When Sam met Allison

Eighteen-year-old Allison Pollock and 16 year-old Sam Kase have a lot in common. But it was a shared surgery that drew them together. Through reading an article in Children's Hospital Boston's Dream magazine online, the two teens found support—and new friendshipt—in each other. Like Allison, Sam grew up with breathing and swallowing problems due to an abnormal opening between his esophagus and larynx-trachea. When breathing or drinking, air and liquids would often go into Sam's lungs, which would make him inhale deeply and sometimes choke. Like Sam, Allison had trouble breathing and swallowing, felt lethargic and had recurring bouts of pneumonia. ...More

in this issue

From Vietnam to Nebraska to Boston | Urologist Hiep "Bob" Nguyen, MD, and his family fled their home country of Vietnam in 1975, when he was 9 years old, the day after the front of their house was bombed during the war. Luckily, his family made it out unscathed.

Put me in COACH | For the second summer in a row, high school interns joined the Children's Hospital Boston team as part of the COACH (Career Opportunity Advancement Children's Hospital) program, overseen by Florence Chan and Caitlin Toomey in Human Resources. This year, 54 interns worked full-time for seven weeks in various departments, each guided by a Children's mentor.

Richard Bourne, associate general counsel | My pager goes off and, deeply asleep, I reach for it, thinking how much I hate getting calls after midnight. The clock reads 10 p.m. These days, I'm often in bed early. Splashing my face and trying to read the telephone number, I see that a resident in the Emergency Department is seeking a legal consult.

Employee of the month | Congratulations to Veronica Baptiste, of Food Services, who's been selected as Children's Hospital Boston's Employee of the Month for September. Baptiste mans Jazzman's cafè cart in the Karp building, serving up sandwiches, concocting espresso drinks and keeping things running smoothly.

Spotlight on the Time to be Bold 10-year care plan |As many of you know, every department in the hospital is looking at how it fits into the long-term planning effort, which looks 10 to 15 years ahead to project what Children's Hospital Boston can be like in the future. Here are some of our ideas...