TODAY news - Feb 20, 2003

Thursday, February 20, 2003 TODAY

Loma Linda University Children's Hospital news

Tenth annual LLUCH Gala planned for Sunday evening, February 23

Songwriter, actress, author, and speaker Gloria Loring will provide entertainment and serve as emcee for the Gala.

On February 23, the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation will celebrate its 10th annual Gala at Drayson Center. This event will benefit the Children’s Hospital pediatric diabetes center.

Included in the evening’s activities is the Shirley N. Pettis Award, recognizing distinguished and outstanding service in improving the status of children.

The Pettis award goes to an individual who has shown distinguished service as an advocate for children and has demonstrated an intense desire and motivation to continue the work of improving the lives of children throughout the Inland Empire. The award is named for Congresswoman Pettis, whose six years of service as the founding chair of the LLUCH Foundation Board underscored her commitment to improving the status of children.

The presentation of the Hometown Heroes awards will also be included in the program.

Besides presentations, both live and silent auctions will be held to benefit the pediatric diabetes center.

Entertainment for the evening will include accomplished singer, songwriter, actress, author, and speaker Gloria Loring who will also preside as emcee. Her passion for children with diabetes carries a personal note. Her son’s early diagnosis with this chronic illness began a 20-year career as spokesperson for diabetes research.

Ms. Loring has written three books for parents of diabetic children and personally raised $1 million to help find a cure.

She is also the celebrity chair of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Ms. Loring has many credits to her name, including a six-and-a-half year career as “Liz Chandler” on NBC’s Days of Our Lives.

The pediatric diabetes center has provided care to children at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital for the past 10 years. The center’s staff is composed of two board-certified pediatric endocrinologists, a nurse practitioner, two diabetes nurse educators, two nutritionists, two case managers, a nurse for special projects, and an administrative secretary.

These dedicated individuals help hundreds of children and adolescents from six counties in Southern California to cope with diabetes and minimize the devastating complications of loss of sight, kidney failure, amputations, and coronary artery disease.

Children with diabetes endure painful tasks such as finger pricks to test blood sugar four to six times daily, insulin injections three or more times each day, and strict adherence to a special diet and disciplined lifestyle.

The pediatric diabetes center team operates according to the most advanced standards of care for diabetes, employing commercially available devices that can help the patients cope with diabetes. The pediatric diabetes center at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital was the first site in the world to perform a pediatric clinical trial of the GlucoWatch biographer, a noninvasive glucose monitoring device which is now FDA-approved.

The pediatric diabetes center physicians and staff not only treat children, but also educate their families to better manage the patients’ health. In 2002, nearly 750 patient cases were managed by the pediatric diabetes center, which included a total of 1,021 patient visits. Given that many of the patients come from underserved backgrounds, the pediatric diabetes center at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital sees it as its mission to offer care and hope to all.

The Gala dinner begins at 5:00 p.m., with the awards and live auction to follow at 6:30 p.m.

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Quilt helps LLUCH celebrate congenital heart defect awareness

Two-year-old Tanner Yanez, and his father, Eddie, express their appreciation to LLUCH for his care. Tanner was 3 and-a-half months old when he underwent surgery for his ventricular septal defect.

With the help of a quilt, Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital helped raise awareness on February 14 of congenital heart defects (CHD), which affect nearly one out of 100 babies.

The congenital heart defect awareness quilt is twelfth in a series of quilts, each quilt honoring 42 kids affected by CHD. The quilts are constructed of heart blocks. Each block is dedicated to a child or adult touched by CHD.

“ The quilts are a tribute to survivors of congenital heart defects as well as to the ‘angels’ who have lost their battles,” says Suzy Yanez, a mother of a child with a congenital heart defect. Her now 2-year-old son, Tanner, appeared healthy at birth. At only 6 days old he was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect (VSD), a large hole in his heart between the lower two pumping chambers.

“ It was devastating to learn that he needed surgery, and then to find out that he needed it immediately was terrifying,” says Tanner’s mom. He underwent open-heart surgery to close the hole in his heart when he was only 3 months old. Leonard L. Bailey, MD, chief of surgery at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, performed the operation.

