Name of Miracle Worker: Pat Dunn, Physical Therapist   Tara Nelson, Occupational Therapist   Susan Brinkoetter, Speech Language Pathologist Name of Nominator: Jamie Dobson There was a time when Donovan’s doctors thought he may never week, or may need assistance. Through countless illnesses and obstacles, therapy and determination, Donovan overcame undetermined genetic problems. This is due to the hard work and compassion from the three wonderful ladies listed above. If it wasn’t for them, I believe that Donovan would not have made the recovery that he has. I would say he is near 100% better. He will always have some difficulty, but he walks, runs, plays, talks, and cares about these ladies too. This is why I couldn’t decide on just one, they all helped him improve equally. I would just like to mention some other people that have contributed a great deal to Donovan’s health. Dr. Najafi, Dr. Mark Fishbein, Dr. Fishbein’s nurse Chris, Dr. Schneider, Dr. Rybak, Dr. Korine Vlahos, Jennifer McCabe, and Dr. Bob Murray. Thanks! Name of Miracle Worker: Susan Spears, MS, CCLS Name of Nominator: Dr. David Rogers Susan was hired several years ago to serve as the Child Life Specialist for the St. John’s Children’s Hospital operating room. She has developed a number of innovative programs that have all improved the experience that children have when undergoing surgery at St. John’s Children’s Hospital. For example, she developed educational materials that provide answers to the many questions that families have when they are informed that their child will need surgery. Recently, she was instrumental in developing a hospital-wide NPO policy for children undergoing a variety of procedures. Finally, her quiet but consistent presence has provided comfort to countless children and their families as they travel through the stressful experience of surgery. Name of Miracle Worker: Theresa Pillsbury, RN Name of Nominator: Shirley Strait Terry is so great with all of the children who have cancer and come in for chemo. She is very attentive to their needs and is also very thoughtful of the parents, giving them her full support. She gives them support even when they are not her patient for that shift. The parents and patients are very appreciative of her help which is given from the heart. Name of Miracle Worker: Laura Walbert, Speech Pathologist Name of Nominator: Maria Ansley In April of 2004 our daughter was born. She lacked the ability to suck or swallow. This along with a severe case of GERD sent her to the NICU and a consult with Speech Pathology at St. John’s Children’s Hospital. In comes Laura Walbert. Zoe had an NG tube placed to feed her however we still needed to teach her to suck and swallow, something most children just do naturally. With Laura’s guidance we were given exercises to do with our baby (who weighed just over 5 lbs.). The GERD made feedings difficult too. She would reflux (throw up) just 5 cc’s of milk (1 tsp). With all of this going on we had to teach Zoe to suck/swallow and do our best to try and keep it in her. Finally the order came from the doctor that we could try a bottle but speech had to do it. Laura made sure we got to be there for this, after all, feeding your new baby is a bonding time and she didn’t want us to miss out on this. She even let me hold the bottle too – I know it probably doesn’t seem like much, but as a new mom it meant the world to me. We worked with different consistencies of milk, thickening it with blended rice cereal, trying to help Zoe keep her food down. After 10 days of working hard with Zoe, we were able to finally bring her home. Today, we see Laura once a week working on different issues from a form of communication, since Zoe doesn’t talk, to feeding issues. Laura has always been a great support for our family and we feel lucky she is a part of Zoe’s team of therapists. Name of Miracle Worker: Michelle Heinzer Name of Nominator: Julie van Ommeren I would like to nominate Michelle Heinzer as our Miracle Worker. She has been wonderful with my son Joshua Fascaldo. She is an occupational therapist at St. John’s Pedi Rehab. Josh has only been seeing her for a few months but the progress is unbelievable. Throughout the school year Josh was working on drawing himself with the results being nothing but scribbles. After a month with Michelle, Josh started drawing the circle with the arms and legs coming out of it. Josh has also started holding crayons correctly because of her and his attention span has increased dramatically as well. For the first time since he started having problems, Josh was actually able to sit through a speech evaluation. He sat for about 50 minutes answering the evaluator’s questions and paying attention without needing a lot of direction. This is a child whose attention span started out at three minutes, if that, and requiring lots of redirection to get the evaluations done. Those that have worked with Josh in the past know the miracle this is in itself. I know Michelle has attended many conferences on dealing with kids that have sensory issues and it is apparent in her work with Josh that she applies what she has learned to the kids she helps. She has been a wonderful therapist and I appreciate all of her hard work with Josh. The progress he has made in the past few months has been amazing. Thanks to everyone who has worked with us. I truly appreciate everyone’s help.