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Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Boy, 6, suffers life-threatening stroke that causes paralysis: 'Rare complication'
Christmas Eve is usually an evening of fun and festivity — but for one Illinois family in 2023, it came with a life-threatening medical emergency. After enjoying a few holiday traditions, the Patton family had just gotten settled at the dinner table when Preston Patton, who was 6 years old at the time, suddenly slid onto the floor. "He just fell off the chair and was limp," recalled Shawn Patton, Preston's father, according to a press release from OSF HealthCare. "I didn't think it was a stroke, but I just knew something was wrong." Mini-strokes May Cause Surprising Long-term Health Issue, Experts Warn Patton immediately called 911 and first responders rushed his son to OSF HealthCare. At the hospital, a team of emergency and pediatric doctors assessed the situation. A brain scan revealed that Preston had a blood clot in his brain, and his heart function had dropped to just 10%. (See the video at the top of this article.) Read On The Fox News App Also known as cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), this condition is rare in children, generally affecting only around one or two in every 100,000 kids and teens, statistics show. "He had complete paralysis on the left side of his body," said Sourabh Lahoti, M.D., a vascular and interventional neurologist with OSF HealthCare Illinois Neurological Institute, in the release. Stroke, Dementia And Depression Share These 17 Preventable Risk Factors "No movement was possible, and the vision in his left visual field was lost. He could not move his eyes to the left, either," added Lahoti, who led the boy's care. "He had the telltale signs of a stroke affecting the right side of his brain." The scan showed that the clot was blocking blood flow to the right side of Preston's brain. "We had to take that clot out. If we hadn't, chances are he would have gone on to develop a very big stroke," Lahoti said. "This would have not only left him paralyzed potentially for the rest of his life, but it could have been life-threatening." Doctors performed a procedure called a thrombectomy, in which a small, thin catheter is inserted into a blood vessel to remove the clot from the blocked artery. Preston is one of the few children in the world to undergo this life-saving intervention, according to the press release. Man's Best Friend: Dog Alerts Neighbor When Owner Has Stroke By the time the doctors began the procedure, the clot had traveled to a smaller blood vessel, which made it more difficult to remove. "The further out the clot is, the higher the risk it is to get it out, because we're getting into very tiny blood vessels in the brain," noted Lahoti. "We decided to take that risk and prevent a lifelong disability." Soon after the clot was removed, the doctors saw a "complete reversal" of Patton's symptoms. It was "truly magical," Dr. Lahoti recalled in the release, particularly after the boy had arrived at the hospital in a state of complete paralysis. "After the anesthesia was taken off, he woke up and was able to move his left arm and leg again." Friends, Family May Protect Against Heart Attack, Stroke And Type 2 Diabetes, Study Suggests Before thrombectomy therapy became available, patients didn't have other options, the doctor noted. "The usual course was they were left with paralysis for life, and they were never able to live normally again," said Lahoti. Doctors now believe that Preston's stroke was caused by a "rare complication" from a recent flu infection. "Because of the flu, there was a cross-reaction of the immunity his body built up," Lahoti said. "His immune system attacked the flu virus, but also his kidneys and heart." "Because of that, his heart pumping got really weak, and we think that led to the formation of a clot in his heart. The clot then traveled from the heart to his brain." Preston's father noted that his late wife (mother of Preston and his sister, Carter), had died of a pulmonary embolism, which made the young boy's medical emergency even more "emotionally challenging." Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter After a couple of weeks in the hospital, Preston is now doing well and is enjoying his favorite activities again. "He goes to OT (occupational therapy) once a week and PT (physical therapy) once a month now," Shawn Patton said in an interview with OSF HealthCare. "He's getting along pretty good." "My leg is better," Preston added. "Yes, your leg is getting better. Your hand is going to get better, too," his father reassured him. The boy has not yet been able to return to playing baseball, but he's started riding his bike again. For more Health articles, visit "It's hard to hold onto the handlebars and stuff like that. We've just got to keep working hard," Shawn Patton noted. Inspired by his challenge and recovery, Preston has now said he wants to become a nurse, according to the hospital — "because the nurses cared for him so well."Original article source: Boy, 6, suffers life-threatening stroke that causes paralysis: 'Rare complication'
