Champions THE MAGAZINE OF ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION
THANKS TO YOU, kids like Addison can beat cancer
JUNE 2017
Reaching children where they live, learn and play Welcome to the first issue of Champions, the magazine of the Arkansas Children’s Foundation. As you know, this magazine used to be called ACHiever—with emphasis on ACH—and served the purpose of sharing with you, our generous donors, the impact your gifts have on patients and families at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. But today, Arkansas Children’s is more than just one hospital treating sick kids—it’s a pediatric health system that includes two hospitals, a pediatric research institute, clinics, education, and outreach. We want to be able to reach more children in more ways, providing care where they live, learn and play. As a children’s health system, we realize we have an obligation to not only make sick kids better today. We have an obligation to ensure all children are healthier tomorrow. Unfortunately, Arkansas is not a very safe or healthy place to be a child: • 4 in 10 children ages 2–17 lack sufficient access to medical or dental care • 34,000 children are without health insurance • 11,000 recorded cases of child abuse and neglect each year • 1 in 5 children ages 10 to 17 are obese • 26% of children in Arkansas live in poverty We have some work to do in order to make Arkansas the safest, healthiest place to be a child. That’s why we need champions like you. As we grow to reach more children, our look will also change just a bit—just like this magazine. But what remains constant is our unyielding commitment to put the children of Arkansas at the center of all we do. Thank you for being a part of our team—and thank you for helping make children better today and healthier tomorrow. Sincerely,
Marcy Doderer, FACHE President and CEO Arkansas Children’s CHAMPIONS STAFF: Editor Becky McCauley Contributing Writers Becky McCauley, Jennifer Barnett Reed Design C. Waynette Traub Photographers Badi Galinkin, Lance Johnston, Daniel Moody
Arkansas Children’s Foundation Board of Directors Chair Marcy Doderer, FACHE Vice Chair Charles B. Whiteside III President Fred Scarborough, CFRE Treasurer Jason LaFrance
Pat Allen Ritter Arnold Sharon Bale Ginger Blackmon Frances Buchanan Stuart Cobb Steve Davison Kirk Dupps Harry C. Erwin III Kim Fowler Hayden Franks, MD Sharilyn Gasaway Robin George Mike Gibson Sonja Yates Hubbard Jason LaFrance Sharon Lamb Mark Larsen Jim McClelland Mandy Macke Barbara Moore Cindy Murphy Jake Nabholz Marshall Ney Terry Quinn Jennifer Schueck Belinda Shults Jennifer Smith Claudia Strange Celia Swanson Emeritus Directors Robert G. Cress Don Edmondson Henry Rogers, MD
*Current as of April 30, 2017
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Lives You’ve Touched Summertime can be a dangerous time for kids. Fun activities like swimming and riding a bicycle can suddenly turn into an emergency. This is why the Log a Load for Kids Emergency Department (ED) at Arkansas Children’s Hospital is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is fully staffed by pediatricians and residents specially trained to care for children’s unique healthcare needs. Thanks to you, when Arkansas Children’s Northwest opens in early 2018, emergency care close to home will be available to the more than 200,000 children living in the Northwest Arkansas region.
Because of you, Arkansas Children’s is here to provide expert pediatric care for life’s big and little emergencies.
Here’s what your gifts help accomplish for kids*:
60,867 1,420
Number of patient visits per year to Arkansas Children’s Emergency Department
70%
of trauma patients
transferred from another hospital
Number of traumas
treated in the ED per year
616
Number of broken bones treated in a year from transfers and admissions
39
Number of private exam rooms
24/7
Number of hours and days the ED is open
172
Number of patients transported to the ED by Angel One helicopters
5
Number of trauma rooms to care for the most serious injuries
*Emergency department at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.
