Child Life Toy Drive
Interested in leaving a legacy at McLane Children’s Hospital through a bequest
or planned gift? You might be surprised how easy it can be and how you can
financially benefit your loved ones while giving to your favorite charity. Please call
254-899-3769 to learn how you can make an impact for generations to come!
Happy Birthday, McLane Children’s!
PRECIOUS TIME (CONTINUED)
Four years later, Bella is ahead of the curve
for children who have survived an extended
period without oxygen.
“My hope was so grim,” Mrs.
Buerger says. “She’d gone without
oxygen for so long that she would
most likely never walk, never talk, and
would need a feeding tube. But ECMO
made the difference.”
ECMO took over for Bella’s
lungs, oxygenating her blood as she
breathed and allowing her lungs to
rest. She was also kept in a medically
induced coma to allow the swelling
around her brain to heal. Luckily, the
cool water of the pool helped preserve
her brain function. “The problem has
December 5 - 16
Donate a new, unwrapped toy and help us bring
a little joy to a child in the hospital this holiday season!
to be reversible,” Mr. Greer says.
“ECMO doesn’t cure anything; it only
buys time for healing.”
After three days, Bella recovered
enough to discontinue ECMO therapy.
“We see this quick recovery quite a
bit. For instance, babies in the NICU
might be on ECMO for days versus the
ventilator for months,” Mr. Greer says.
Bella stayed in the pediatric
intensive care unit at McLane
Children’s for just over two weeks
before transferring to an in-patient
rehabilitation program in Fort Worth
for six months. “She had to relearn
how to do everything from walking,
talking, to feeding herself and
chewing. It was almost like having an
infant again,” Mrs. Buerger says.
Now, at age six, Bella runs, rides
a bike, speaks English and Spanish,
and has no fear of water, according
to her mother. “After a near-drowning,
some children can walk and talk
relatively normally, but most don’t
even get that far,” Mrs. Buerger says.
“On the scale of recovery, no one
looks like Bella and it’s because she
was on ECMO.”
Although this military family is now
stationed out of state, Mrs. Buerger
still keeps in contact with the McLane
Children’s emergency room staff
members who treated Bella. They also
visit whenever the family is home,
just so the staff can see Bella’s
astounding recovery. “The emergency
room staff doesn’t often get to see
how they impact their patients in the
long term,” Mrs. Buerger says. “It’s
important for them to know they do
make a difference.”
Do you know ECMO?
•The ECMO machine is
one of the most difficult
devices to master in the
healthcare industry
•One child on ECMO
requires two machines,
one as the primary and
one as backup
•ECMO can also help
patients waiting for an
organ transplant
“MY HOPE WAS SO GRIM. SHE’D GONE WITHOUT OXYGEN
FOR SO LONG THAT SHE WOULD MOST LIKELY NEVER WALK,
NEVER TALK, AND WOULD NEED A FEEDING TUBE. BUT ECMO
MADE THE DIFFERENCE.”
— Elysia Buerger
Staff, patients, families, and members of the community celebrated together at the McLane Children’s fifth birthday party.
McLane Children’s celebrated its fifth birthday in early
October with food and fun for the community, and a new
name! Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical
Center unveiled its new signage at the birthday party and
announced plans for expansion in three areas: in-patient
bed capacity, emergency room service, and neonatal care
on the McLane Children’s campus.
Staff, patients, and community members celebrated the
day with face painting, carnival games, a jump house, and
a dance party. The festivities also included fun booths
about tooth brushing, safety, and asthma education.
Superheroes and royalty dine
with the Grandparents’ Club!
Superheroes and princesses gathered to welcome Grandparents’
Club members and their grandchildren to a special breakfast in
honor of their gifts to McLane Children’s. Grandparents’ Club
gifts are used to fund medical equipment, patient comfort
items, and so much more.
We invite you to honor your grandchildren in a unique and
special way by making a gift to the Grandparents’ Club at
McLane Children’s in their name. To learn more, contact
Rachel Clark, Foundation Specialist, at 254-899-3766
or [email protected].
Teen Advisory Board exceeds fundraising goal!
The Teen Advisory Board has raised
more than $26,000 as part of
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
(CMNH) Extra Life program, far
exceeding their original goal of
$18,800.
Extra Life is a 24-hour gaming
marathon uniting thousands of
players around the world in support
of CMNH. The program uses the
power of the gaming community to
generate awareness and anyone can
use the online platform to raise funds
for the children treated every day at
CMN Hospitals.
The funds will help purchase two
vital pieces of equipment for McLane
Children’s. The first, a Blanketrol,
provides whole body cooling therapy for
babies born in emergency situations
that might decrease the oxygen supply
to their brains. The cooling therapy
can help slow or even prevent longterm brain injury by slowing down the
body’s systems.
Many on the Teen Advisory Board
have personally benefited from the
second piece of equipment being
funded. A Vein Finder helps healthcare
providers insert an IV or draw blood
from small children, whose smaller
veins can be otherwise difficult to
From the teens:
Thank you to all our
donors, friends, and
family for your
generous support!
Members of the Teen Advisory Board successfully raised enough funds to purchase a Blanketrol
for Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical Center.
locate. This helps avoid unnecessary
discomfort and makes the experience
much less frightening for children.
The Teen Advisory Board is
made up of McLane Children’s
patients who want to make a
difference for other patients, from
newborns to adolescents, by offering
recommendations to hospital
leadership based on their own
personal experiences.
As a jump-start to their Extra Life efforts, the
teens held a bake sale at McLane Children’s
and raised $1,856 toward their goal.