When Your Baby is Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes: Marlee's Story
Inside the Children's Hospital
Release Date: 11/12/2025
Growing Up with Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction
Inside the Children's Hospital
For many families navigating chronic illness, it's hard to imagine what the future might look like for their child. This week on Inside the Children’s Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Vincent Rosche, a patient advocate, fitness enthusiast, and survivor who has spent most of his life navigating complex medical challenges. Diagnosed with chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) at just 9 months old, Vincent grew up with feeding tubes, central lines, frequent hospitalizations, and even battled thyroid cancer as a teenager. Today, Vincent works as the Community Engagement Coordinator...
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Supporting Children Through Burn Injuries
Inside the Children's Hospital
Has your child been burned? Whether it was hot water, ramen noodles, a stove, fireworks, or another accident, this episode guides parents through what to do next. In this episode, Katie sits down with Christella Almonacy, Certified Child Life Specialist at Wellstar's Burn Program, to discuss what families can expect after a child experiences a burn injury. Together, they explore the physical and emotional recovery process, how Child Life Specialists help children cope with painful procedures, and why giving kids choices can make all the difference. Christella also shares common causes of...
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What a NICU Nurse Wants Parents to Know
Inside the Children's Hospital
What is it really like to have a baby in the NICU? Katie Taylor sits down with NICU nurse, educator, and content creator Alyssa Saldivar to discuss how families can find confidence, connection, and support during one of the most challenging experiences of parenthood. Alyssa shares her journey of becoming a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, her passion for supporting both families and fellow nurses, and the practical ways parents can become active participants in their baby's care. Together, Katie and Alyssa explore everything from skin-to-skin care and developmental support to...
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Recognizing Infantile Spasms: Navigating a Diagnosis as a Nurse Practitioner
Inside the Children's Hospital
What happens when a pediatric nurse practitioner suddenly finds herself on the other side of diagnosis? On this week's episode of Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Laura Forcella, a developmental pediatric nurse practitioner and mom to a son with Dup15q syndrome and epilepsy. Laura shares the deeply personal journey of recognizing her son's infantile spasms, navigating a rare disease diagnosis, and balancing life as both a medical professional and a caregiver. Laura opens up about the unique challenges of being a "med mom," the emotional shift from provider to parent,...
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What Happens When Your Child Needs an Ambulance, Helicopter, or Medical Transport?
Inside the Children's Hospital
When a child needs emergency transport to a children’s hospital, families are often facing one of the hardest moments of their lives. Behind every ambulance ride, helicopter flight, or plane transfer is a highly trained team working together to keep children safe, while also supporting parents through the unknown. In this episode of Inside the Children’s Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Kami Stone, Assistant Clinical Director at Texas Children’s Hospital Austin, and Jacob, a transport EMT with the Texas Children’s Kangaroo Crew, to talk about what pediatric transport really looks...
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When the Hospital Stay Ends: Understanding Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress
Inside the Children's Hospital
For many families, going home from the hospital feels like the finish line. But what happens when the emotional impact of a medical experience lingers long after discharge? On this episode of Inside the Children’s Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Jen Aspengren, founder of Alongside Network, to discuss pediatric medical traumatic stress (PMTS), a common yet often overlooked experience that affects children, parents, siblings, and caregivers following serious medical events. Jen shares her family's journey after her infant son underwent life-saving airway surgery at just seven months old....
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From Pharmacist to Mom: Navigating Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease
Inside the Children's Hospital
What happens when the healthcare professional becomes the parent sitting on the other side of the diagnosis? In this episode, Katie Taylor sits down with Melissa Apa—a clinical pharmacist, diabetes educator, and mom—to share her family’s journey navigating both celiac disease and type 1 diabetes with her young son. Melissa opens up about the emotional overwhelm of receiving life-changing diagnoses, even with years of medical expertise behind her, and how her family learned to adapt, advocate, and find stability in the chaos. From replacing every pot and pan in her kitchen overnight to...
