Mary Cornelia Bradley Society - University of Wisconsin Hospital ...

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A visit to the
Pediatric
Intensive
CareUnit
Nothing captures the heart and soul of
a children’s hospital like its Pediatric
Intensive Care Unit or PICU. Each of the
children featured in this report – Makayla,
Austin, Camryn, Kennedy and Brayden –
were patients at American Family
Children’s Hospital’s PICU in early 2011.
Scott Hagen, MD
While life can literally hang in the balance for any
hospitalized child, patients admitted to the PICU –
including several you will read about here – receive
the highest level of medical attention because of their
vulnerable conditions.
“The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is where we care
for the very sickest children in the hospital,” says
PICU Medical Director Scott Hagen, MD. “These are
kids who may have sustained a traumatic injury, are
experiencing a serious infection or just coming out of
major surgery. These patients typically require a higher
level of attention from staff or more sophisticated
equipment such as a ventilator. Fortunately,” Dr. Hagen
adds, “most of the children we see have a very good
recovery and go on to lead normal lives.”
Dr. Hagen says a well-functioning PICU must be both
nimble and collaborative. “The status of our patients
can change by the minute or even by the second,” he
says. “Our staff has the training, expertise and teambased
approach to respond quickly to any change in a
child’s condition.”
Visit uwhealth.org/mcbsociety to view a multimedia
slideshow featuring Makayla, Austin, Camryn,
Kennedy and Brayden along with Dr. Scott Hagen
discussing pediatric intensive care.
Austin
Meet
“Austin’s such a great kid,” says Pediatric Transplant
Coordinator Beth Spaith, RN, “and he knows it, too!
Everyone in the Intensive Care Unit knows him by name.”
Not so many years ago, 8-year-old Austin Wells from
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was perilously close to the end
of his life.
Diagnosed before birth with a rare condition known as
gastroschisis – his intestines were actually out of his body
through a defect on his umbilical cord – Austin spent
most of his first 20 months at American Family Children’s
Hospital. In 2004, after suffering from very serious liver
disease, Austin underwent a multi-organ transplant,
receiving a new liver, intestine and pancreas.
“Austin faces his share of complications,” says his father
Matthew. “Yet despite everything he has been through,
I have never heard him complain once. He is a happy,
outgoing boy who takes on every day with a smile. He is
also an amazing big brother to our 2-year-old son, Tanner.
My wife Crystal and I take everything one day at a time and
do whatever we can to make Austin’s life as normal
as possible.”
Meet
Camryn
Sitting in a large recliner in her room
at American Family Children’s Hospital,
12-year-old Camryn Porter of Reedsburg, Wisconsin,
looks up at her parents, Jen Engebretson and Alex Porter.
Camryn’s voice is soft, but the words capture a harsh truth.
“I was this close to going up to heaven,” she says, holding
her thumb and forefinger a half-inch apart.
Indeed, she was. Just days after Christmas 2010, a
perfectly healthy Camryn suddenly became acutely ill with
no apparent cause. Her abdomen began swelling with
fluid as she went into a coma-like state for several weeks,
unable to breathe, speak or eat on her own.
After weeks of undergoing nearly every medical test
imaginable, Camryn was finally diagnosed with a rare
streptococcal infection in her abdomen that triggered
septic shock syndrome – resulting in a near total
shutdown of her body’s vital organs.
“Camryn’s body underwent countless chemical reactions,
causing infection-fighting cells to also attack her kidneys,
lungs and digestive system,” says UW Health Pediatric
Critical Care Nurse Practitioner Lynne Sears, RN, MS.
“About six weeks in the hospital went by before her fever
subsided and we knew she would come around.”
Scott Hagen, MD, Medical Director of the Pediatric
Intensive Care Unit, says Camryn’s recovery illustrates
the team-based approach at American Family Children’s
Hospital.
“Throughout her 10 weeks in the hospital, Camryn was
cared for by pediatric specialists from cardiology, general
surgery, pulmonology, endocrinology, infectious disease,
critical care and health psychology,” Dr. Hagen says. “It
took many great minds working together to get this girl
back to health.”
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