Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Community Healthcare - (Page 54)

SPOTLIGHT ON: COMMUNITY HOSPITAL Thanks to feeding therapy at Community Hospital, Maggie’s future is looking bright When Maggie first came in for therapy, she relied on her feeding tube for nutrients. After many weekly therapy sessions, Maggie is trying new foods and learning to feed herself. A Growing M BY ELISE SIMS APPETITE ost 3-year-olds clamor for a brightly colored lollipop if offered to them. But 3-year-old Maggie Akers of Hinsdale, Ill., is not like most toddlers. Since birth, she has had a hard time putting any food in her mouth, and even greater difﬁculty swallowing it. This feeding disorder became a serious stumbling block to Maggie’s normal growth and development, until she began therapy with Jill Westerﬁeld, M.A., CCC-SLP, supervisor of Speech Pathology at Community Hospital in Munster. “The outlook for Maggie’s future is great,” Westerﬁeld says. ”She is a very happy and amazingly bright child. She has made tremendous progress toward eating food by mouth and needing the MIC-Key tube less. We are all hopeful and working toward that one day when the tube will no longer be needed for any of her intake.” AN ADVENTUROUS EATER Since treating her esophagus for an allergic inﬂammatory condition and starting therapy, Maggie today is able to eat some food (including feeding herself) as well as drink calorie- and protein-dense formulas (in addition to her tube feeding). She has recently been responding more positively to eating oatmeal, cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs, pancakes, grapes and even bacon. “Jill is responsible for all of Maggie’s progress,” says Julie Akers, Maggie’s mom. “It’s incredible. She’s one in a million and she’s been a lifesaver for our family.” Maggie was born in January 2009 at Community Hospital in Munster as a relatively healthy baby, scoring an 8 on the Apgar scale. But from the beginning, when Julie tried to breastfeed Maggie, she seemed to have difﬁculty latching 54 Vim & Vigor · FALL 2 012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Community Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Community Healthcare
Contents
Community Message
Care Packages
Going for the Gold
When Less Is More
30 Days to Better Sleep
I Can’t Ask My Doctor That!ers
He Said, She Said
Hold On to Your Health
Still A Screening Star
Your Joints: An Owner’s Manual
Weighing Your Options
No Greater Gift
Weather Alert
Virtual Health
Stretch It Out
SPOTLIGHT ON: St. Mary Medical Center
SPOTLIGHT ON: St. Catherine Hospital
SPOTLIGHT ON: Community Hospital
Finding a Dream Job

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Community Healthcare