eventually drifted off to sleep in his dad’s arms. The nurses told me I was a miracle worker.

Then, I had another patient who speaks only Spanish, and through an interpreter, he told me about an instrument he used to play in his home country. I found an instrument that’s similar and took it to him today to use at his bedside.

He was thrilled.

For the next two hours, I could hear him playing out in the hallway, which was really sweet. Even without speaking the same language, the music connects us.

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KELLY IHEJIAWU

Manager of School and Library Services, Children’s Medical Center Dallas

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he library is closed, but we have some options for families to access activities online. There are things families can do at the bedside with their kids, and we even offer things our staff can do at home with their children.

Closing the library was a difficult decision because I knew it was a resource temporarily unavailable to our families.

A space to have fun with their LEGOs or read a book.

But with social distancing and the hospital implementing extra safety measures, we knew it was the right — but difficult — thing to do.

We have learning websites we’ve sent to patients’ families, making sure they’re aware that even if there isn’t a physical space right now, we’re still here.

’m a breast cancer survivor, and I’ve been through much worse than this. I actually feel more protected at the hospital than out in the community.

My staff are also upbeat and positive and all about our mission of making life better for children.

Summers are always extremely busy, and we want to be there for our families. We are proud that we’ve been able to work through the backlog of surgical cases that we had to delay in mid-March.

The amazing thing about Children’s Health is people are still themselves — people are happy to be here.

I come to work, and I like to have fun, so I’m still out and about with my staff, checking on them and making sure they are doing OK.

LORI STROHLA

Senior Director of Perioperative Services, Children’s Medical Center Dallas

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n March, I had eight family members who live out of state test positive for COVID-19. They’re better now, but it was hard to be far away from them during that time.

Being in the health care industry, you come in and have a passion for what you do — regardless of what’s going on in our own lives — because our hearts are fully invested in what’s going on inside the hospital.

Children’s has had a great response to everything. I feel comfortable at work.

The organization has the employees’, along with the patients’ and patient families’, best interests at heart. I love what I do and am glad to have the opportunity to touch lives.

LANIE ALEXANDER

Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Center for Pediatric Eating Disorders at Children’s Medical Center Plano

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JENNIFER ROADY

Supervisor of Child Life Services, Children’s Medical Center Plano

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’ve learned working in the hospital that the days are unpredictable — that’s what I love about it. I don’t worry about things I can’t control. I know I need to come in and do my job the best I can. My team members and I are taking it one day at a time.

The hospital has been really busy. Yesterday, I worked in the ER, and it seemed like every kid was in there with a cut or scrape. Kids are still out and playing.

As a Child Life specialist, I am there to support kids. But with a mask on, I have to make sure I am really introducing myself to patients and their families, letting them know I am here with care and compassion.

You can learn a lot by looking at people’s eyes, but you have to make sure verbally they understand and not just rely on those social cues we’re so used to.

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’m an educator plus a quality coordinator for sterile processing. I make sure that our staff is up to date on the standards for sterile processing, as well as staff training and orientation.

I was in the military for 14 years, and when I got off active duty, I transitioned into the medical field.

Since COVID-19, I never stopped coming into the hospital.

Children’s has done a good job making sure we feel protected at work. We continue to reiterate to staff to be safe — wear a mask and wash your hands.

We’ll push through this and come out better for it.

TRACI MAJOR

Sterile Processing Quality Coordinator, Children’s Medical Center Dallas

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started my career in the business world and came to Children’s Health originally as a volunteer. But I fell in love with helping kids and went back to school to become a nurse.

I call myself a float nurse, and our team name is CRT: Clinical Resource Team. We’re trained in all areas of the hospital for clinical care, and I’m pre-assigned to the COVID-19 response team to treat patients who test positive or presumptive positive for the virus.

I felt prepared and trained by the hospital for this. As nurses, this is what we signed up for, and I was ready and proud to be part of the team.

Nursing has completely changed my life and opened up my eyes. When you walk out of the hospital after seeing kids all day fight for their lives, it gives you perspective. It’s honestly made me a better man.

JOSEPH CANTU

Floater Nurse pre-assigned to the COVID-19 response team, Children’s Medical Center Dallas

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LIZZY SPRING

Barista, Children’s Medical Center Dallas

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have grown up drinking coffee. I was probably 7 years old when I started drinking it. Back then, it was a lot of milk with a little bit of coffee. But that started my family’s ritual where we would wake up and start our day together over a cup of coffee.

Coffee is really my comfort food. It’s a ritual.

When COVID-19 started to become more serious, it felt good to still come to the hospital and be able to provide those creature comforts.

