Cook Children's Home Health San Antonio

10/30/2025

Every year, approximately 2,000 seemingly healthy people under the age of 25 die from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), a tragic statistic that Cook Children's is working to change.

In recognition of , Cook Children's is highlighting its year-round commitment to ensure schools and communities are prepared for such a medical emergency through its Project ADAM program, which provides life-saving training and resources. Sudden Cardiac Arrest occurs when the heart stops beating, which leads to loss of breath or irregular breathing and prevents blood flow to the brain and other vital organs.

“With the proper training, anyone can do CPR and use an AED, and with enough of us trained and empowered to do so, we have the ability to potentially save someone’s life,” said Sarah Thieroff, Project Adam Program Coordinator.

Project ADAM (Automated Defibrillators in Adam's Memory) is a program named after 17-year-old Adam Lemel. In 1999, while playing high school basketball, Adam collapsed and went into Sudden Cardiac Arrest. His family learned that he could have been saved with the right preparation and equipment. An automated external defibrillator (AED) was not available. His parents helped start the Project ADAM program at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in his memory. Cook Children’s was the first in Texas and is now one of 52 hospitals and program sites to provide free cardiac resources, including training and AED devices.

More than 780 schools and 28 school districts are recognized to be Heart Safe. A designated Heart Safe school and district have completed a quality AED training program that includes a CPR/AED trained emergency team, an emergency plan for their AED and required AED drills.

“Knowledge of what to do, and muscle memory from practicing the appropriate steps may correspond to earlier action and in turn lead to a more successful outcome,” said Danielle Moyé, M.D., cardiologist at Cook Children’s Heart Center.

To learn more, visit: https://tinyurl.com/5yhcc7h4

10/29/2025

This week on the , Kristen Pyrc, M.D. and Wini King are back and welcoming special guest Alexandra Morales, Project and Partnership Coordinator for the Parent Pass app, to discuss a groundbreaking tool designed to lift the mental load of parenting.

Alexandra explains how the free Parent Pass app started in 2021 as a solution to connect parents with the resources and community support they were struggling to find in Tarrant County.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
• How Parent Pass acts as a vetted, one-stop shop for finding everything from fun, low-cost kid-friendly events to reliable health and mental wellness resources.
• How the app uses new AI to customize event and resource information based on your children's ages, interests, and zip code, so you don't have to "scour" for information.
• The overwhelming request for mental health support from local parents, which Parent Pass addresses by linking to organizations like Lena Pope and offering access to trauma-informed yoga classes.
• The app's Parent Help Line and its life-saving connection to the Help Me Grow program, including a powerful story of how a nurse's postpartum education helped a new mom recognize a dangerous blood clot.

Don't miss this inspiring conversation about how a community-driven app is using technology to combat parent isolation and provide critical support, all while continuing to grow and expand!

Learn more about the Parent Pass App here: https://parentpass.app/

Remember to connect with Raising Joy on Instagram and TikTok .joy to see video content from episodes.

10/28/2025

As kids get ready for trick-or-treating, there are some important things parents can do to keep them as safe as possible! 🎃

Cook Children’s has your go-to guide for worry-free trick or treating. Laura Romano, D.O., hospitalist at Cook Children's Medical Center -- Fort Worth, shares her tips here: https://tinyurl.com/m739yae4

10/22/2025

Have you ever spotted a furry friend in the halls of Cook Children’s? Chances are, it is one of Cook Children’s volunteer animal-assisted therapy dogs.

Skylar (Sky) Runnels, patient care technician and medical assistant at Cook Children's, has seen the significance of these special dogs both as a caregiver and as a patient. In 2018, at just 17 years old, Sky was recovering from a surgery to remove a hemorrhagic cyst. She has a rare bleeding disorder, Von Willebrand's Disorder, so hospital stays are not outside of the norm. During her recovery, Cheryl Farrell and one of her previous therapy dogs, Pixie, visited Sky.

“I was very depressed at that moment," shares Sky. “I’m already in the hospital for so much, then I didn’t feel good, and I was lonely." On this day, Cheryl and Pixie were doing their usual rounds when they stopped by Sky's room. Pixie was holding a carrot on her nose and jumped right up on Sky's bed to greet her. “Seeing Cheryl come in the room and bring Pixie just lightened my day,” continues Sky. "Though I was really, really sick, it gave me some motivation to see the better side of things.”

Oftentimes, this duo never gets to know how their interaction impacts people. Luckily, Cheryl and Sky have recently found each other again. Cheryl and her current corgi, Beau, were doing their weekly patient visits when Sky came up and introduced herself to them. She then told Cheryl about her interaction with her and Pixie as a patient years ago. Sky then shared that one of the reasons she became a nurse was because of her interactions with Pixie and the care she received as a patient.

“Like I said with Sky, it was so cool just to see the circle being complete," beamed Cheryl. Sky still has photos of her visit from Cheryl and Pixie, which she was so excited to show.