Your support helps make kids better today and healthier tomorrow. 800-880-7491 | giving.archildrens.org
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A CHILD’S
SMILE Your generous support give parents the precious gift of their child’s smile. BY BECKY MCCAULEY
“It seemed like one minute I was chasing Levi all over the place. The next minute, he couldn’t move.” Can you imagine how scary, how bewildering that must have been for Melissa Varner and her husband Gregory? A few days earlier their 15-month-old son had been chasing his older brother Gabe around and showing off his big, beautiful dimples. Now, he couldn’t even hold his head up. It all started last September when Levi, following a viral infection, suddenly started running a very high fever. His frantic mom took him to a doctor near their home who prescribed antibiotics. The next day, he wasn’t any better. So they returned to the doctor who gave Levi an injection of antibiotics. It didn’t work either. Melissa says, “When he couldn’t even smile anymore, I knew something was very, very wrong.” A trip to the emergency room at their local hospital only increased her fears. Melissa says, “At the ER you usually have to wait. But as soon as we walked in, they put us in a room. There were about 10 people with Levi. They assessed him and hooked him up to IV fluids. “Then they called Arkansas Children’s Hospital.” When the Arkansas Children’s Angel One helicopter arrived to transport them to ACH, Melissa was relieved. “I knew we were going to
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be in the right place,” she says. “I knew we were going to be where we needed to be.” After several tests, Levi was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disorder that causes your body’s immune system to attack your nerves. It’s extremely rare in a child under 2. At best, Guillain-Barré causes numbness and tingling in your arms and legs that go away eventually. At worst, it can leave you totally paralyzed. Sadly, this is what happened to Levi. Melissa says, “Levi couldn’t move at all. It was devastating. When he started physical therapy at ACH, he was in a lot of pain because he had gotten very stiff. It broke my heart to see my little boy hurting so much.” Melissa and Levi were away from their Northwest Arkansas home for several long months. Gregory worked and took care of 4-year-old Gabe at home, and on weekends they made the long, eight-hour round trip to Little Rock to visit. Being separated was difficult for the whole family…especially Gabe. “We told Gabe, ‘Brother is sick and Mommy has to stay to take care of him. We just need to keep hoping Levi will get better soon, so we can all be together again.’” Melissa rarely left her baby boy’s bedside. Levi was dependent on a ventilator to help him breathe. “Levi can’t sit up on his own yet, but he can hold his head up,” Melissa says. “It took him a while to even start smiling again—we didn’t see his dimples for five or six weeks!”
Because of you, Levi was finally able to return home with his mom and dad and big brother Gabe. With your help, children like Levi, who suffer from devastating illnesses and injuries, are better today and healthier tomorrow.
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“The nurses never let you know if they’re having a busy night. You think your child is their only patient and that this is all they have to do.” —Robby Funk
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Dolls, Birthdays and the Tooth Fairy: Thanks to You, Chemo Can’t Stop Childhood BY JENNIFER BARNETT REED
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here’s no worse way to get the news that your child has cancer than in an emergency room, hours from home, in the middle of the night. That was the beginning of Addison Alford’s family’s story with Arkansas Children’s Hospital —but thanks to you, it wasn’t the end. Since that awful night in January 2015, Addison, who lives in Northwest Arkansas with her mom, stepdad and five brothers, has gotten the treatment she needs to fight her illness. Just as importantly, her entire family has gotten the caring support they needed to get them through some unimaginably tough times. “Those nurses are like big sisters and brothers and Sunday school teachers and nurses and friends all in one person,” Addison’s mom, Robby Funk, says. Robby knew something was seriously wrong when Addison began fainting at school in early 2015. Her pediatrician couldn’t find an obvious cause at first, but eventually ordered a full blood workup. One night, Addison’s doctor called with the results: Addison’s white blood cell count was six times higher than normal. She told Robby to take her daughter to Arkansas Children’s Hospital right away. After the three-hour drive to Little Rock, Addison was seen in the emergency department at ACH and diagnosed with high risk b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She started chemotherapy treatments immediately. For the next year, Addison and her family traveled to
Little Rock frequently. Her chemo treatments were working, but she often had complications requiring overnight stays in the hospital. “Through it all,” Robby says, “the nurses and other staff at ACH ensured Addison got to enjoy her childhood as much as possible.” For Addison’s 9th birthday, the ACH Child Life team arranged a small party in a meeting room. When she lost a tooth during one stay, the Tooth Fairy pulled out all the stops: a handwritten card, glitter and a hefty reward. When Addison’s best friend brought her a doll, one of the nurses helped Addison rig up a doll-sized chemo port and IVs, just like hers. “They never let you know if they’re having a busy night,” Robby says of the nurses who cared for her daughter. “You think your child is their only patient and that this is all they have to do.” Addison is doing great now. She’s in 5th grade, has graduated to oral maintenance chemotherapy and still visits ACH monthly for chemotherapy in her port and spine. Addison has turned her focus toward helping other children. She loves holding fundraisers like bake sales and lemonade stands to raise money for research into childhood cancers. Addison has served as an Arkansas Children’s Ambassador this year, and she’s hoping this will help that effort. “She just wants to be very helpful and do everything possible to bring awareness about the new children’s hospital in Springdale,” Robby says of Arkansas Children’s Northwest. “We all do. We’ve become very passionate about it.”