People’s lives were being turned upside down, but we tried to keep things kind of the same around the coffee cart. We put up a sign to start other conversations — like asking people what’s your favorite quarantine snack or what shows are you watching right now — because all everyone was talking about was COVID-19.

There’s still the focus of wanting to keep everyone safe, but it feels a lot better now that we’re used to the new protocols.

Our purpose at the hospital is to extend hospitality, especially during a time like this. To be able to serve people and offer them hospitality and a smile, even if they can’t see it behind the mask, it is important to us.

How you can help: A DALYA CANNON

Environmental Services, Housekeeping, Children’s Medical Center Dallas

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’ve worked at the hospital for the last year as a housekeeper.

I’ll go into patient rooms and do their daily cleanings. But the most important part to me is making the families laugh and making them feel comfortable when I’m there.

A long time ago, my mom was my manager when we cleaned at a hotel. One day, I asked my mom, “Why do you work so hard?” And she said, “This is my name, and this is the only name I’m getting, so I do a good job wherever I go.” That stuck with me.

Now, I’m really passionate about cleaning and very thorough. You go onto the sixth or fifth floors, they’ll tell you.

They speak highly of me.

I work with a lot of positive ladies. These days, we’re dancing when we’re at work. We even have the doctors dancing sometimes.

lot has changed in our lives over the past several months, but our commitment to providing safe, world-class care remains the same.

Since March, over 850 donors generously gave collectively more than $1.1 million to support the Children’s Health Response Fund, which makes a difference in honoring our health care heroes and allows us to respond to the unique circumstances we face at this time.

We are grateful for the many ways you help Children’s Health remain a trusted health care resource for the kids and families of North Texas.

We’re all in this together as we continue to move forward to care, serve and protect our community’s children. You can continue to support our mission to make life better for children by visiting give.childrens.com.

CHILDREN’S HEALTH RESPONSE FUND

850+ DONORS

$1,100,000+ FUNDS RAISED SINCE MARCH

CHILDRENS.COM/RESPONSE 4

Abby, 16, Suicide Prevention and Resilience in Children (SPARC) patient

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BBY LEANED FORWARD and tucked her thick, wavy

red hair behind her ear as

she rubbed the dog’s belly.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,” she softly sang as the pair lounged under the shade of a backyard tree. Her hands — polished in a bright yellow (a trick to keep from biting her nails) — stroked the dog’s shiny brown coat and scratched behind its ears.

“You make me happy when skies are gray.”

Named Sunshine, this rescue pit bull terrier was once recognized as Abby’s reason for living to the next day.

Because by 13 years old, Abby had made her second suicide attempt.

She was angry. She was tired. And more seriously, she was hopeless.

“I felt like there was nothing left,” Abby, now 16, said. “And you know, at 12 or 13 years old, that’s not a feeling you want to feel. I was done.”

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bby was confused as she stared at the comments on her glowing phone screen.

“Oh my gosh, look at her hair,” read one in piercing type under a smiling group photo of friends.

Followed by another — “the annoying redhead.”

Hot shame washed over her as she scrolled past “likes,” photos of smiling faces, cat videos and a snap of someone’s breakfast.

She had friends. Or, she thought she had friends.

“They would be really juvenile

comments, but it made me feel like, ‘Wow, there are people who don’t like me,’” Abby said. “It made me question my worth.”

Abby has fiery red hair with bangs that skim her eyebrows and a spunky personality that greets you at the door.

She talks with her hands and doesn’t try to hide the freckles that sprinkle her nose and cheeks.

A self-proclaimed nerd, she loves to read — The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and Emma by Jane Austen are a couple of her favorites. And those who know her say she brings out the best in people, even when it’s difficult to do that for herself.

But the online bullying coupled with family issues weighed heavily on the then-middle schooler.

Worn out from fighting, she withdrew to her room. Feeling alone, she lashed out at family.

“I thought a solution would be ‘What if I wasn’t here anymore?’”

Abby said. “I thought that would make everything better.”

Abby was 12 years old when she made her first suicide attempt.

Her family brought her to the Children’s Health Day Treatment Program, where she attended counseling and group therapy sessions and was taught coping skills to handle big emotions.

She began to improve, but then she relapsed.

After her second attempt, she was enrolled in the Suicide Prevention and Resilience in Children (SPARC) program at Children’s Health. An

intensive outpatient program, SPARC is specifically designed to target the risk factors for teens with suicidal behaviors.

In SPARC, Abby’s life started to change.

