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  • Communicating with your child about the death of a family pet

    I am an animal lover. For years, my pets were my “furry kids.” I played with them, loved them, and took care of them. They were my babies, especially my favorite cat, Zip. Then, like many other parents, I had an actual baby, and my “furry children” sort of slipped off their high-status pedestals!  However, Zip was always special to me. She was a true member of our family.

  • Healthy skin habits: Dr. Davis explains why it's important to teach kids at an early age

    With our recent cold snap finally over, summer and warmer temperatures are just around the corner. As we spend more time outdoors in short sleeves and shorts, we need to remember how important it is to protect our skin! Although everyone loves “a tan” for the summer, this is actually a sign of skin damage. Protecting our skin by using sunscreen and other forms of sun block is the first (and most important step) in keeping our skin healthy and preventing the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma. Did you know that most of our sun exposure and skin damage from the sun happens before the age of 18? Developing healthy skin habits as children and maintaining these habits through adulthood is essential to keeping our skin healthy over our lifetime!

    How does the sun damage our skin?

    The sun produces invisible ultraviolet (UV) rays as part of the light it radiates to earth. These are the rays that are damaging to our skin and eyes. There are three different kinds of UV rays:  UVA, UVB, and UVC rays. UVA rays are responsible for skin aging, wrinkling and causing melanoma. These rays make up the majority of our daily sun exposure. UVB rays are responsible for causing sunburns and cataracts of the eyes. They also contribute to melanoma as this form of skin cancer is most common in adults who had several severe sunburns as children. What is concerning about melanoma is that we are seeing it in an increasing number of young adults and even teenagers. Both UVA and UVB rays pass easily through the earth’s protective ozone layer. UVC rays on the other hand are thought to be the most dangerous types of UV rays but are blocked by the ozone layer and never reach the earth’s surface.

    What about melanin in our skin?

    Melanin is a chemical in the skin that absorbs UV rays and causes our skin to tan. Everyone has a different level of melanin in their skin. Fair-skinned people have less melanin while darker complexions have higher concentrations of melanin. A common misconception is that darker skinned people do not “burn” or get skin cancer. Regardless of the concentration of melanin in the skin, anyone can get a sunburn or develop melanoma. Any amount of tan is damage to the skin whether you are fair skinned or not.

    So how do we protect our skin from the sun?

    Kids can get a sunburn just from playing in the backyard on a sunny day- not just during a day at the beach!  First and most importantly, all children (and adults) 6 months and older should always wear an SPF 30 before going outside for any length of time. SPF stands for sun protection factor and the number indicates the amount of time you can spend in the sun before getting a sunburn. For example, if you start to burn in 10 minutes without sunscreen, applying SPF 30 will allow you to stay in the sun 30x longer before starting to burn (ie-300 minutes). Other ingredients such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide offer the greatest protection against the entire spectrum of UV rays. Sunscreen should be applied 15 minutes before going outside to allow for adequate absorption into the skin. For most kids, two ounces (a shot glass full) of lotion should be enough to cover the entire body. Spray-type sunscreen should still be rubbed in after applied to the skin to ensure there are no missed spots.  Don’t forget to apply to commonly neglected areas such as the scalp, lips, ears, back of neck, and tops of feet! Sunscreen should be reapplied every two hours while outside, especially if swimming or sweating.  Remember, there is no such thing as waterproof sunscreen! This means you may go through nearly an entire bottle of sunscreen during a full day at the beach. Children under 6 months of age have more delicate skin and underdeveloped levels of melanin. They should not have sunscreen applied to their skin at all. Keeping young babies out of the sun altogether is best. However, if this is not possible keep them completely covered up with clothing and under a covered stroller or tent while out in the sun.

  • Hurricane Kyle: a mother's journey through the storm of childhood cancer

    Friday,  August 13, 2004 is a day I will never forget. It was not only the beginning of three  hurricanes back-to-back that trampled across Florida, but it was the day my 9-year-old son, Kyle, was transported by ambulance to Arnold Palmer Hospital.

  • Giving Hope a Fighting Chance with the support of Runway to Hope: Evie’s story

    Just over three months before she would be blowing out three candles on her birthday cake, Evie Tanner was diagnosed with cancer. Medulloblastoma, a highly malignant brain tumor, starts in the base of the skull and tends to spread to other parts of the brain and the spinal cord.

  • First Babies of 2013 at Orlando Health Hospitals

    An exciting start to the year at Winnie Palmer and Central Hospital.

  • Car Seat Safety Guidelines

  • Thank You for Signing Up

    Thank you for opting in to continue receiving communication from The Leon Pediatric Neuroscience Center of Excellence at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. As a part of our community, you’ll receive our biannual e-newsletter, keeping you informed about all the extraordinary things happening here at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer, as well as the newest advances and technologies coming on the horizon.

  • Carla Hall and Faye Stillman

  • Providing the Highest Level of Care

  • Devinn Gorey PA-C

    Devinn Gorey is a certified physician assistant (PA-C) with Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children Surgery, specializing in the care of surgical patients ranging in age from newborn to young adult. Her expertise includes: