Kids Health Matters
Topic: Rehabilitation

Tall, red-haired and boisterous, it’s not a surprise to learn that Connor plays on the football team back in North Dakota, or that he’s pretty popular.

Pain affects all aspects of life, but for many of us, it’s an abstract concept. But, for a moment, imagine what it would feel like to experience chronic pain for an entire month. Start with that, but now expand it out to a year—or maybe even, every day of your life.

Katie Allee takes Advanced Placement classes. She’s 15, and she’s a straight-A student. Her mind? It’s all there, and she’ll tell you as much. But when it comes to her body physically, for much of her life, she’s had difficulty.

Marshall Taniguchi, MD, recently spoke to us about his work to help patients who have cerebral palsy achieve their highest possible levels of independence and quality of life. Watch the Facebook LIVE video here.

After brain damage shortly after her birth resulted in cerebral palsy, Kaidyn came to Gillette for selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery. See how the surgery, coupled with Kaidyn's intrinsic determination, has given her newfound independence and mobility.

Have you seen our new therapy pool? It's perfect for kids who have cerebral palsy, spinal injuries and other complex medical conditions. Take a virtual tour to learn more about the state-of-the-art facility.

Five years ago Guadalupe sustained a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down. She stayed at Gillette nearly six months as she built strength and learned to make the most of her existing abilities.

The Gillette inpatient rehabilitation program recently received renewed accreditation from the prestigious Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. For the first time, we also received accreditation for our pediatric brain injury specialty program. Read about the meaning behind these honors.

As he ambles down a long hospital hallway, smiling with every step and practically daring you to do the same, it can be pretty easy to forget that this wasn't supposed to happen. Mateo Arcos was never supposed to walk.

When 3-year-old Ashlyn sustained life-threatening injuries in a car accident, her family worried her personality, which they call "fierce," might not return. Discover how care at the Regions-Gillette Level I Pediatric Trauma Center helped Ashlyn, and her entire family, heal.

As a child in the 1940s, Lyn Baier traveled with her mother by bus from the family farm in southwestern Minnesota to the old Gillette building near Lake Phalen in St. Paul. She spent months away from home getting treatment for her deformed right leg.

Jackson sustained a spinal cord injury when he was 16 years old. The injury thrust Jackson, who stands a tall 6’2’’, into a new reality of life in a wheelchair. But instead of giving up, Jackson made the decision to embrace his new reality.

A significant portion of children who have chronic care conditions – many of whom are already on numerous medications – might benefit from the low-risk and non-toxic benefits of acupuncture.

As the Bodell family returned home from an afternoon of bowling, an intoxicated driver plowed into their car. Three-year-old Havana Bodell sustained a spinal cord injury. Less than a year later, the family is speaking out about the dangers of driving under the influence.

Colten's family thought he'd come down with the stomach flu. Then his illness became something much more severe. Learn how a Gillette pediatric neurologist and Colten’s rehabilitation team helped him reclaim his childhood.

A new study shows that the number of trampoline injuries is on the rise. Gillette experts say there is only one way to curb that trend -- don't use them.

For many children and families, summer means plenty of fun in the sun. Parents, however, need to be cautious. Many outdoor activities can end with injuries or – even worse – a trip to the emergency room.

The Feyereisen family built a sandlot field in their backyard to inspire inclusiveness and teach kindness among their triplet sons, who have varying degrees of disabilities, and their friends. It's come to resemble a real-life "Field of Dreams."

At Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, we understand that choosing a fellowship program is a difficult and important decision. So, we sat down with two of our current Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine fellows to talk about how they made their decision, why they ultimately chose Gillette, and having been here, what they think now?

Even after an injury heals, sometimes an imprint of it can remain. How this happens varies from person to person. But for some individuals, like Ali Tokkesdal, it manifests in the form of chronic pain. “I couldn’t walk. It felt like my body had turned against me, like it was haunted,” says Ali.

"Every step Sophia takes is a testament to the countless dedicated individuals who made it possible," says her mother, Susan Slinkard. Last summer, Sophia and her family traveled from Arkansas to Minnesota for major neurosurgery aimed at reducing Sophia's spasticity.

Every parent wants their child to be healthy, but that isn’t always the case. The reality is that as many as one in about 325 parents will have a child who has a complex medical condition such as cerebral palsy, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC also says about one in six children will have some type of developmental disability.

Esme and Henrick Erickson—3-year-old siblings from a set of triplets—love their pool therapy. Both have cerebral palsy.