She met her longtime counselor, Jackie Matney, Licensed Professional Counselor at SPARC, whose energetic and positive outlook connected with Abby.

“Jackie understood that she wouldn’t know exactly what I was going through, but she also understood that I needed somebody to talk to,” Abby said. “She comes from an outside perspective, which I needed.”

At SPARC, Abby met other teenagers grappling with similar difficulties. She found healing in expressing her feelings through poetry.

And for the first time, she didn’t feel alone.

“I used to be so worried about what everyone thought of me,” Abby said. “Then I realized, why am I trying to change myself to fit other people’s ideals of me? I’m fine the way I am.”

I look up from the ground and take a deep breath I finally realized what I’ve found I don’t want to leave I’ve found happiness.

And love, too. More or less.

When people yell boo I feel a sense of self Why was I changing To match someone else?

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bby sat in front of the laptop screen as waiting room music chimed through the computer speakers. She swung her legs underneath the dining room table and fluffed her hair.

“Hi! How are you?” Abby said with a smile, when her counselor, Jackie, logged onto the Children’s Health Virtual Care appointment.

“I’m well. How are you?” Jackie said, grinning on the other side of the video call.

Since March, the pair have been holding their counseling sessions virtually instead of in Jackie’s office to safely continue meeting as the virus that causes COVID-19 enveloped the North Texas area.

On the other side of the screen, Jackie starts the call as she does every appointment: She asks Abby

to name her highs and lows.

Abby tells her about an outing to the bookstore with her grandmother, an upcoming (Left) Abby visits with her counselor, Jackie, in January before social trip to the DMV distancing and extra safety measures were implemented by Children’s to pick up her Health. (Right) Since March, the pair have been holding their counseling sessions virtually to safely continue meeting during COVID-19. driving learner’s permit and how she got sunburnt swimming the other day.

This fall, Abby will enter her junior She tells Jackie about her year of high school. She’s taking throbbing headache and how she’s advanced placement and collegeanxious about her health. level dual credit classes.

“Through SPARC, it’s been neat to She has dreams of going to college see Abby’s resilience develop,” Jackie and becoming a pediatric surgeon. said. “Little things used to get to She wants to help people. her. There will always be hardships, “When I was 12, all I could think but she’s able to manage those a lot about was being 12. Now, I’m able to better now.” hope for the future,” she said.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ABBY’S STORY:

LOOK FOR WARNING SIGNS:

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bby isn’t alone in her mental health struggles. Despite rising youth suicide rates and an increase in online bullying, Texas ranks near last in the nation for child and adolescent access to mental health services, according to the 2019 Beyond ABC report published by Children’s Health.

As a response to COVID-19 and an increasing number of patient referrals, the Suicide Prevention Intensive Outpatient Program at Children’s Health has been creatively adapting their programming, moving their group and individual therapy sessions online.

In the last five years, more than 50 donors have given more than $1.5 million to support SPARC and its initiatives. While generous donors have been instrumental in advancing this program, support still is needed to help more children in our community.

SAVE THE DATE FOR

North Texas Giving Day! We’ve faced uncertainties, challenges and changes in our world this year, and you’ve stepped up in big ways to be there for our patients like Abby and our caregivers. Save the date for Sept. 17 to honor them again on North Texas Giving Day or make your gift sooner when early giving opens Sept. 1.

t’s important for parents and other family members to recognize the warning signs of suicide, including: • Talking about wanting to die • Expressing feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness • Changes in mood and withdrawing from others If your child appears to be in crisis, don’t hesitate to take him or her to a mental health care professional or an emergency room.

You can reach SPARC in Dallas at 214-456-8899 (inpatient) or 214-456-3600 (outpatient) and in Plano at 214-456-5900.

Or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or 988.

Sept. 17, 2020

Dr. Pam Okada, Attending Physician at Children’s Health

Jaxon, 12, Jaxon, 16, Mental Osteosarcoma Health patient

To learn more about North Texas Giving Day and to make your gift, visit childrens.com/NTGD.

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MEET DR. GERTA

Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern recently recruited Dr. Gerta Hoxhaj to become the institute’s eighth faculty member and principal investigator. Her lab is interested in the molecular mechanisms that control cellular metabolism, particularly in cancer.

Why did you decide to join CRI? A. CRI is a world-class institute where researchers employ cuttingedge technologies to address challenging questions relevant to human health. One of the most important things for me in my research is to achieve a deep understanding of molecular mechanisms, while maintaining broad physiological relevance. The collaborative, vibrant and friendly research culture at CRI is a key ingredient for me to achieve this.

What are you researching?

