Giving Rooted in Gratitude

By Chris M. Garner, Communications Specialist

On November 11, 2004, Jeff and Janet von Gillern’s daughter Katie was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH).

To survive, she needed immediate attention and surgery. Luckily, Janet gave birth at Abbott Northwestern, so Katie was able to be quickly transferred to Children’s Minnesota next door. She was treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for more than a month before heading home before Christmas.

After Katie’s initial hospitalization, she would return eight months later with complications from excess scar tissue. Katie required surgery and was cared for in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Eight months later, Katie was back at Children’s. After 36 hours at a general hospital with life-threatening symptoms, Katie was emergently transported to Children’s and in surgery shortly after arriving.

“Twice she was in Children’s, and they saved her life,” said Janet.

This time, Katie was cared for in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and then a step-down unit before making a full recovery. During that time, the von Gillerns would also build strong and meaningful relationships with the staff at Children’s.

“One of the things I really appreciated about Children’s was the nurses,” Janet said. “They would tell me when it was time to go home, when I’d been there too long and needed to rest.”

The care they received during such a challenging time inspired them to give back, first with their time. Janet joined the Families as Partners, a group that works with Children’s staff in the NICU and ICU to support families while in the hospital. One of the activities included creating keepsake kits and hosting crafting sessions so that families would have mementos of their children during their hospital stay. It also provided an opportunity to connect with other families, as much or as little as they wanted, while their child was hospitalized. When they were old enough, both Katie and her brother Jack would help organize the materials to go into the keepsake kits.

Katie became engaged on her own. She would make care bags for the families in the NICU with helpful amenities. While delivering the care bags, she even met with another family whose baby was born with CDH. During high school, Katie joined the Children’s Youth Advisory Council, raising money while also volunteering. Both Janet and Katie continue to show up at Children’s, lending their experience and support to families during a difficult time.