You can still donate to the the 2020 Rainbow Radiothon to benefit the kids at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital
$25 = Art therapy supplies – such as finger paints or watercolors. By focusing on art, children are able to express and process their feelings.
$50 = New books – The Learning Resource Center and bedside book delivery are invaluable to the recovery process.
$50 = One wagon – For transporting patients and their belongings throughout the hospital. Used to transport patients especially for various procedures
$150 = Car seat– There are many times, UH Rainbow must provide a car seat for a family to leave the hospita
$300 = Ipad – Can be used for patient learning and play. Also to communicate with family members. Visitation is limited currently due to COVID.
$350 = Game System – Children can be confined to a hospital for a few days or months. Play is central to a child’s ability to thrive.
$1000 = One Pediatric Wheel Chair – A wheelchair can mean the difference between spending the day in the bed or seeing the world.
It’s every mom’s worst nightmare—you deliver your sweet baby and discover there are complications. But things became even more frightening when mom, Jori Mintz, realized her own health was deteriorating quickly.
Jori had an emergency C-section, and developed infection which transferred to Rosa in the form of sepsis. She was then rushed to the NICU. During a routine examine, it was also discovered that Jori was hemorrhaging. Things went downhill from there when she was rushed into surgery and spent time in ICU. Jori wasn’t sure if Rosa and she would be here today, sharing this story, if it weren’t for the amazing people at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.
Rosa likes ballet, skiing, art, yoga, and outerspace. She wants to be a ballerina and an astronaut when she grows up. Rosa is curious about the world.
Bella weighed just 1 pound 3 ounces and came into the world over 4 months early.
During the first few weeks of her life, Bella proved to be a fighter, enduring multiple surgeries, infections, side effects from medications, and a stroke. Making the situation even more difficult, while her parents, Andria and Sal, were helping Bella fight for her life, they were also grieving the loss of her twin sister, Olivia, who survived only a few hours after her birth. For 152 days, Bella was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Rainbow. When she was 7 she went into organ failure from the flu, unveiling three rare medical conditions that have impacted her daily life. She has a g-tube, an army of medical specialists in the double digits, dietary restrictions, and all illnesses have a risk of hospitalization.
Bella is 15 and thriving. It has been 4 years since she has had to be hospitalized. Bella and her family have done their own fundraising since 2013 and have donated over $20,000 with this year’s donation!
Gwen’s suffered a stroke while in her mother’s womb. Doctor’s were unsure if Gwen would ever walk, talk, or function as a typical child.
Gwen is not only walking and talking but running, taking dance class, and in school.
Imagine spending so much time at the hospital that the hospital staff becomes family, well that’s exactly how PJ Ross feels about his Rainbow team. PJ will have his 19th surgery this month to fix a defect in his skull.
Every year, PJ and his family bring food to the PICU and Rainbow 3 (where he spends most of his time) and PJ donates toys every Christmas season. PJ is into all things sports (especially Cleveland sports) and enjoys video games, playing baseball, and Frisbee
When Heather Catanese was 22 weeks pregnant with her third son, Lorenzo, she underwent a routine prenatal anatomy scan.The test showed that something was wrong – blood was flowing in the wrong direction through Lorenzo’s heart. Reveled he had hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Babies with this condition are born with half a heart, and have a 10 percent chance of surviving to age 6 months. On February 7, 2018, at 24 weeks of pregnancy, Heather underwent a rare in utero fetal procedure at UH Rainbow. The Congenital Heart Collaborative team is one of only eight centers nationwide that offer this procedure and the only provider of this type of care in Ohio. On May 18, at almost 39 weeks’ gestation, Lorenzo was born.
At 4 days old Lorenzo went home.
Lorenzo is 2.5 years old and thriving. Eventually, he will need surgery to repair or replace his aortic valve, but has not had any open heart surgeries since birth, is not on any medications, and has no restrictions.
In July 2010 when Noah was just 3 years old, Mom found an unusual bump near his coccyx (tailbone area) while changing Noah’s diaper. After completing the ultrasound, the doctor told Mom to wait for a few minutes so he could talk to a radiologist. The radiologist then called for an ultrasound of Noah’s back and stomach.This caused Mom Michelle to have a bad feeling because of her medical background (UH nurse at the time).Noah had a Teratoma (tumor located in tailbone) and it needed to be removed urgently. Operated on Noah pretty quickly after discovering the Teratoma.The tumor was removed successfully but broke when it was pulled out so Noah had to spend the night in the PICU to drain excess fluid.BUT, everything changed 6 days later when Michelle received an unexpected call from Noah’s Doctor. He told her that Noah had Germ Cell Cancer.Noah received three treatments from September-November and the cancer was removed successfully.
Noah is a happy and healthy 13year old boy; He loves to play hockey! Has three younger sisters and one older step sister!
Born at 23 weeks and just 1.5 pounds to parents suffering from addiction. Henry faced many challenges and uncertainties in his early days in the NICU at Rainbow. At 2 months, he was abandoned, having only his Rainbow team to provide the care he so desperately needed.For the next two months they provided so much more than medical care, truly showing Henry the love and support he deserved.Sebastian and Tara were about to start the private adoption process when Henry’s great grandmother reached out and told them about Henry. The Rainbow team began advocating on Henry’s behalf and were finally able to pair him with Tara and Sebastian. The Amorosos spent two more months with Henry in the NICU and when he was finally ready to be released from the hospital, they were able to take him home as his legal guardians. A year and a half later, just one week before Henry’s second birthday, he officially became an Amoroso!!
He loves being outside and hanging out with his grandparents at their farm and is a social butterfy and loves talking to people. He enjoys building towers with blocks and playing soccer with his dad!