Connecticut Children's Blog

Social distancing from friends and changes to sports mean kids, teens and athletes might need help staying active this spring. It’s important for all kids to get at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day for their heart health – and it’s important for athletes to stay active in order to prevent injury. So […]

Some youth sports are returning to schools and the community, which is good news for athletes. But getting back on the field (or rink, track, court or wherever) after months off comes with a risk of injury. Overuse injuries can occur in any sport – from “Little League Elbow” to back issues to ACL tears […]

The staff at the hospital where Natalia Rodriguez Sabala was born hadn’t seen a patient like her in seven years. She was born with cloacal exstrophy, also known as OEIS syndrome: Her bladder and portions of her large intestine were on the outside of her belly, and her bladder was split open into two halves. […]

When 5-year-old Sofia Cortese hears she won’t be going into school today – whether from a doctor’s appointment, school holiday or because classes will be online this week – she has a predictable reaction. “She’ll say, ‘But my friends are going to miss me!’” says mom Renata. And she’s right. Everyone in Sofia’s school building […]

By: Sonia Chaudhry, MD, FAAOS, and Kevin Borrup, DrPH, JD, MPA Want to make sure your child’s time on the playground is as safe as it is fun? Follow these safety tips from orthopedic surgeon Sonia Chaudhry, MD, FAAOS and the Injury Prevention Center’s Kevin Borrup, DrPH, JD, MPA. Playground injuries are common, but preventable. […]

When she was 12 years old, Lindsay Fritz wrote a letter to her future self. “Don’t worry, you got this,” she wrote. “You are bent, not broken.” The year before, a routine physical had revealed a curve in her spine, and she’d been referred to Connecticut Children’s for X-rays. The diagnosis: adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. On […]

Depending on which day you ask her, 6-year-old Lily will tell you that she wants to be a ballerina or a firefighter when she grows up. But those professions require standing up straight, and until two years ago, Lily couldn’t. She was born with a spine so severely curved to the side that it looked […]

It was a pneumonia diagnosis that revealed a 30-degree curve in young Sabella’s spine at the age of 6. She was referred to Connecticut Children’s Orthopedics division where she was followed closely by Jeff Thomson, MD, for years before she underwent spinal fusion surgery to correct her debilitating scoliosis. Now a teenager, Sabella’s love for […]

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sonia Chaudhry is the only pediatric hand surgeon in Connecticut and she’s here at Connecticut Children’s.  Ashley Denison remembers the worry that washed over her when doctors told her that her son had no thumb on his left hand just moments after he was delivered in April 2017. How would he hold […]

Joshua was born in 2006 with spina bifida, which led him to develop severe scoliosis by the time he was three. His previous providers had tried bracing, but he was in and out of surgery for other conditions so often that he could not wear the brace consistently. In 2009, he was recommended as Connecticut […]