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Patient Stories

At Children’s National Hospital, we provide compassionate, professional care to thousands of patients every year. Our patients come from all over the United States and from more than 20 countries around the world. They have many different conditions and experience unique paths on their treatment journeys – but through it all they experience the same level of warm, family-centered care. Discover our patients' stories to understand their journey and see how it may relate to your own.

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Sadie's Story Newborn Neurologic Disorders

Sadie is one of hundreds of infants with acute encephalopathy who have received whole-body therapeutic hypothermia at the Children's National neonatal intensive care unit. Whole-body therapeutic hypothermia is offered in the first few hours of life to preserve brain cells and to stave off disability or death.

Sophia's Story Tetralogy of Fallot TOF

During a routine 20-week prenatal ultrasound, Carol Kando-Pineda’s obstetrician in Fredericksburg, Virginia, spotted abnormalities in Carol’s unborn child that she referred to as “possibly inconsistent with life.”

side by side photo Kaylee Townsley Roxi Vasquez

Kaylee and Roxi's Story Kidney Diseases

Kaylee Townsley, a seventh-grader, is 12. Roxi Vasquez, a high school senior, is 18. They live in different towns and attend different schools but became "sisters" as they shared the same kidney transplant experience.

Noah's Story Airway Lungs

After Joshua and Sandra Sweek noticed that their 6-month-old son, Noah, was having breathing problems, they took him to the doctor. There, the baby was diagnosed with suspected asthma.

Gabriella's Story Nephrotic Syndrome

Gabriella was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, which meant her kidneys were leaking protein.

Heaven, Tiara and Messiah's Story Airway Lungs

Heaven, Tiara and Messiah's Story Airway Lungs

"My life has become better because I’m more educated and can help others,” Tiara Cuthbertson embraces being an asthma patient advocate.

Amarie's Story Premature Infant

Amarie, an infant born prematurely, is enrolled in a Children’s research study that seeks to understand how preterm birth affects the cerebellum.

Carly's Story Cancer

Bone marrow experts and a selfless donation save a local teen’s life.

Bella claps her hands while wearing pink eyeglasses and a red hair bow

Bella's Story Epilepsy and Seizure

In the first weeks of life, Bella underwent a series of procedures that her doctors and family agreed were necessary to end constant seizures from hemimegalencephaly (HME), a rare brain disorder in which one half of the brain grows abnormal and large and misbehaves by triggering repeated difficult seizures.

Thomas's Story Duodenal Atresia or Stenosis in Infants

Thomas's Story Duodenal Atresia or Stenosis in Infants

Thomas’s internal and external challenges, all considered individually very rare, added up to an extremely rare combination known as VACTERL association.