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Boy, 6, suffers life-threatening stroke that causes paralysis: 'Rare complication'
Christmas Eve is usually an evening of fun and festivity — but for one Illinois family in 2023, it came with a life-threatening medical emergency. After enjoying a few holiday traditions, the Patton family had just sat down at the dinner table when Preston Patton, who was 6 years old at the time, suddenly slid onto the floor. "He just fell off the chair and was limp," recalled Shawn Patton, Preston's father, according to a press release from OSF HealthCare. "I didn't think it was a stroke, but I just knew something was wrong." Patton immediately called 911 and first responders rushed his son to OSF HealthCare. At the hospital, a team of emergency and pediatric doctors assessed the situation. A brain scan revealed that Preston had a blood clot in his brain, and his heart function had dropped to just 10%. Also known as cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), this condition is rare in children, generally affecting only around one or two in every 100,000 kids and teens, statistics show. "He had complete paralysis on the left side of his body," said Sourabh Lahoti, M.D., a vascular and interventional neurologist with OSF HealthCare Illinois Neurological Institute, in the release. "No movement was possible, and the vision in his left visual field was lost. He could not move his eyes to the left, either," added Lahoti, who led Preston's care. "He had the telltale signs of a stroke affecting the right side of his brain." The scan showed that the clot was blocking blood flow to the right side of Preston's brain. "No movement was possible, and the vision in his left visual field was lost." "We had to take that clot out. If we hadn't, chances are he would have gone on to develop a very big stroke," Lahoti said. "This would have not only left him paralyzed potentially for the rest of his life, but it could have been life-threatening." Doctors performed a procedure called a thrombectomy, in which a small, thin catheter is inserted into a blood vessel to remove the clot from the blocked artery. Preston is one of the few children in the world to undergo this life-saving intervention, according to the press release. By the time the doctors began the procedure, the clot had traveled to a smaller blood vessel, which made it more difficult to remove. "The further out the clot is, the higher the risk it is to get it out, because we're getting into very tiny blood vessels in the brain," noted Lahoti. "We decided to take that risk and prevent a lifelong disability." Soon after the clot was removed, the doctors saw a "complete reversal" of Patton's symptoms. It was "truly magical," Dr. Lahoti recalled in the release, particularly after he had arrived at the hospital in a state of complete paralysis. "After the anesthesia was taken off, he woke up and was able to move his left arm and leg again." Before thrombectomy therapy became available, patients didn't have other options, the doctor noted. "The usual course was they were left with paralysis for life, and they were never able to live normally again," said Lahoti. Doctors now believe that Preston's stroke was caused by a "rare complication" from a recent flu infection. "Because of the flu, there was a cross-reaction of the immunity his body built up," Lahoti said. "His immune system attacked the flu virus, but also his kidneys and heart." "Because of that, his heart pumping got really weak, and we think that led to the formation of a clot in his heart. The clot then traveled from the heart to his brain." Preston's father noted that his late wife (mother to Preston and his sister, Carter), had died of a pulmonary embolism, which made the young boy's medical emergency even more "emotionally challenging." After a couple of weeks in the hospital, Preston is now doing well and is enjoying his favorite activities again. "He goes to OT (occupational therapy) once a week, PT (physical therapy) once a month now," Shawn Patton said in an interview with OSF HealthCare. "He's getting along pretty good." "We had to take that clot out. If we hadn't, chances are he would have gone on to develop a very big stroke." "My leg is better," Preston added. "Yes, your leg is getting better. Your hand is going to get better, too," his father reassured him. Preston has not yet been able to return to playing baseball, but he has started riding his bike again. For more Health articles, visit "It's hard to hold onto the handlebars and stuff like that. We just got to keep working hard," Shawn Patton noted. Inspired by his challenge and recovery, Preston has now said he wants to become a nurse, according to the hospital — "because the nurses cared for him so well."
