Inside the Children's Hospital

In this week's episode, Kristy Berksza, a mom and Child Life Specialist, tells us how her experience being a healthcare professional and a parent taught her how to communicate a diagnosis to her own daughter. Kristy's daughter was diagnosed with OCD last year when her refusal to go to school worsened.

Being a former CLS, Kristy has been able to better support her daughter and explain what the diagnosis means for her going forward. Kristy tells us how a mixture of both medication and therapy that she advocated for have helped create a positive difference in Maggie's quality of life!

1:33 - Introduction to Kristy

5:15 - Receiving the OCD diagnosis

11:16 - Communicating the diagnosis to her child

19:59 - Treating OCD in Children

23:24 - Her daughter's Superpowers

26:50 - Finding Community and Taking Care of Oneself

34:08 - Advocating for your Child's Health

To listen to more episodes, head to insidethechildrenshospital.com

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every child and family is different. Always talk with your child's healthcare team about questions or decisions related to their care.

The experiences and opinions shared by guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, healthcare organizations, or Inside the Children's Hospital.

Katie Taylor sits down with Katie Cangi, mom to 4 and medical mom to her youngest, Lola. Lola was Katie's first NICU baby, and for nine months she was a happy baby, till it became harder and harder for Katie and her husband to calm her down.

Both Katies traverse through the diagnosis process, as Katie C. attended multiple doctors visits in order to figure out Lola's LCH (Langershans Cell Histiocytosis) diagnosis. Finally getting the answer, the hospital became the family's second home, and Katie gives us an understanding of how she, along with her family, were able to find the little joys in their new atmosphere.

1:29 - Introduction to Katie's Journey

4:22 - Lola's Diagnosis

7:15 - Understanding LCH

10:14 - Navigating the Diagnosis

13:12 - The Impact of LCH on Family Life

16:25 - Navigating Treatment Decisions

22:12 - Coping Strategies for Caregivers

25:29 - Managing Hospital Visits

29:29 - Supporting Siblings in Medical Journeys

31:31 - Finding Joy Amidst Challenges

33:18 - Reality of Medical Parenting

What is LCH

To listen to more episodes, head to insidethechildrenshospital.com

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every child and family is different. Always talk with your child's healthcare team about questions or decisions related to their care.

The experiences and opinions shared by guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, healthcare organizations, or Inside the Children's Hospital.

In today's episode, we sat down with Kristen Cowan, a teacher, and mom of Rylen and Corbin. In 2017, Rylen was only 13 months old when he woke up with a fever that turned out to be bacterial meningitis. Rylen was in the hospital for about 9 days before he unfortunately passed away from the illness.

Kristen shares her journey of being in the hospital with Rylen, and how she was able to provide a new hope for other families through organ donation. Throughout the episode, Kristen unpacks how she is able to cope with the loss of Rylen by creating a legacy through the Smilin' Rylen Foundation. The foundation was made to honor Rylen by raising awareness about organ donation and assisting families in crisis by offering to pay for hospital parking passes.

1:32 - Introduction to Kristen

4:29 - The Journey of Loss and Grief

9:30 - Hospital Experiences and Medical Challenges

19:30 - The Decision of Organ Donation

24:29 - Creating a Legacy

32:21 - Understanding Rylen's Health Challenges

38:08 - Finding Purpose Through Grief

41:26 - The Significance of Orange

44:15 - The Parking Pass Program

49:27 - Growing the Foundation's Impact

52:14 - Celebrating Rylen's Impact

https://www.smilinrylenfoundation.org/

https://www.facebook.com/SmilinRylenFoundation/

To listen to more episodes, head to insidethechildrenshospital.com

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every child and family is different. Always talk with your child's healthcare team about questions or decisions related to their care.

The experiences and opinions shared by guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, healthcare organizations, or Inside the Children's Hospital.

For this week's episode, Katie is talking with fellow child-life specialist, Annie "Sunshine" Gunning. For 25 years, Annie has helped adapt typical playtime into something that everyone with different needs, such as children who are nonverbal or wheelchair bound, can enjoy.

Annie gives us insight into how playing through medical experiences like going to a therapy appointment is important for children to understand the world around them. Similarly, Annie leads us into the hospital setting, detailing how play inside the hospital can create positive environments for children, especially for children who are staying for a longer period of time.

1:44 - Intro to Child Life and Play

3:20 - Adapting Play for Children with Disabilities

6:57 - Sibling Interaction and Play

9:03 - Play in Hospital Setting

12:42 - Creative Play for Hospitalized Children

17:45 - The Importance of Play in Medical Experiences

Annie's Company

Hope for HIE

Annie's Instagram

To listen to more episodes, head to insidethechildrenshospital.com

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every child and family is different. Always talk with your child's healthcare team about questions or decisions related to their care.

The experiences and opinions shared by guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, healthcare organizations, or Inside the Children's Hospital.

During this week's episode, Katie sits down with Ryan Solieau, an LSU Alum, and dad to a Henry who was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia. Aplastic Anemia is a rare blood disorder where bone marrow stops making new red blood cells, which appeared in Henry as a heart rate of 250.