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WHY WE GIVE
A Family Affair Marisa and Jake Nabholz continue a legacy of philanthropy at Arkansas Children’s BY BECKY MCCAULEY
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or 33 years, the “Nabholz” name has been synonymous with “philanthropy” in Arkansas. Nabholz Construction Corporation, which began as a family business in 1949, has been a generous supporter of charitable and community organizations, schools and hospitals throughout Arkansas and beyond. So it’s no surprise Jake Nabholz—grandson of Nabholz Construction founder and former Arkansas Children’s Hospital board member Bob Nabholz—and his wife Marisa are committed to championing the children of Arkansas. And after their personal experience at ACH, their commitment and passion are even greater. Their son, 6-year-old Caleb, was born nine weeks too early. He spent almost five months in the neonatal intensive care unit at ACH, battling lung and heart problems and a host of other complications, until he was strong enough to finally join his big sisters Kate and Emily, now 10 and 7, at home. With their newborn baby’s future threatened, it was a scary time for Marisa and Jake. “One day, we received a serious diagnosis—brain trauma and bleeding,” Marisa recalls. “I was very, very upset. One of the nurses sat down with me and said, ‘We see this a lot, so don’t assume the worst. It’s amazing how their little brains can rewire.’ And thankfully, she was right.” The exceptional care delivered by the staff at ACH…especially the nurses…made a big impression on the Nabholz family. Marisa says, “The nurses were wonderful. They absolutely went above and beyond to make a difficult situation as positive as it could be for our family.” Though their experience reinforced their passion for nursing excellence, the Nabholz family has always had a special affinity
“Words can’t express the gratitude we feel towards everyone who helped get Caleb where he is today—a healthy 6-year-old boy who loves life.” for nurses—Jake’s great aunt Charlotte was an RN for many years. In 2014, Nabholz Construction made a gift of $50,000 in Charlotte’s honor to support nursing certification at ACH, followed by a $250,000 commitment to ACH’s Nursing Center of Excellence in 2016. In large part due to Nabholz Construction’s generous support, ACH recently received Magnet® recognition from the American Nursing Credentialing Center, joining just 6% of hospitals around the world who have achieved this elite designation. Marisa and Jake’s personal commitment to ACH extends beyond financial support. Jake has served on the Arkansas Children’s Foundation Board of Directors for two years. And he and Marisa decided to take the leap this year and chair Miracle Ball, a black-tie gala held every holiday season to benefit ACH. It’s Caleb’s intelligence and tenacity that inspire his parents to continue the Nabholz legacy of philanthropy. “Caleb has overcome so much and has had such a great outcome,” Marisa says. “His doctor at ACH can’t believe this little boy is the same baby who was so sick.”
Marisa and Jake are inspired by your generous support.
“Watching your child fight for their life is one of the most heart-wrenching things a parent can go through,” says Marisa. “But your support helps ACH provide the highest quality of care to give these precious babies the best possible outcome and chance at a healthy life.”