Fox News
29-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
When 2-year-old goes into cardiac arrest, parents take life-saving action
Most parents of toddlers worry about sleep habits and sniffles, but heart failure isn't usually a concern. It certainly wasn't on the Thomases' radar when their 2-year-old son went into sudden cardiac arrest in the middle of the night at their Illinois home. When the child woke up screaming, his parents ran into the room. "Hearing him scream out was alarming, as he usually slept soundly, and it was a horrible cry," Stephanie Thomas told Fox News Digital. "When I went into his room, he continued to scream out and then face-plant into his crib." At first, the Thomases thought their son was just having a night terror, so Stephanie — who is a clinical dietitian at OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois — sat next to his crib with her hand on his back, trying to calm him down. "When he finally settled, I could feel his breathing slowly come to a stop," she recalled. "I picked him up out of his crib and placed him on the floor. With him being unresponsive, I felt for a pulse and started CPR." "I was petrified and confused about how my seemingly healthy 2-year-old was in this situation." "I was petrified and confused about how my seemingly healthy 2-year-old was in this situation." As Stephanie performed CPR, her husband, Kris, called 911. Emergency responders rushed the boy to OSF HealthCare. After 11 days of testing, he was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome, a very rare heart condition that can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death. Though there can be some signs of Brugada syndrome, such as fainting or passing out, the condition is often not discovered until cardiac arrest occurs. The Thomases' son had a similar incident about a month before the cardiac arrest, which they now believe may have been his first episode. "He woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible scream, had some gasping and was hard to calm," Stephanie recalled. "It was only a short period, and once he calmed, he seemed 'normal.' We assumed it was a night terror." As Brugada syndrome is often inherited, the Thomases were both tested for genetic abnormalities, but it was determined that their son's syndrome is a "mosaic defect," which is when there are two or more genetically different sets of cells in the body. The OSF team implanted the young boy with an EV-ICD (extravascular implantable cardioverter-defibrillator), which is positioned outside the heart's blood vessels. It is designed to detect and correct any abnormal heart rhythms. This was the first time the device was implanted in a child at such a young age, the hospital noted in a press release. Since the first episode, the Thomases' son has been hospitalized six more times. Each time an abnormal heart rhythm is detected, the EV-ICD delivers a "life-saving shock" to the boy's heart. "Our son acts and appears healthy more than 99% of the time, until his heart gets into an arrhythmia that his body and medication cannot manage on their own," Stephanie told Fox News Digital. "In these cases, he receives a shock from his ICD." The boy has been readmitted to the hospital due to arrhythmias and medication titration seven times since his initial discharge, his mother added. Sunita Ferns, M.D., a pediatric electrophysiologist at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center who is treating the Thomases' son, noted that her young patient is now "married to cardiology." "We monitor these devices constantly. If we see any arrhythmia in the background, despite the medication he's on, we can offer him other technologies," Dr. Ferns said in the OSF press release. "Ablative technologies can help modify the substrate, which is the tissue that's responsible for the bad rhythm." To help control his arrhythmias, the boy also takes a compounded oral medication every six hours, which he will take for the rest of his life. The parents said it can be challenging to navigate the episodes with a 2-year-old who can't understand what's happening. "The hardest part is when he says things like, 'I can't use the elephant blankie because it shocked me,'" Stephanie said. "He makes these associations between being shocked and the objects or places around him." There are specific triggers for the boy's arrhythmias, the Thomases have learned, such as low-grade fevers and even slight illnesses, like a cold. "It is vital that we keep him as healthy as we can — which can be challenging with him being an active 2-year-old and having a 4-year-old," Stephanie said. "We make sure that he stays up to date on his and our whole family's vaccines. We do our best to tightly regulate any temperatures." "It is vital that we keep him as healthy as we can." The Thomases now aim to raise awareness of the importance of having CPR training, being alert to warning signs and putting an emergency plan in place. As a healthcare employee, Stephanie has maintained her Basic Life Support (BLS) certification for over 10 years. For more Health articles, visit "I have always said that I work with doctors and nurses, so felt that this was something I would never use — but the doctors and nurses were not in my house the night my son went into cardiac arrest, so it was left to me."
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dixon council inks agreement with OSF Saint Katharine that allows enrollment in drug discount program
May 20—DIXON — The Dixon City Council on Monday, May 19, approved an agreement with OSF HealthCare marking its commitment to providing care to low-income and uninsured patients. The memorandum of understanding is basically a formality because OSF Saint Katharine Medical Center, a non-profit and a Catholic health system, as part of its policy already provides care to all individuals regardless of their ability to pay. It's really intended to fulfill a prerequisite for the hospital to participate in a federal assistance program that provides drug discounts to hospitals and clinics that qualify, Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes said. The 340B Drug Discount Program, authorized under Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act, provides significant discounts on outpatient drugs for certain safety-net health care providers, primarily those that serve a higher number of low-income and uninsured patients, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration website. In Lee County, the median household income is about $68,459 a year compared to about $80,306 a year across Illinois. About 11.7% of people in Lee County are living in poverty, which is nearly equal to the estimated 11.6% statewide, according to the U.S. Census 2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates data. That data also estimates that 3.6% of people in Lee County do not have health care coverage, which is less than the estimated 6.2% for all of Illinois. The agreement "does not create any substantive legal requirements on the part of the city," City Attorney Rob LeSage told the council, adding that the agreement doesn't impose any cost or liability requirements on the city. "We're just making that statement that we have an understanding with them and that we're supporting the fact that they are providing services to an above-average lower-income or Medicaid clientele," Hughes said. OSF Saint Katharine is "effectively doing these things already, and by memorializing this in this standard form of wave the magic wand, and now they are eligible to receive pharmaceuticals at a lower cost," LeSage said. "This agreement marks a significant milestone in our continuing efforts to improve healthcare access and affordability for the communities we serve," OSF Saint Katharine President Jackie Kernan said. "By participating in this program, we can extend our resources, making sure that our patients receive the medications they need at a lower cost. We thank the city of Dixon for their partnership and shared vision in making this initiative possible."
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
OSF Leaders meet with lawmaker to strengthen workforce
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Improving the healthcare workforce to save lives. A meeting at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center's Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center was held to talk about what can be done to create more jobs in the medical field. Leaders of OSF HealthCare, Peoria Mayor Rita Ali, central Illinois career and technical education leaders along with representatives from organized labor talked about the need for healthcare workers, or as OSF refers to their employees as 'mission partners', how federal dollars can be used for career and technical programs in Illinois and how to keep Illinois medical students in the state. 'There's a huge health care job shortage right now,' said Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who represents Illinois's 8th district which encompasses Chicago suburbs like Elgin, Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg. 'Just not enough people to take the vacancies that exist in health care throughout the country, including here in Peoria.' Project: AI — How AI impacts the healthcare industry Krishnamoorthi, along with Pennsylvania Republican, G.T. Thompson, authored the bi-partisan Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2018. Now, he is going to places in Illinois to see what can be done to employ more healthcare workers in the state. 'What I've been doing is going and visiting different places like OSF and other employers to figure out, 'Okay, what do we need to do in the reauthorization of this law to make it better, provide more resources and make it even more valuable for both students and employers?'' he said. Shelley Parn, Chief Human Resource Officer for OSF HealthCare, said the meeting was critically important to have someone at OSF who can vouch for Peoria, because, she said, it takes more than just the healthcare system. 'If you think about how some of the funding for our academic institutions such as ICC, Bradley, ISU, our state universities, how do we ensure that they have the right funding themselves to have the right programs that we partner with to bring them into that health care?' Parn said. Parn emphasized how important education is to OSF and the state of Illinois, along with expressing the hope to figure out how to continue to saturate employment in Illinois' medical field. 'OSF HealthCare has invested millions of dollars in their workforce in just tuition. And so if you think about that from that perspective, how can they continue to help systems like ours support that type of approach moving forward?,' Parn said. While no specific dollar amount was given, the hope is to receive support both financially and informationally at the federal level. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
