Patient Stories

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.

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Isabel's Story Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Daniela and Steven knew something wasn’t right when their 4-year-old daughter, Isabel seemed to have uncharacteristically low energy at her grandparents’ 50th anniversary party. After advice from urgent care, Isabel's parents took her to Children's National where Shana Jacobs, M.D. diagnosed and began treatment for Burkitt lymphoma, a rare and extremely aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

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Ashley's Story Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS)

Between her premature birth and her medical issues including her critical HLHS heart condition, her parents, Ana Mercedes and Axel Vela, were told that Ashley was unlikely to survive.

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Irina's Story Colorectal

When Irina and her husband first learned their infant daughter had a serious health condition, they immediately began researching the best doctors and surgeons to care for her. Read about Irina's story.

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Rafael's Story

Rafael, a 12-year-old competitive gymnast, had fibular stress reactions in both of his legs due to repeated overuse. He attended physical therapy twice a week for 3 months at our Fight For Children Sports Medicine Center, which alleviated the pain he was experiencing and helped him return to competing.

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Claire's Story

Not only was Claire born small, but she was also born with a type of congenital heart disease called double outlet right ventricle – a condition that occurs once in every 6,000 to 10,000 births, when the aorta and the pulmonary artery connect to the heart’s ventricle. Claire’s lungs were receiving too much blood flow and she was in heart failure.

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Lakin's Story Diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2

For the Bassler family, this past spring was filled with big changes and new learnings about type 1 diabetes. For Lakin, it was about learning to live with her disease.

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Deion's Story Failure to Thrive (Poor Growth)

Nineteen years ago, Deion was born prematurely and developed eosinophilic esophagitis and acid reflux, along with failure to thrive. For years, he endured environmentally influenced intestinal issues that he and his family didn't understand until they met Children's National specialists who "never gave up on us."

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Lexy's Story Brain Tumors

Sixteen-year-old West Virginia native Lexy Blair and her parents knew that something was wrong when she started needing to take breaks during her favorite dance classes. Lexy was suffering from intense fatigue and constant headaches, and was unable to keep up with her rigorous dance training or even finish days of school, which had never posed a problem for her in the past.

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Finn's Story Kaposiform Hemangioendothelioma with Kasabach-Merritt Syndrome

When Finn was born, his parents and doctors immediately knew something was wrong. Finn’s left leg was swollen to the size of an adult head, and it continued to swell at an alarming rate.

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Jason's Story Asthma

When Jason was born, the Children's National team was already standing by to treat his failing kidneys. He spent his first two months in the NICU, and he has been in and out of Children's National for the past six years.

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Brayden's Story Soft Tissue Sarcoma

From the outside, Brayden Schofield seems like a regular six-year-old boy who loves sharks, snakes, and playing with his little brother. But what most people don’t know is that Brayden’s life – and left arm – was saved by a rare bone tumor surgery performed by a team of doctors at Children’s National Hospital.

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