Patient Stories

For two and a half years, Madi Smith fought the effects of leukemia and the treatment. Duke Children's never left her family's side.

Duke Children's pediatric oncologists quickly diagnose and treat 10-year old Micole's osteosarcoma (bone cancer).

After six months of intensive chemotherapy, long days at Duke's Jim Valvano Day Hospital, and some difficult and uncertain times, Angelika's cancer is in remission.

Gavin was only seven weeks old when he was referred to Duke Children's and within days was undergoing heart surgery.

It is awesome that 14-year-old Duke Children's patient, Matthew, played in the 2007 Duke Children's Classic Celebrity golf tournament, but it is even more amazing knowing that Matthew is blind.

Craniosynostosis is a rare condition, and optimal treatment requires highly complex surgery. Duke Children's is home to one of the nation's few dedicated pediatric craniofacial surgery teams.

Hannah's arthritis started with a single joint and spread throughout her body. By age one, she was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA), and her parents silently braced themselves for the unthinkable.

Jolyne was not expecting to go into labor on a late June day, but she did. Baby Elizabeth was born six and a half weeks premature, and she was not breathing.

At 18 months old most toddlers are exploring a big and exciting world that offers something new every day. At 18 months old Kyra was beginning a battle with lymphoma.

Kate Pollard has no intention of letting Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA) stop her in her tracks. In fact, she's planning to make some tracks as a young entrepreneur.

Melanie Bryant knew that her daughter--her first child--would have to be born early. A routine ultrasound revealed that her placenta was not functioning due to a condition called two-vessel umbilical cord.

“We learned over the phone that Taylor had a brain tumor,” recalls Paula. “The neurologist felt there was no time for a face-to-face meeting with him.” Taylor had immense swelling in her brain and was sent immediately to Dr. Herbert Fuchs, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center.

Benjamin stands proud and full of life with a gleaming smile. If not for the sparse patches of hair growing back, you might not know this loving, playful three-year-old is battling cancer.

No one expects to take a 10-month-old with sniffles to the pediatrician and come back with a diagnosis of cancer. But that is what happened for young Zach in early 2008.

A two-year-old with three brothers complains of a sore leg--not so uncommon. A diagnosis of neuroblastoma, however, shakes a family to its core.

Itching, scratching, bleeding, crying, unsure of what was safe to eat, wear, or be near. This was the life of Winter and Grant before they found hope and answers at Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center.

Like many active seven-year-old children, Meg loved drawing, sports, fashion, dancing and spending time with family and friends. Then unexpected changes happened in early 2010.