Ryan takes us through the experience of learning a new reality during all phases of Henry's diagnoses, from learning how to navigate Henry's initial hospital stay, all the way to supporting Henry emotionally during his monthly transfusions. In the episode, we also learn from Ryan how crucial it is to take care of oneself in order to be the best advocate for Henry.

1:37 - Intro to Ryan

3:38 - The Hospital Experience: A Second Family

6:24 - The Diagnosis: A Life-Changing Moment

9:38 - Navigating the Medical System

13:49 - Understanding Aplastic Anemia

15:27 - The Roles of Fathers in Caregiving

18:12 - Building Relationships with Hospital Staff

20:44 - Recognizing Emotional Needs

26:40 - Advice for Parents: Seeking Help and Support

35:08 - Fatherhood and Personal Growth

42:01 Navigating Medical Challenges and Triumphs

https://www.instagram.com/rsoile6

To listen to more episodes, head to insidethechildrenshospital.com

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every child and family is different. Always talk with your child's healthcare team about questions or decisions related to their care.

The experiences and opinions shared by guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, healthcare organizations, or Inside the Children's Hospital.

Pediatric nurse and mom Brigid shares how her family navigated her son's neuroblastoma diagnosis—with practical guidance on preparing kids for care, accepting support, and finding hope.

• The symptoms that led to Brigid's son's neuroblastoma diagnosis

• Going from pediatric nurse to parent receiving life-changing medical news

• Using medical play to prepare young children for procedures

• Giving children choices and control during repeated medical care

• Why slowing down can sometimes make procedures easier

• Supporting siblings through a cancer diagnosis

• Caring for yourself while caring for a seriously ill child

• Asking for and accepting practical support from others

• Resources including Beads of Courage, Connecting Champions, and neuroblastoma-specific preparation tools

00:00 - Finding support through childhood cancer stories 01:11 - Brigid introduces her family 01:38 - Penn State THON and supporting families facing cancer 03:21 - The first sign: a persistent limp 04:55 - Night sweats, an ER visit, and the diagnosis 05:18 - Understanding neuroblastoma and treatment 06:31 - Receiving serious news in the hospital where Brigid works 10:28 - Being both mom and medical translator 11:32 - Why preparing children for procedures matters 12:52 - Medical play and repeated procedures 14:08 - Choices, breaks, and helping kids feel more in control 15:09 - Practicing dressing changes through play 16:49 - Why faster isn't always easier for kids 18:34 - The hard days and emotional toll of treatment 20:36 - Stem cell transplant and the hardest phase of treatment 21:34 - Prayer, gratitude, and staying grounded 25:31 - Simple medical play using things you already have 27:58 - Explaining cancer to siblings 28:28 - Bringing support into a sibling's school 31:12 - Child life tools that can help with procedures 34:09 - Taking cancer treatment one hurdle at a time 35:22 - What asking for help looked like for Brigid's family 39:36 - Connecting Champions and identity beyond cancer 41:00 - Beads of Courage 42:01 - Neuroblastoma resources and medical play tools 43:32 - What Brigid learned about control, patience, and time

To listen to more episodes, head to insidethechildrenshospital.com

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every child and family is different. Always talk with your child's healthcare team about questions or decisions related to their care.

The experiences and opinions shared by guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, healthcare organizations, or Inside the Children's Hospital.

As we begin to close out NICU Awareness Month, Katie sits down with Matilda "Tilly" Aldridge, a content marketer and mom. During a normal morning, Adelaide, her oldest child, was rushed to the hospital after Tilly and her husband heard Adelaide screaming from her room. She was given a CT scan, and a large tumor was found in her brain.

Tilly recounts her experience not only dealing with the sudden occurrence of Adelaide's medical emergency, but also how Adelaide herself was able to overcome the trauma she suffered. Together, Tilly and Katie dig into what advocating for answers can entail, and finding joy in the aftermath.

1:40 - Introduction to Tilly's Journey

4:28 - Navigating Parenthood During COVID

7:21 - Impact of Postpartum Depression

10:41 - Life-Altering Medical Emergency

13:18 - Understanding AVIM

16:10 - The Road to Recovery

22:13 - Managing Anxiety in Children

25:17 - Empowering Children Through Choices

32:04 - The Impact of Medical Trauma

37:00 - The Search for Answers

43:57 - The Fight for Medical Attention

49:07 - The Joys of Motherhood Post-Trauma

What is AVM

What is AVF

Medical information shared in this episode is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your healthcare team for guidance specific to your child and family.

Welcome back to NICU Awareness Month. In this episode, Katie is sitting down with Kim Holland, mom of Tripp who was born at 27 weeks and also developed NEC. NEC, or Necrotizing Enterocolitis, is the inflammation of the intestine that often leads to the death of intestinal tissue/lining, which caused Tripp to undergo multiple surgeries and spend months in the NICU.

Kim delves into the raw emotions she went through during her pregnancy with Tripp and his stay in the NICU as she had to make tough medical decisions. She also gives us some insight into how she coped and was ultimately able to create a new normal after the NICU. Katie and Kim speak on how to build community and support during a time of healing for all parents.

