Radiology Patient Stories :: Nationwide Children's Hospital

Radiology Patient Stories

At Nationwide Children's Hospital, we realize that emotional support is every bit as important as medical treatment. That’s why we want you to meet some of our families, who, like you, are dealing with the daily challenges of a child with a medical condition.

Amanda's Story: Video Transcript


Amanda Hastings: My name is Amanda Hastings and I was diagnosed with an aneurysmal bone cyst in May 2010.

Dr. William E. Shiels II: Amanda's a college student who is very active, she's a dancer, she loves sports, she maintains a very active youthful life.

Amanda Hastings: So, we all thought that I had a strained muscle. I would feel my neck and I would feel that I have a big lump at the back of it.  And I would just be like, hmm, I don't know what that is and so I would ask people; Can you massage out my muscle? Can you do this?

Dr. William E. Shiels II: Aneurysmal bone cyst tumor is in an incredibly delicate location.

Amanda Hastings: I fell in dance. I was in tap class and we were doing this flip where we were back to back and I wound up actually landing on my head.

Dr. William E. Shiels II: So that if she had fractured through that incredibly weak area it could have been devastating. The only other treatment options that are out there include surgery, so that would include a permanent fusion of her neck.


Amanda Hastings: I was the one who was like, no, that's not going to work, it's not it. So I was like let's go see another doctor.

Dr. William E. Shiels II: The treatment that we use is a chemically based treatment, using a drug called doxycycline. The treatment was developed at Nationwide Children's and the two discoveries that were made here, first was the discovery of that the doxycycline kills the aneurysmal bone cyst tumor, cells. The second discovery was the development of the protein foam or the meringue that we use to inject the drug and keep it in a nice solid state, if you will, semi-solid state. The drug will sit there inside of the tumor and slowly be released, so it treats the patient over a series of days. Our treatment involves a minimally invasive approach where surgery will be an extensive opening up of the entire neck.

Amanda Hastings: I don't have screws in my neck and I'll be able to ride rollercoasters.


Dr. William E. Shiels II: In the early phases, the area was so delicate that we didn't need large needles to get into the tumor. We used needles of varying sizes but the largest scar that Amanda will have looks like the size of a freckle.

Amanda Hastings: Let's see, I had my procedure not yesterday but the day before. My mom has actually bought me, there were crystals down in the gift shop at the hospital and she bought me a crystal for every single procedure I had.

Dr. William E. Shiels II: Amanda has responded well to treatment with excellent bone healing of her aneurysmal bone cyst. She's no longer at risk for fracture or paralysis and she has full function and mobility of her neck, including painless neck movement while dancing.

Amanda Hastings: From there he really transformed my life. You feel so much better after each one. I'm sure once I'm healed, I think, I'll realize there's a lot of stuff out there that I wasn't doing and now that I can do it, now that I know I can. I'll probably partake in it just because now I'm like, oh, I can't take anything for granted.


Meet Erica

Life took a radical turn for Erica and her family when Erica’s parents noticed a bulge around her eye. They took her to their local hospital emergency room, where doctors ordered a CT scan. The scan revealed a small mass behind Erica’s eye and her doctor was concerned that the mass might be cancerous.

Erica was immediately referred to Nationwide Children's Hospital, where she received an MRI that revealed a rare but benign tumor behind her eye. Her condition was diagnosed as an orbital lymphatic malformation.

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Correcting Erica’s condition with conventional surgery presented far too many risks. It was a virtual certainty that both her eyesight and brain function would be impaired. Dr. William Shiels, Chairman of the Department of Radiology at Nationwide Children's, utilized an innovative ultrasound guided procedure to remove the mass and avoid major surgery. This is one of many minimally invasive procedures pioneered by the team of interventional radiologists at Nationwide Children’s.

This surgery used tiny catheters to destroy the tumor, sparing Erica and her family a long hospital stay, recuperation time and significant expense. The best part is, today, Erica sees perfectly, has no unsightly scars, and no residual effects from her condition or the procedure.


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