A. Altered metabolism and overactivation of signaling networks cells use to communicate and grow are two major hallmarks of cancer.

I am interested in exploring the fundamental mechanisms that drive cancer metabolism as a result of oncogenic activation of signaling networks. I want to understand

Dr. Hoxhaj earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry and cell signaling — ­ the process by which cells communicate with their environment and each other — from the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit at the University of Dundee in Scotland, U.K. She then completed her postdoctoral studies at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Mass. Since joining CRI in December, Dr. Hoxhaj has become a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar. Recently, Dr. Hoxhaj shared her thoughts on joining CRI and the goals she hopes to achieve through her research.

how signaling pathways in cancer cells reprogram metabolism to drive growth and proliferation, as well as discover how cells sense key nutrients and other small molecules (metabolites) involved in cellular metabolism. Uncovering this information will help us develop a comprehensive map of the connections between signaling pathways and metabolic networks and identify nutrient and metabolic vulnerabilities of cancer cells. These findings could reveal new therapeutic strategies for cancer and other metabolic disorders. It will also give us a deeper understanding of the interplay between metabolism and signaling in cancer — a topic that really fascinates me.

What led to your career in science?

A. I was always drawn to math and sciences as a kid. In high school, I was particularly fascinated by advanced biology lectures, which I attended in Albania while preparing

for the International Biology Olympiads. It was around that time that I decided to pursue a career in biomedical sciences and applied to a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology and genetics. I drew a lot of inspiration from my teachers, both in high school in Albania and my university professors in Turkey.

What lessons have you learned along the way that might benefit others pursuing a career in science or medicine?

A. One of the most difficult things in science is that you may have to deal with a lot of experimental failure, especially when you are studying something completely new. You test a hypothesis and sometimes it takes a long time until you get a definitive answer. The most important thing is not to give up and keep going.

Perseverance and determination are key to success, as well as finding the right mentors who will support you along the way.

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Our findings could reveal new therapeutic strategies for cancer and other metabolic disorders.

— Dr. Hoxhaj

What do you love about science?

A. There is nothing more exciting than the pursuit of solving a puzzle.

I love solving mechanisms and discovering new things. However, some projects take a long time to complete, making it difficult to pursue many interesting ideas in parallel. There are always more great ideas and questions than there are time and resources.

What do you like to do when you’re not in the lab?

A. I enjoy being out in nature, taking long walks, hiking and swimming. I love traveling and exploring new places and cultures, as well as visiting family and friends whenever I can.

Ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties, thanks to our care team.

U.S. News & World Report released the 2020-2021 Best Children’s Hospital survey rankings, and we’re honored to announce Children’s Medical Center Dallas, the flagship hospital of Children’s Health, ranked in 10 out of 10 specialties for the third consecutive year and is the highest-ranked pediatric provider in North Texas.

This year’s rankings represent the commitment Children’s Health makes on a daily basis to ensure top-quality care. And they showcase our drive to continue learning and fostering innovative treatments to care for children, which donors like you help make possible.

You can find information about our rankings at

childrens.com/excellence.

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CELEBRATING

How a medical grant from Southwest Airlines reunited best friends amid unthinkable loss

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YRA HAD ONLY BEEN GONE a couple of days when

Leigh picked up the phone

with an offer to fly her best friends to Dallas.

“We called them and said, ‘We don’t know why or how this is possible, but we are able to get your whole family here to celebrate Myra’s life,’” Leigh said.

Leigh needed her friends close as she grappled with the loss of her baby daughter, who in her young life had fought cancer twice.

These friends, Ryon and Rebecca, were like brother and sister to Leigh and her husband, Kenneth. They were the ones who helped the couple get past their fear of getting married and having kids.

And she needed a way to get them to Dallas.

Through a medical transportation grant from Southwest Airlines, Leigh was able to fly the friends and their three children, Claire, Eden and Eleazar, from their Colorado home to Texas for Myra’s funeral.

“They were there to take care of our daily needs while we did these horrible, impossible things that you never want to do as a parent. Having them here was immensely helpful during that time,” Leigh said.

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t started with bruises that wouldn’t go away.

Myra was eight months old, full of joy and eager to explore as she entered the crawling and wobbling stage of life. Her twin brother, Collin, was the same, scooting around and collecting scrapes and bruises along the way. But his bruises always healed in a day or two. Myra’s didn’t.

By this time, Leigh began to recognize other differences. Collin had caught up and surpassed Myra developmentally. The normally energetic and excitable Myra was also sleeping more, wasn’t eating as much and her skin tone had turned slightly gray.