Animal Assisted Therapy Teams consist of the volunteer and their pet dog. The dog has to be complex certified by Pet Partners and be evaluated by our Animal Assisted Therapy Team Lead. At that point, they can apply to volunteer. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Animal Assisted Therapy Team, please reach out to Marie at Marie.Howell@cookchildrens.org.

To learn more, visit: https://tinyurl.com/3chc2cbe

10/21/2025

Piper Francis, 17, has been playing softball with lifelong friends since second grade, but last year, she noticed she was having difficulty breathing during practice. She saw multiple doctors who prescribed her asthma inhalers that didn’t help. Then, in early 2025, she was referred to the Exercise Respiratory Center at Cook Children’s – Prosper where her care team identified her breathing issue and helped her recover. Now, she’s back on the softball field and excited to play in her senior year.

John Robertson, M.D., pediatric pulmonologist at Cook Children's Medical Center - Prosper, was Piper’s advocate, quickly figuring out what she needed to improve her breathing and help her continue playing softball. “Almost every day last year, I would feel tightness in my chest and throat. It felt like something was blocking my airway,” Piper said. “I’d show up at softball practice and have to sit out through half of it. Now I’ve been able to go back to practice after seeing Dr. Robertson. He immediately recognized my problem and I felt better in less than a month!”

Piper was diagnosed with EILO and dysfunctional breathing with testing at Cook Children’s Exercise Respiratory Center, which opened in 2023. The Exercise Respiratory Center diagnoses, treats and researches the causes of exercise-induced respiratory symptoms for older children, adolescents and young adults. Some of the many duties of the researchers at the Exercise Respiratory Center, Rebecca Brovina, MSHS, BSN, RN, CPN, and Andy Kreutzer, PhD, CSCS, LSSWB, include gathering data and presenting findings to share with other medical professionals about the diagnosis and treatment of exercise-induced respiratory symptoms.

It’s one of three centers in the U.S. that test continuous laryngoscopy during exercise (CLE) for children and the only center in Texas. During this test, Dr. Robertson will view a patient’s voice box and vocal cords with a scope while the child is exercising.

To learn more about Cook Children’s Exercise Respiratory Center and Piper's inspiring story, visit: https://tinyurl.com/29evsh6a

10/20/2025

Leif was 3 months old when he started showing strange symptoms and getting sick regularly. His mom, Airica Dean, thought it was recurring pneumonia and brought him to multiple doctors near their home in Oklahoma. The medications he was being prescribed weren’t working. Then one day everything changed. “Leif coded in my hands,” Airica said.

Airica and her husband were told not to expect Leif to live much longer and they started preparing themselves and their two other children. “I prayed to God to give me answers,” Airica said. “As I was leaving the chapel one day, I got a call from genetic testing. They had figured it out.” Leif was diagnosed with X-linked hyper IgM syndrome, a very rare primary immunodeficiency disease which only affects about two in every 1 million male babies.

In her desperate search for a cure, Airica came across Natalia Chaimowitz, M.D., Ph.D. who leads Cook Children’s Immunology Clinic and reached out to her. Dr. Chaimowitz told Airica she had a treatment for Leif’s X-linked hyper IgM syndrome.

“As an immunologist, I’ve had the privilege of caring for children with rare disorders like hyper IgM syndrome,” Dr. Chaimowitz said. “These conditions may be uncommon, but their impact is profound. Early diagnosis can truly change the trajectory of a child’s life — giving them access to the care and treatment they need before complications arise.”

After other doctors said he wouldn’t live past two years, Dr. Chaimowitz gave Airica’s family hope. “Leif has an ultra-rare diagnosis that many physicians have never heard of, or only read about,” Dr. Chaimowitz said. “As a specialized immunology care center, we take care of children with ultra-rare diagnosis and are always up-to-date on diagnostic evaluations and therapeutics.”

Leif received life-saving care as quickly as possible and had a bone marrow transplant in September 2024. He went into remission soon after and continues to be in remission today.

“It was a wonderful experience with Cook Children’s,” Airica said. "Leif was in the right place, exactly where he needed to be. I can’t ever give Cook Children’s enough gratitude.”

To learn more about Leif and Cook Children’s Immunology Clinic, visit: https://tinyurl.com/56aswf6w

10/16/2025

Taking your child to the hospital is usually stressful. And when you don’t speak the same language as the providers coming into the room, the experience can quickly become overwhelming.

The goal of the dedicated staff in Cook Children's Language Services Department is to ease that burden. The department provides interpretation and translation services for patients and guardians across the hospital system. Interpretation deals with the spoken language while translation converts written text. But interpreters are not just a link between patient and provider; Cook Children’s interpreters provide empathy, connection and a sense of safety for families.

