Latest news with #TexasChildren's
American Press
09-07-2025
- Health
- American Press
'Stay strong': Scoliosis won't stop 13-year-old Moss Bluff girl
Crosby, a Canine Companion who visits patients at Texas Children's Hospital, spends time with Braelyn Hebert after her spinal surgery. (Texas Children's Hospital / Special to the American Press) Scoliosis will not stop 13-year-old Braelyn Hebert from doing what she loves: gymnastics. Her love for gymnastics is simple. She loves to flip and she loves to do tricks. But when she was diagnosed with scoliosis last year, her passions were put on pause. Flexibility has been one of Braelyn's strengths, so she started dancing when she was 3, her mom, Samantha Hebert, recalled. After a group dance convention where Braelyn stayed in the back and did handstands, they decided gymnastics was the perfect sport for her. 'She did love dance, but she really loved the flipping aspect of it more, cartwheels and handstands,' Samantha said. Braelyn became a competitive gymnast, where she coined the move, the 'Braelyn Monkey Climb.' She climbs up a 25-foot rope upside down with her feet. While this move is a piece of cake for Braelyn, it is a task for everybody else, Samantha said. 'It was just so natural. She was like, 'It's easy, it's not a big deal.' There's been many girls who have tried it at the gym,' Samantha remarked. Diagnosis During a routine scoliosis screening at her school in February 2024, a school nurse found that Braelyn could have scoliosis. Things started to move fast. The school exam was on Feb. 20, 2024. The next day, Braelyn got her first X-ray. The diagnosis came as a shock. She showed no signs of unalignment, experienced no pain and was not physically hindered. But X-rays showed that Braelyn had two 50-degree curves in her spine, one at the top and one at the bottom. Any spinal curve greater than 40 degrees is considered severe and requires surgery. Because of the double curve, they would not have noticed the scoliosis without an exam, Samantha said. 'I was very nervous and anxious for the future and what was to come because we didn't know a lot about scoliosis at the time,' Braelyn said. 'We didn't know if I was going to need surgery or if I was going to need bracing. It was just very chaotic and a lot. It was very overwhelming for sure at first because we had no idea.' 'Seeing her X-ray for the first time was just really, like, it was a shock because she was physically able to do so much. I guess it just didn't make sense,' Samantha added. On Feb. 23, Samantha called Texas Children's, one of the largest pediatric hospitals in the United States. Braelyn's idiopathic scoliosis with a double major curve is uncommon and required a specialist, Samantha said. At Texas Children's there is a team of five physicians who specialize in scoliosis and spinal deformity. There, she found Dr. Darrell Scott Hanson, who specializes in orthopedic surgery. Surgery As soon as Samantha learned about the Texas Children's Scoliosis and Spinal Deformity Program, she got to work. 'I had initially gotten an appointment for April 1st, but I guess as a mom, I was just like, 'That's too far.' It was over a month away. I just started calling Texas Children's on that Friday. I've called several times, and I was like, 'Is there anything sooner?' ' With persistence, she was quickly referred to Hanson. They saw him for the first time on March 19. On May 14, Braelyn had surgery. She received a hybrid surgery. The bottom curve was fused, while the top curve received vertebral body tethering (VBT). VBT is a newer, less invasive surgery where the vertebrae are not fused. Instead, VBT acts as a growth modulation treatment. A flexible cord is attached to the spine to align it as the child grows. The alternative to spinal fusion allows patients to maintain most of their range of motion and flexibility, which was important to Samantha and Braelyn. 'We could have just had her fused, but she just turned 12. To fuse together 12 vertebrae in her spine just didn't seem reasonable,' Samantha said. Braelyn's surgery lasted 11 hours. She was comfortable and confident before heading into surgery, but that didn't mean she wasn't nervous. 'I was very scared and very, very anxious because I didn't know if I was going to be OK, but I also knew that I was going to be OK. I was overthinking it, and I was like, 'Yeah, I'll be fine, but also, 'What if something happens?' ' Samantha was confident in the surgeons and Braelyn's strength in the face of adversity. 'She's been through more than a lot of adults,' Samantha said. 'Nothing can stand in her way.' Recovery Three months after her surgery, Braelyn was back with her gymnastics team to regain her skills, 'doing flips, climbing ropes and doing all the tricks,' and it felt good to come back home, she said. 'I was very happy. They were great. We were all just super happy to see that I was doing well and that I could still do a lot of my tricks. It was just amazing because they were all there for me.' Her gym is filled with supportive peers and coaches who encouraged Braelyn during her recovery, Samantha said. 'When she just walked back in the gym, they were just like, 'Hey!' They celebrated her coming back and celebrated everything that she was able to accomplish and overcome.' Braelyn started slow, with lots of tumbling and basics on the docket. But by September, she was able to complete her signature move, the Braylon Monkey Climb. And while she has not done gymnastics competitively since her surgery, she did make the cheer team at Moss Bluff Middle School. Her capabilities post-op are due to the hybrid surgery she received, her mom said. 'Had we done the full fusion — which is kind of like the gold standard surgery that most people have and have had for many, many years — she probably wouldn't have even been released to try out for cheer,' she explained. 'With as much range of motion and flexibility that she would have lost, we just don't know what that would have looked like.' Through this journey, Braelyn has learned that she is stronger than she previously thought. She didn't think she would be able to recover as well as she has, but she did. She didn't think she was able to handle the stress as well as she had, but she did. Her advice to other children facing a scoliosis diagnosis is for them to have faith in themselves. 'Stay strong,' she said. 'Don't be too afraid. Don't overthink it. Probably, they're still going to overthink it. Everyone overthinks. You are more capable of doing this than you might think. Just believe in yourself and trust that the hospital has you. They will do anything and everything they can to help you. The recovery will be rough, but it ends up the best. It's worth it, for sure. Samantha stressed the importance of scoliosis screenings for children. And in the case of scoliosis, she said to call Texas Children's. 'They have so much experience and so much knowledge,' she said. 'If you go to good doctors, you're going to be in good hands.'
