Kids Health Matters
Archive: September, 2020

At Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare we know over the past few weeks some of our families might have experienced some extra challenges scheduling appointments with our providers. We hear you. We want to share what brought on these circumstances and to assure you we’re working to improve the situation.

"Grady’s so much more than his condition. The way we see it is that God gave us this incredibly cool kid who’s had to deal with a few things. We've had challenges, but life is good even when stuff is hard. Either way, because of Gillette and the care they provide, Grady's future will be whatever he decides it to be. That’s no small thing.”

Take a moment to learn about Laurie Black, APRN, PNP, who joined Gillette this month to serve patients in greater Minnesota as part of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation team.

At Target Field, every Sunday is Kid’s Day and on a beautiful summer day in August of 2019, Samuel Anastos scored the first honorary run of a Minnesota Twins game. It was a joyous moment made all the more meaningful because there was a time in Sam’s life when his parents questioned whether he would learn to walk or talk, much less run.

The change in seasons and the start of a new school schedule can bring sleep challenges for families. Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare has one of the nation’s only sleep medicine programs specifically designed for people who have disabilities or other complex health conditions.

Public health officials are warning about what they call a possible “dual surge” of illness as the influenza season collides into the COVID-19 pandemic. Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare is boosting efforts to make sure children who are medically fragile get a flu vaccination.

The U.S. Food Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent approval of a new oral medication to help treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is being hailed as a “game changer” by Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare neurologist, Randal Richardson, MD, MMS. “The main message I want to get out to people who have SMA and their families is—many of you now have options and the power to make a choice for yourself,” Richardson says.