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  • Learning to let them fly

    Am I an overparent-er?

  • Look Before You Lock

    Last summer, after I took my kids to see the pediatrician for their regular check-up, I’ll never forget what my doctor told me at the end of the appointment. My pediatrician said, “Please remember to have your car keys in your hand every time you get out of the car.” I nodded and knew what she meant. We all hear about kids who’ve been locked in cars that become very sick, or even die from heat stroke.

  • My Healing Harmony

    As a kid, being hospitalized can be a scary thing. Being in an unfamiliar place without the comforts of home, undergoing surgery, or dealing with pain that is unimaginable to most people is tough. The days can become monotonous, as kids start to feel less and less themselves, and more defined by their illness. Sometimes, kids can’t express their pain or what they are feeling, making it difficult for those around them to understand. Amidst these daily struggles, My Healing Harmony, the music therapy program at Arnold Palmer Hospital, brings hope and healing to patients and families.

    What is My Healing Harmony?

    My Healing Harmony was started two years ago by the Fatone Family Foundation as a way to bring the healing powers of music to patients. After starting their own foundation, the Fatone family was looking for a way to share their love and knowledge of the music industry with kids in need. And what better place to bring hope and joy to kids than at Arnold Palmer Hospital? My Healing Harmony comes to life through music therapist Holly Solis, whose angelic voice brings smiles everywhere she goes. Whether it is comforting a child while going through a procedure or bringing relaxation to a patient’s bedside through peaceful melodies, Holly shares her gift of music to brighten a child’s day.

    The benefits of music therapy

    There are many ways that kids can benefit from music therapy. Music has been found to promote healing in patients recovering from surgical procedures or battling life-threatening diseases. Therapists are able to use music as way to relate to what kids are going through and help distract them from the pain they are feeling. Music is frequently used as a relaxation method to calm a patient’s anxiety and fear. When Holly makes her daily rounds to patient rooms, she says, “I always look at the vital signs when I walk in to the room and as I am playing a song, because I can see a difference from the time I start to when I finish. It’s a great way to know the patient is relaxed”.

  • Debunking the flu shot myths

    You may have heard some of these concerns about the flu shot, but are they really true or merely common misperceptions?

    “I got the flu from my flu shot.”

    MYTH. The flu shot is an inactivated vaccine, which means that it is made of killed influenza virus. Sometimes people may have picked up another type of virus that produced mild symptoms shortly after they received their flu shot, and they may assume that because they are “sick,” then they have the flu.

  • Follow Aiden's Heart Surgery As It Happens

    We followed 16-month-old Aiden through heart surgery to repair a heart defect called Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) that enables blood flow between the left and right Atria through an abnormal opening. We captured his surgery through Instagram as it happened, posting updates and pictures every few minutes so that his story could be followed in real time. Below are the photos and a timeline of events throughout the surgery. Aiden's surgery was successful and we wish him the best as he gets back to being a normal little boy again.

  • Forever and a Day: Jesse's song

    A man is supposed to be strong, tough, and show no emotion. Showing emotion, such as fear or pain, would only leave a man weak and vulnerable. This is how Jesse, 22-years-old, feels as he is forced to face these feelings after battling cancer for several years. You see, emotions such as anger, hurt, pain, and fear, are something that Jesse feels every day, as a result of this disease. To cope with his emotions, he turns to music as a way to process what he is going through and help his loved ones understand. Music has become his “safe place”- a place where he can expose his thoughts and feelings, being free to share the turmoil of his heart, without feeling judged or any less of the courageous man that he is.

  • Have you had the “sexting” talk with your teen?

    “Sexting” has probably turned up on one of those lists of new words for 2011 or 2012.  Since I work with young people and have a 20-year-old son, I try to keep up but the first time I heard this word, I did a double-take—sexting?!  However, in just the past couple of years I’ve heard a lot more and what I’ve learned kind of scares me.

  • Laundry detergent pods: can they poison your kids?

    Could convenience cause more harm to little ones? It could. When it comes to laundry and dishwashing detergent, the new capsules, or “PODS”, are the way to go. They are less messy, easy to store, and easy to use. And, they are pretty to look at too. That’s where the dangerous part comes in.

  • School Days

    As the back to school ads began appearing a few weeks ago, I remembered the days when my son was in elementary school and how we greeted each new school year with hope, determination and some anxiety.  To say my son was an “active” child is putting it mildly.  Except for the growling, he resembled the Tasmanian Devil from Bugs Bunny cartoons in terms of his activity level and his attention span.

  • Learning to read nutrition labels

    Do you find yourself confused over all the nutrition info and marketing on food? With practice at label reading, we can become smarter nutrition detectives. Reading the nutrition panel tells us what is in our food and allows us to easily compare products so that we can make healthier choices.

    To get started, we must look at the serving size.

    The serving size on the nutrition panel shows how much of the food item we should eat to get in all of the nutrients listed on the label. For example, if the serving size is 1 cup. The label will tell you how much nutrition you will get per 1 cup. (NOTE: Many packages contain more than one serving, so measuring out the serving size amount is important. If you eat double servings you have to double the nutrition stats).

    Do you know the 5/20 rule?

    When looking at the nutrition label, the far right hand side lists the percent daily value of each nutrient. Daily value is based off of a 2,000 calorie diet and represents the total amount of each nutrient to eat over the course of an entire day.