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A NICU Dad Story: Life After a 25 Week Premature Birth
Inside the Children's Hospital
“I kept telling her, ‘We’ve got this.’ And inside, I had no clue what was coming next.” What does it look like to be “the strong one” when your world is falling apart? In this episode, Katie Taylor sits down with Jared Muscat—dad, surfer, and self-proclaimed “dad-vocate”—to share his family’s unexpected journey into the NICU after a high-risk pregnancy. From a routine 20-week appointment to welcoming his son Ollie at just 25 weeks, Jared opens up about fear, resilience, and what it means to show up as a partner and father in crisis. He shares the emotional weight of...
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Tay-Sachs Disease: A Father’s Story of Diagnosis, Parenting, and Purpose
Inside the Children's Hospital
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Why Hospital Continuity and Staff Support Are Critical: Parents Speak Out
Inside the Children's Hospital
Supporting Families in Pediatric Healthcare: Insights from Parent Caregivers In this episode, we explore the experiences of parent caregivers navigating their child's complex health journeys, emphasizing the importance of advocacy, sharing stories, and hospital-family collaboration. Join us as these incredible parents discuss how they advocate for their children, the role of social media in building community, and what hospital leadership can do to improve family-centered care.Key topics covered: Why parents start sharing their child's medical journey online and the impact of community...
info_outline“My baby went from fussy to lifeless in hours—by the time we reached the PICU, they said he might have had six hours to live.”
In this episode, TikTok Influencer and Medical Mom Marlee Brandon, a pediatric speech-language pathologist turned full-time mom, shares the whirlwind diagnosis of her 12-month-old son Bain with Type 1 diabetes and severe DKA, the traumatic hospital stay, and the everyday advocacy that followed. Raw, practical, and deeply hopeful.
Why this episode matters
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Emotional clarity: what a Type 1 diagnosis really feels like in infancy
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Practical advocacy: scripts, choices, and language that help toddlers cope
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System gaps: when even major hospitals say “we’ve never seen this in a baby”
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Hope forward: raising a confident kid who knows why care matters
What You’ll Learn
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Early signs & ER visit: how “ear infection” symptoms masked T1D in a baby
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DKA in plain language: what “acidic blood” means and how PICU treats it
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The learning cliff: carb ratios, breastfeeding while dosing insulin, and why it’s OK not to “get it” on day one
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Toddler coping: give choices, narrate care, build independence
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Rebuilding trust after mistakes: when training/tools aren’t perfect
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Finding your people: groups, podcasts, and creators who answer “what now?”
Timestamps
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00:00 Meet Marlee (pediatric SLP → motherhood)
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01:40 Why speech therapy & pediatrics
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03:55 Bain turns one → sudden “ear infection” → nonstop vomiting
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06:30 Small-town ER: “He has diabetes” (dismantling stereotypes)
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08:35 Life-flight & PICU: severe DKA, hourly sticks, no food for 48 hrs
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10:20 Turning the corner: energy returns; the six-hour window
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11:22 “I don’t understand this”—carb ratios, nursing, overwhelm
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13:05 “We’ve never seen this in a baby” at a major children’s hospital
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15:23 Tears → handing tasks to partner → first solo shot
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17:20 The Chick-fil-A moment: necessity builds confidence
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18:44 Finding community: Facebook groups, YouTube, TikTok
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19:55 Narrating care for toddlers—SLP tools that build trust & language
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21:19 Offering choices: stickers, shot sites, pushing the button
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22:53 Caregiver reality: self-care with very young T1D
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24:32 Why daycare felt unsafe: syringe mix-ups & trust
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25:54 Joy check: rocks, crafts, and a kid excited by everything
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27:56 Best resources for newly diagnosed families
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29:52 “Diabetes doesn’t define your life.”
Marlee Shares that...
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“Type 1 isn’t about weight or diet—my baby was still nursing.”
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“They told my husband he probably had six hours to live.”
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“I thought I needed nursing school to understand our endo.”
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“I won’t chase him with a shot. I explain why—insulin keeps you safe.”
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“You can be anything and do anything…and have diabetes.”
Resources & Links
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Support communities
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Diapers & Diabetes (Facebook group for infants/toddlers with T1D)
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Related Child Life On Call resources
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SupportSpot App (by Child Life On Call)
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Procedure guides, coping plans, journals, and parent resources to feel prepared and advocate with confidence
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