00:00 - Introduction

1:30 - Kim's Family and Background

4:18 - Emergency C-Section and Preeclampsia Experience

7:39 - Tripp's Birth and NICU Journey

10:20 - Navigating the NICU

13:28 - Understanding NEC and its Impact

16:33 - Surgery and the Role of Faith

19:25 - Post-Surgery and Ongoing Challenges

34:57 - The Grim Reality of Medical Decisions

46:28 - Coping Mechanisms in the NICU

54:26 - Life After the NICU

58:34 - Building Community and Support

Medical information shared in this episode is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your healthcare team for guidance specific to your child and family.

Every year, U.S. News & World Report releases its Best Children's Hospitals rankings—but what do those rankings actually tell families?

In this episode, Katie Taylor, CCLS, speaks with Jennifer Winston, senior health data scientist at U.S. News & World Report, about how the rankings are built, what the scores measure and how parents can use them without over-reading small differences between hospitals.

Jennifer explains the role of clinical outcomes, hospital resources and care practices in the rankings, along with how parent feedback is incorporated into the methodology. Katie brings in the child life perspective, asking where psychosocial support, interpreter services, family involvement and emotional safety fit into the definition of excellent pediatric care.

They also explore an important question for families: Is traveling to a nationally ranked hospital always better, or can receiving care closer to home sometimes matter more?

• How the Best Children's Hospitals rankings have evolved from clinician surveys into a data-heavy model involving more than 1,000 data points across 11 pediatric specialties

• The three primary scoring categories: hospital resources, delivery of care and best practices, and clinical outcomes

• Why the outcomes being measured vary by specialty

• How child life specialists, social workers, interpreter services and parent participation are represented in the rankings

• How feedback from parents and patient advocates reaches the teams shaping the methodology

• What it means for a hospital to make the national Honor Roll

• Why a move from No. 15 to No. 20 may represent only a very small difference in score

• When traveling for highly ranked care may be helpful—and when proximity to home matters

• How families can use regional rankings, state rankings and hospital scorecards to look beyond one overall number

• Why increased hospital participation may signal a growing commitment to transparency

View the official U.S. News Best Children's Hospitals rankings.

Parents can also search for pediatric hospitals and care by location or specialty.

Rather than relying only on a hospital's overall rank, families can explore individual specialty rankings and hospital scorecards to learn more about outcomes, staffing, available services and other factors that may matter for their child.

• 00:00 — Katie opens with the show's purpose and introduces Jennifer Winston

• 00:17 — Jennifer shares her role at U.S. News and her background in medical geography

• 02:15 — How the Best Children's Hospitals rankings have evolved

• 03:59 — The three-part methodology behind the rankings

• 05:00 — How clinical outcomes differ by specialty

• 06:09 — What the Honor Roll means

• 07:00 — Katie explains child life and family-centered support

• 08:57 — Where child life, social work and parent involvement fit in the scoring

• 11:56 — How parent feedback reaches the methodology team

• 13:34 — Should families travel for ranked care or stay closer to home?

• 14:18 — Using regional and state rankings to find care nearby

• 15:26 — Regional differences in access to pediatric specialty care

• 16:22 — How different are hospitals ranked No. 15 and No. 20?

• 17:29 — What hospitals can learn from higher-ranked programs

• 19:23 — How children's hospital rankings differ from maternity rankings

• 21:02 — Maternity care deserts and access to care

• 21:58 — Do children's healthcare deserts exist?

• 23:39 — Why outcomes, best practices and resources remain central

• 24:47 — What parents can ask for when their child is unexpectedly hospitalized

• 26:56 — Why growing hospital participation is encouraging

• 28:08 — Closing thoughts

"We really do rely on the experts who are on these working groups to help us make those decisions."

"These are all hospitals that are providing great-quality care."

"It's important for families who need information."

Inside the Children's Hospital shares what families lived, what they learned and what they want you to know. Hosted by Katie Taylor, a certified child life specialist, the podcast helps families better understand pediatric healthcare and feel more prepared to participate in their child's care.

Medical disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always speak with your child's healthcare team about questions or decisions related to their care.

Continuing NICU Awareness Month, in this week's episode, Katie is talking to Emily Rosen, the author of Waiting for Max: A NICU Story. Emily is a mom to 2 children, Max and Eva. Emily's book is about her experience being a parent in the NICU, with the hopes that the book can help communicate with other NICU families that they aren't alone in this journey.

Throughout the episode, Emily details the emotions she went though as a parent, along with giving advice as to how to navigate new and possibly frightening feelings that came be brought on. Together, Emily and Katie walk through the different treks of healing that parents/families go through after being in the NICU, and how not all journeys follow the same path.

00:00 - Introduction to Emily

1:39 - Meet Emily Rosen

4:09 - Emily's Journey to Motherhood

7:48 - The NICU Experience

13:42 - The Emotional Toll of the NICU

19:51 - Creating a Children's Book for NICU Families

23:27 - The Decision to Expand the Family

28:05 - Healing through Storytelling

Emily's Book

Emily's Instagram

Medical information shared in this episode is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your healthcare team for guidance specific to your child and family.