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  • Does your teen want a tattoo? Here’s another reason to say no.

    Whether it’s their favorite sports team, a tribal symbol or pretty little butterfly, teens have varying reasons for wanting tattoos. They crave self-expression, a way to assert independence from their parents, and tangible means to demonstrate their belonging to a group. Tattoos are a very visible way of achieving all of those things.

  • What you need to know about human trafficking in our community

    Written by Pratima Shanbhag, MD

  • What you need to know about prescription drug abuse in teens

    Want to hear some good news?

  • How to know if your child is getting enough water during these summer months

    For kids, summer days mean no school and more time to play outside with friends. And while it’s important for kids to stay active throughout the day for optimal health, it’s equally important to ensure they are drinking enough water for proper hydration, especially during these hot and humid months! It is easy for kids to become mildly dehydrated without even knowing it, which is a reason for concern given that adequate hydration helps a child function more optimally physically and mentally.

    Let’s look at some facts:

    50% of children in the U.S. do not drink enough water 25% of children do not drink plain water at all Boys are 76% more likely to be dehydratedDr. Safder, pediatric gastroenterologist at Arnold Palmer Hospital, recently appeared in a news segment to offer tips to parents on how to make sure their kids are drinking enough water.

    Here are the signs she says to look for:

    Excessive thirst Fatigue Dry mouth Headaches Child is not sweating enough Warm body temperature Urine is dark yellow and concentrated Child is not performing as well in school as he or she normally does*A child can develop kidney stones as a result of dehydration, which can be painful and uncomfortable for your child.

  • Ever wonder why you shouldn’t feed honey to your infant? Here’s why.

    That’s a scary word, isn’t it? Even if you don’t know exactly what it means, you probably know that it isn’t good. It’s also the reason that we don’t feed honey to babies.

    What is botulism?

    Botulism is a rare but serious illness that is caused by a certain type of bacteria (primarily Clostridium botulinum) resulting in a progressive paralysis that can lead to respiratory failure and death.

  • Justin A. De Boer, MD

    Justin Adam de Boer, MD, FAAP, is a board-certified pediatric gastroenterologist with the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children Center for Digestive Health and Nutrition. He performs advanced diagnostics and develops treatment plans for pediatric patients with gastrointestinal, liver, and nutritional disorders.

  • The Christmas wish list: How to ensure you are buying safe toys for your kids this holiday season

    Every year on the night of Christmas Eve when my brother and I were younger, we would crawl out of our bedrooms and hide behind the couch that sat just in front of our family Christmas tree. We would wait there for what seemed like hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa putting our Christmas presents under the tree.

  • Want to save a life today? How about three? You can do just that by donating blood.

    It’s easy to overlook the importance of donating blood because most of us just don’t think about it until it applies to us. However when the unthinkable happens- an unexpected surgery, a cancer diagnosis, a premature baby is born- donated blood can make the difference between life and death. One out of every three people in the United States will need donated blood at some time in their lives. And for some, that time is now.

    I’d like you to meet Ethan.

    Ethan is ­14 years old. In May of 2013, Ethan was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. After undergoing 14 rounds of chemotherapy treatment, he was cancer-free and ready to go back to life as a normal teenager. However, a few months later during a routine follow-up, doctors diagnosed Ethan with a blood disorder called myelodisplastic syndrome (MDS), which then progressed to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), likely an unwanted side effect of his previous chemotherapy. He underwent another round of chemotherapy treatment and a bone marrow transplant that required him to spend 67 consecutive days in the hospital. He made it home just in time to spend Christmas with his family. He’s looking forward to finishing his treatment so that he can go back to school, play video games with his friends and enjoy his favorite sports like soccer and baseball.

  • If your child has had a concussion or brain injury, you may not see the full effects for years to come

    As an occupational therapist, one of the things that I do in my job is assist children who are recovering from a traumatic brain injury. I help them work through the new challenges they face because of their injury in hopes that they can fulfill their full potential. As a medical community, we are still working to fully understand how a brain injury affects a child’s long-term growth and development, but what recent research has shown us is that it may be long after the initial recovery period from a traumatic brain injury (even years later) before we see the full effects the injury will have on their growth and development.

    What parents need to know

    When we talk about brain injuries, it’s important to understand that we aren’t only talking about major injuries; we are also talking about relatively minor brain injuries, such as a concussion. Whether they have had a severe injury or a relatively minor one, children may experience long-lasting effects that can affect their development. A child may sustain a brain injury and experience a significant decrease in social, emotional, behavioral or cognitive abilities at the time of injury. (Cognitive abilities refers to a child’s capacity for learning and understanding, acquiring knowledge). Years later, they may then experience a “stall” where they fail to develop their cognitive, social, emotional or behavioral skills.

                                                     

  • Kevin Joseph De la Roza, MD

    Dr. Kevin De La Roza is a board-certified pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at Orlando Health Children's Heart Institute. He is board certified in anesthesiology and pediatric anesthesiology.