CBS News
01-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
1.8 million Texans could lose current health insurance provider if state lawmakers don't act
More than 125,000 North Texas families could soon lose their current health insurance provider if state lawmakers don't act. In March 2024, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission announced plans to drop the Cook Children's nonprofit Health Plan, along with Texas Children's and Driscoll Children's plans, and award Medicaid contracts to several national, for-profit insurance companies instead. CBS News Texas "Why would the state take contracts away from Texas-based companies and give them to national companies, where those profits and earnings are going to go outside the state of Texas?" said Karen Love, president of the Cook Children's Health Plan. "We need to keep those here in the state of Texas so that people like us can continue to make investments in the health of our community." Cook Children's is working with state lawmakers on bills that would reinstate the children's hospital plans across the state and make changes to the process moving forward. However, the clock is ticking with just four weeks left in this legislative session. "The legislature has made their will known in the past," Love said. "They just need to make their will known in this case." If lawmakers don't act, Cook Children's says 1.8 million children and pregnant women across Texas would be forced to change health insurance plans. That includes 125,000 North Texas children who are currently on the Cook Children's Health Plan. "I feel like removing this plan punishes families who already have to navigate a life that's hard," said Liz Pinon, whose children are on the Cook Children's Health Plan. "My kids would probably be okay, but there's so many kids out there that will not be okay. So many families that will get hurt for this." Pinon's triplets have been patients at Cook Children's Medical Center since they were babies, and all have complex medical needs. "My daughter is in a wheelchair," Pinon said. "My son has a feeding tube. They have mental health issues." She says juggling all their appointments and care has been easier since moving to the Cook Children's Health Plan about seven years ago. The pediatric healthcare system has managed Medicaid coverage for medically fragile children, low-income families, and pregnant women for more than 20 years. "The Cook Children's Health Plan has given us the tools so that my kids are not just surviving, they're thriving and living a healthy life," said Pinon. In the final weeks of the legislative session, she hopes lawmakers think about her family and the thousands of others who would be left scrambling if the Medicaid contracts go to out-of-state, for-profit corporations. "These are families who may be working two to three jobs to cover the rent and groceries and, you know, childcare and all of those things," Love said. "To have to worry about finding and picking a different plan, getting to know a new service coordinator, potentially having to change providers… That's just a level of disruption that's not necessary for these families when they have made their choice clear." If state lawmakers don't pass a legislative solution to address this, Cook Children's will continue its legal battle against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The hospital won a temporary injunction against the agency last fall. A trial has been set for November.
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Alejandro Tosti confronts PGA Tour rules official over Min Woo Lee's pace-of-play at Houston Open
Alejandro Tosti confronts PGA Tour rules official over Min Woo Lee's pace-of-play at Houston Open Alejandro Tosti had an issue with how long 2025 Texas Children's Houston Open leader Min Woo Lee took to play on the eighth hole. Lee's tee shot sailed right and went under a bush Sunday during the final round on the par-5 eighth hole, and he took more than 7 minutes from the time NBC first showed Lee at the ball to when he hit it. Lee was on his knees at one point seeing whether he could play from under a bush, and he eventually took an unplayable lie and hit a punch shot beneath a tree back out into the fairway. The final group was on the eighth hole for more than half an hour, and Lee's approach shot was a big reason for the delay. And Tosti to exception to it. NBC's cameras caught Tosti calling over a rules official and complaining about how long Lee took to play his shot. Jim "Bones" Mackay, walking with the final group, reported Tosti also got into it with Ryan Fox on the first hole, saying Tosti was "a little bit disrespectful" when Tosti was taking a drop after his approach went into a creek left of the green. "It's going to be very interesting given what Min Woo's dealing with with this lead, trying to win for the first time, what takes place out here on this back nine," Mackay said. Last year at the Houston Open, Tosti got into it with Tony Finau multiple times during a round about who was away on a couple shots. And Sunday, playing in the final round trying to catch Lee, Tosti was again at the center of another controversy caught on camera.