A visit to their pediatrician led to a same-day appointment at Children’s Medical Center Plano, where Myra had her blood drawn.

As Leigh sat helplessly and watched her young daughter get pricked with a needle, she noticed the phlebotomist was struggling to extract blood from Myra’s little arm.

“Should it really be this difficult?” she thought.

A few hours that felt like a lifetime passed before Leigh got a phone call with a shocking instruction: “Take Myra to Children’s Medical Center Dallas immediately.”

Myra’s bloodwork was abnormal, and they needed to take a closer look.

Thoughts raced through Leigh’s and her husband Kenneth’s head as they rushed to Dallas.

Once they arrived, they were floored by the news: Myra had leukemia.

“When you hear that, it’s like your head could explode,” Leigh said.

“There’s no way your child could have cancer.”

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yra’s condition when she first arrived at Children’s Medical Center Dallas, the flagship hospital of Children’s Health, was more dire than Leigh and Kenneth could have imagined.

Her white blood cell count was extremely high — more than 35 times above the normal level. Doctors

Myra — here with dad, Kenneth — had an unforgettable smile and easygoing personality.

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ordered an immediate admission and blood exchange until her entire blood supply was completely new.

As Leigh watched Myra’s blood flowing out of her body, she stared, confused as a strange orangecolored liquid began to fill the tubes.

“Are they mixing her blood with something on the way out?” she thought.

But the thick, orange liquid was Myra’s blood, discolored by the incredibly high white blood cell count, explaining why it had been difficult for the phlebotomist to draw her blood in Plano.

At that moment, Leigh realized her baby girl was very sick.

Myra had about a 50-50 chance to beat her mixed phenotype acute leukemia, a rare type of leukemia.

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fter more than six months of intense treatments and sleepless nights, Myra’s bone marrow biopsy came back with no signs of leukemia.

She was in remission.

Leigh was grateful for the care Myra received at Children’s Health from the doctors and nurses to the concierge and janitorial staff. She even befriended workers in the cafeteria who served her a hot meal on a hard day.

“There was this sense of respect, camaraderie and care,” Leigh said.

“Everyone was supportive, helpful and kind. Not everyone knew what we were dealing with, but they cared that we were supported.”

After being discharged, Myra wasted no time exploring the world around her. She learned to walk, filled the family’s home with constant

jabbering and danced to her favorite tunes.

But after seven weeks of being home, Leigh noticed some changes that worried her — a constant runny nose and a swollen eye among them.

A quick trip to the doctor confirmed the family’s worst fear: The cancer was back.

But this time, it was back in a different way, which made the disease more difficult to treat after Myra’s first cancer fight.

The family enrolled Myra in a groundbreaking treatment trial for a few weeks, but it wasn’t successful.

On Nov. 5, Myra went home on hospice care and passed away 11 days later, sleeping in the arms of her loving mother.

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lthough their Southwest Airlines flight landed five days after Myra’s passing, the moment Ryon and Rebecca arrived with their children brought a wave of emotion to Leigh and Kenneth.

“It was an overwhelming moment because the kids were so sad that they didn’t get to see Myra again,” Leigh said.

And while they were happy to be together once more, a piece was missing without Myra.

“At Southwest, we are all about connecting people to what’s most important in their lives.

In this case, a memorial to celebrate sweet little Myra,” said Laura Nieto, director of Community Outreach at Southwest Airlines. “We are humbled

to have connected these families so they could support one another.”

Living without their little girl will never be normal, but at the memorial service and in the months following her passing, they have done their best to remember Myra’s smile, her personality and her spirit.

“The things we remember about Myra the most are that she was easygoing, she loved music, she loved to dance, and she loved to eat,” Leigh said. “Even when she had to do all these treatments, she would protest, but she would get it done and then snuggle us. She was the most easygoing child I’ve ever known.”

As for the care they received at Children’s Health, Leigh is eternally grateful.

“We never felt alone,” Leigh said. “The doctors were on top of everything. For having such a horrible diagnosis and having such a horrible outcome, the fact that they gave us an extra 14 months after that first weekend where things looked so bleak, we are nothing but grateful.”

A grant from Southwest Airlines allowed friends to be there for Myra’s memorial service.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE

Southwest Airlines Medical Transport Grant Program: 10,000 roundtrip tickets donated this year to help connect patients to life-changing medical care

$35 million donated to this special community outreach program since 2007

150 vouchers provided to Children’s Health through 2021

Get your corporation involved in supporting the Children’s Medical Center Foundation. Contact our director of corporate partnerships, Aracely Muñoz, at aracely.munoz@childrens.com.

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