“ Loma Linda University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital have been dedicated to helping children and adults with congenital heart defects for more than 40 years,” says Donald Dawkins, RN, MBA, clinical director, Loma Linda International Heart Institute. “We are happy to display this quilt which promotes awareness that early detection of heart defects can help save lives.”

Tanner Yanez, along with mother, Susie, and father, Eddie, are encircled by Drs. Razzouk and Bailey and members of the pediatric cardiology team in front of the quilt to help raise awareness of congenital heart defects.

Tanner and his mom came out on Valentine’s Day to help explain the quilt’s significance. Tanner even took his photo next to the block made in his honor. The quilt was put on display in the Children’s Hospital lobby on February 5.

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect. Each year, more than 25,000 babies in the United States are born with congenital heart defects.

Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital and Loma Linda International Heart Institute care for hundreds of babies suffering from this condition each year.

Loma Linda International Heart Institute, in cooperation with Children’s Hospital, offers more hope in the battle against CHD. Recently recognized as one of Solucient’s 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals®, Loma Linda offers comprehensive heart services to patients of all ages: new advanced therapies for heart failure, cardiac surgery, cardiac transplantation, cardiac assist devices, and complete electrophysiology services including catheter ablation (non-surgical therapy for abnormal heart rhythms), implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs), and all types of pacemakers.

The first United States implantation of what is currently the world’s smallest child’s pacemaker, the Micron® II SR+AutoCapture™ Pacing System, was performed at LLU Children’s Hospital.

Cardiologists can do many procedures in the catheterization laboratory without the need for open-heart surgery including the AMPLATZER® Septal Occluder, a device that allows doctors to fix atrial septal defects (openings between the upper two chambers of the heart) without the need for open-heart surgery. These, and other cardiac services, are available at the full-service International Heart Institute.

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Bank of America donates $25,000 to APLS program

Executive vice president for Bank of America Barbara Robinson (third from left) presents a check from the Bank of American Foundation in the amount of $25,000 to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation Board chair George Voigt (right). The donation will help implement the Advanced Pediatric Life Support (APLS) course initiated by pediatric emergency physicians at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital. The goal of the program is to provide skills in rapid recognition and correction of life-threatening physiologic abnormalities. The two-day course is typically offered in partnership with a local hospital’s emergency department or with a community’s emergency medical response agency. The first APLS program was held in Rancho Mirage in cooperation with pediatric emergency physicians at Eisenhower Medical Center. Receiving the check with Mr. Voigt are Patti Cotton Pettis (second from left), executive director, LLU Children’s Hospital Foundation; and Zareh Sarrafian, MBA, senior vice president and administrator, LLU Children’s Hospital. Ms. Robinson is also a board member of the Children’s Hospital Foundation Board.

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Big Hearts for Little Hearts Guild donates $25,000 to LLUCH

Members of the Loma Linda chapter of the Big Hearts for Little Hearts Guild present a replica of a $25,000 check to sponsor the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation Gala whose proceeds will benefit the pediatric diabetes center program at LLUCH. Receiving the check is (second from left) Patti Cotton Pettis, executive director, Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation. Presenting the check are Guild members (from left) Marci Weismeyer, secretary; Eloise Habekost, president; Carol Troesch, projects chair; Julie Smith, press chair; Bea Petti, hospitality chair; and Dixie Watkins, events chair. The pediatrics diabetes center has been providing care to children at LLUCH for the past 10 years and has helped hundreds of children and adolescents from six counties in Southern California.

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Steel organization presents check to LLUCH

Cynthia McLaughlin, chair of the Association of Iron and Steel Engineers, presents a $1,000 check to Patti Cotton Pettis, executive director, Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation, for the children at LLUCH. Prior to the check presentation ceremony, held on February 11, approximately 60 members of the organization visited Children’s Hospital, toured the Proton Treatment Center, and saw a video on the LLUCH infant heart transplant program. The tour of the Proton Treatment Center was organized by David Colwell, director of development for Loma Linda University Medical Center.

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Thursday, February 20, 2003 TODAY