“We do it because it's the right thing to do,” Anylu NerioGarza, CHI-Spanish, LSSYB-L,, Director of the Language Services Department, said. “We need to involve our patients and our guardians in their care.”

Whenever a patient comes to Cook Children’s, their guardian(s) fill out a form where they can request these services. Most of the requests are for Spanish interpretation or translation and one of Cook Children’s 30 Spanish interpreters will meet with the family to ensure communication between them and their nurses and doctors. In 2024, Spanish interpreters had 63,497 encounters with patients and families. Collectively, they spent a total of 717,931 minutes with families.

When Maria Garcia, CHI-Spanish, walks in a room to help a family, she can see the instant relief and gratitude on their faces. Maria said she and other interpreters provide empathy and comfort for people.

Most of the department’s services are used for Spanish-speakers, but Cook Children’s provides interpreters, translators and online resources in a multitude of languages. For example, the department frequently coordinates interpreters for people who need American Sign Language services. Cook Children’s second-most common language for interpreter services is Arabic, followed by Vietnamese.

“We think about core values -- Like connection, elevation -- and we're not able to do those if we’re not providing interpreter services to our families,” Anylu said. To learn more about our language services department, visit: https://tinyurl.com/38y24s5z

10/15/2025

During , Cook Children’s The Center for Community Health created a display to honor the infants who died from Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) in Tarrant County in 2023. Twenty-seven onesies are placed in a crib to represent each of the unexpected deaths of these Tarrant County babies. SUID is the unexpected death of a baby under 1 year old.

“SUID can happen in any sleep environment but is less likely to happen if the baby is in their own crib, bassinet, or portable crib,” explains Samantha St. John, program coordinator at Cook Children’s Center for Community Health. “By placing a baby in a safe sleep space, the risk of SUID is lowered significantly.”

Samantha shares ways that babies are able to sleep safely and how to reduce the risk of SUID in your family. To learn more, visit: https://tinyurl.com/49ffxz6v

Veintisiete mamelucos colocados en una cuna representan a los 27 bebés que murieron a causa del Síndrome de Muerte Súbita Inesperada en la Infancia (SUID, por sus siglas en inglés) en el Condado de Tarrant en 2023.

Samantha St. John, coordinadora del programa, explica lo que los padres deben de saber sobre el Sueño Seguro.

Lee más aquí: https://tinyurl.com/3r6k98sm

10/14/2025

We had a spooky good time with our patient families today at the Spirit Halloween party at Cook Children’s Medical Center – Fort Worth! Patients were invited to pick out a costume, paint some pumpkins and leave with a goody bag. It was a wickedly fun morning!

While you’re searching for the perfect costume at your local Spirit Halloween, be sure to use our coupon for 10% off! For every coupon redeemed, Spirit of Children will donate a portion of the proceeds to Child Life at Cook Children’s. Use the coupon below or use the code GIVING25 if you’re shopping online.

10/13/2025

A very special visitor stopped by Cook Children’s last week – Alana Springsteen! 🎸

This sweet country music star painted some pumpkins, played many games with patients and even performed two of her songs in the Child Life Zone. Alana shared how music has been healing for her throughout her life and everyone loved spending the afternoon with her!

We all had a great time and hope to see you in Fort Worth again soon, Alana!

10/13/2025

Each year in the United States, 3,500 babies die unexpectedly during sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In Tarrant County, between 2018 and 2022, there were 124 deaths due to Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID).

SUID can occur in infants younger than a year. It includes three causes of death: sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (ASSB) and unknown/undetermined reasons. “SUID can happen in any sleep environment but is less likely to happen if the baby is in their own crib, bassinet, or portable crib,” explains Samantha St. John, program coordinator at Cook Children’s The Center for Community Health.

St. John shares how families can prepare and keep their little one safe as they build their baby registry. To learn more about building a safe registry, visit: https://tinyurl.com/4dpjx363

Según los CDC, 3,500 bebés mueren inesperadamente cada año durante el sueño en los Estados Unidos. La seguridad es primordial para su bebé. Aquí le explicamos lo que debe saber al crear su registro de regalos y cómo mantener seguro a su pequeño.

Lee más aquí: https://tinyurl.com/ynp2axve

Each year in the United States, 3,500 babies die unexpectedly during sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  In Tarrant County, between 2018 and 2022, there were 124 deaths due to Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID).SUID can occur in infants younger than a year....

10/09/2025

Registration is open for The Blast!

Sign up to make a difference and walk alongside our incredible patients.

To launch your team today, visit: blastwalk.org

07/09/2025

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06/30/2025

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Cook Children's Home Health is thrilled to announce a special opportunity for our patient creators. Enter your masterpiece into our art contest for a chance to spread joy and inspiration throughout the year!

How it works
• Choose your favorite month and create something beautiful.
• The contest runs to July 18.
• All entries need to be submitted to homehealthcontest@cookchildrens.org.