Patient Success Stories
Leap of Faith
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Stephen and Barbara Barry will always remember their daughter Kate’s first
day of kindergarten. Like all parents on the first day of school, Stephen and
Barbara were both thrilled and anxious about letting Kate go. But the Barrys
had more reasons for their mixed emotions than most parents. Just six short
months before Kate started kindergarten, she was in a coma at Children’s
Hospital of Pittsburgh after falling out of a second story window.
It was a warm March afternoon three years ago when Kate and her brother were
watching their sister play outside from the living room window. To get a better
view, 5-year-old Kate stepped up on the windowsill and pressed against the screen.
Suddenly, the screen came loose and Kate fell two stories onto the driveway
below.
When the paramedics arrived, they immobilized, stabilized and transported Kate
by helicopter to Children’s Emergency Department. “When we arrived
at the Emergency Room, I was in shock and not sure what was going on, but everything
just fell into place,” says Barbara. “As soon as we needed a doctor,
nurse or social worker to answer our questions, they were there.”
Kate’s initial CT scan showed significant brain swelling, two skull fractures
and internal bleeding. In addition, spinal fluid was leaking from her ear. Kate
was immediately admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), where
she spent the next 13 days on a ventilator, partially paralyzed and in a coma.
David Adelson, MD, pediatric neurosurgeon and associate director, Children’s
Benedum Pediatric Trauma Center, took control of Kate’s case. Dr. Adelson
inserted a catheter in Kate’s head to relieve and monitor her intracranial
pressure and provide a release for the spinal fluid that was building up inside.
Kate was also treated with national protocols developed specifically for the
treatment of head trauma patients by Dr. Adelson and his colleagues. From this
point on, Kate’s parents could only wait. Only time would tell how much,
or even if, Kate would recover.
“The weeks we spent with Kate in the PICU were the worst days of our lives,”
says Stephen. “Somehow, Dr. Adelson and the PICU staff got us through it.”
After 12 days of intensive therapy and close observation, the pressure and swelling
in Kate’s brain slowly began to subside.
On her thirteenth day in the PICU, Kate was stable enough to be moved to the
Tenth Floor. “We were thrilled that Kate was being moved out of the PICU,”
says Stephen. While Kate’s recovery was still uncertain, the Barrys began
talking with Dr. Adelson about plans for continuing her care and rehabilitation
at the Children’s Institute.
One day before she was going to be transferred to the Children’s Institute,
the Barrys’ long wait was over. All of a sudden, during a simple phone
call from her father, Kate exploded with words. She was confused, excited and
not making much sense, but it was the first time she had spoken since her fall.
“Words just can’t express how happy we were to hear her speak. For
weeks, we thought we might not hear her voice again,” says Barbara.
Today, following intensive physical, occupational and speech and language therapy,
Kate has regained all her past knowledge except for any memory of the fall or
her stay at Children’s. “She looks, acts and speaks just like any
other girl her age,” says Stephen. “We thank God, Dr. Adelson and
Children’s Hospital for bringing Kate back to us.”
