Rains Malone spent two weeks of his life in the Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit while his brain healed. Learn about his journey and the treatment in this issue of It's About Children by East Tennessee Children's Hospital.

2. 5
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7
7
4
CPR class for parents and
teens age 14 and older
Extra Life
MEDIC blood drive
OCT.
NOV.
DEC.
NOV.
NOV.
6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Children’s Hospital’s Koppel Plaza Building
(Meschendorf Conference Room)
Class costs $
25.
Log on to www.etch.com/healthykids to
register. Learn CPR so you can respond to
emergencies in your home.
Starts at 8 a.m.
Your computer.
Extra Life is a 24-hour gaming marathon in support
of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Team Future
is East Tennessee Children’s Hospital’s official team,
and all funds raised by players on the team will go
to help our patients through equipment purchases,
training and additional care. To register for Team
Future, donate, sponsor a player or to find out more,
visit www.etch.com/giving/extralife.
7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Children’s Hospital’s Koppel Plaza Building
(Meschendorf Conference Room)
It’s free.
Call 865-541-8165 for more information.
All blood used at Children’s Hospital is
provided through MEDIC. One donation
can help up to three people. Donors must
be at least 17 years old, weigh more than
110 pounds and have an ID.
Mark Your Calendar
2 It’s About Children, Issue 3 • 2015

3. 18
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Fantasy of Trees
The miracle of cooling
Head of the class
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital
presents the 31st Annual Fantasy of
Trees premier Christmas event in
Knoxville.
Rains Malone spent two weeks of
his life in the Children’s Hospital
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit while
his brain healed. Learn about his
journey and the treatment.
Cheyenne Roberts was the first
cochlear implant patient at Children’s
Hospital. This May, she graduated as
high school valedictorian, and she
isn’t stopping there.
It’s About Children is a publication
of the Marketing Department at
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.
Editor: Jessica Boyd
Designer: Deborah Hosterman
Cover photo by Neil Crosby
Connect with us:
www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren
ItsAboutChildren@etch.com
Spotlight
21
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Safe Sitter class for children ages
11 to 14
Car seat inspections
NOV.
DEC.
OCT.
NOV.
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Children’s Hospital’s Koppel Plaza Building
(Meschendorf Conference Room)
Class costs $
25.
Log on to www.etch.com/healthykids to
register. Learn correct babysitting
techniques, emergency responses and
how to use babysitting as a business.
9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Blount County Fire
Department’s East Broadway Avenue station
10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oak Ridge Fire Department
It’s free.
You don’t have to register to attend. We’ll
teach you everything you need to know
to make sure your car seat is used and
installed correctly.
3Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren

4. 4 It’s About Children, Issue 3 • 2015

5. Five-month-old Rains Malone loves to coo
and smile for his parents, Kala and Alex,
and his big sister, 4-year-old Mallory.
But five months ago, the Malones’ lives
looked quite different. Rains stayed in
the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
at Children’s Hospital immediately after
he was born for about two weeks with
serious complications because of
trauma to his brain.
continued on page 6
5Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren
Five-month-old Rains Malone loves to cooFive-month-old Rains Malone loves to coo
The
miracle
of
cooling

6. 6 It’s About Children, Issue 3 • 2015
Rains’ journey
Rains was treated with a cooling cap the first three
days of his life, and during that time, he was mostly
isolated. “His brain couldn’t be stimulated so he could be
completely at rest,” Alex said. “I don’t think we knew how
severe it was.” Potential outcomes were mentioned to the
Malones, including severe brain damage and cerebral palsy.
But in the mean time, all they could do was wait.
On day three of his life, Rains began breathing on his
own after the cooling cap was removed, and on day five,
he was bottle-fed. Soon after, Kala was able to hold him
for the first time. “He looked up at me like, ‘That’s my
mama,’” she said.
At day 10, Rains had another EEG and magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) to check his brain activity. “Both
came back clear,” Kala said. By May 1, Rains was home
with his family.
It was two scary weeks for them, but the Malones
credit the miracle of cooling technology. “I’m so thankful
Children’s Hospital had that technology and that was it so
close to us,” Kala said.
During Kala’s pregnancy, everything had gone smoothly.
But when Rains was born on April 14, something was
different. Though his heart was beating after delivery, Rains
wasn’t crying or reacting or breathing.
“He was just lifeless,” Alex said. “There was just
nothing going on.”
Later, Kala and Alex found out Rains had experienced
seizures at some point during delivery or shortly after his
birth.
Rains was immediately placed on a ventilator and
transported from the hospital to the NICU at Children’s
Hospital. After testing brain activity and receiving an
abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) reading, the Malones
were informed Rains was a candidate to use cooling
technology. While on a ventilator and feeding tube, Rains
began treatment with a cooling cap.
The cooling process
Children’s Hospital Medical Director of Neonatology Dr.
John Buchheit explained the science behind cooling. “We
use it for babies who have suspected damage to the brain
around the time of their birth. This can happen due to a lack
of oxygen or blood flow to the infant’s brain.”
Either cooling caps or cooling blankets can be used to
decrease the core temperature of the body. “With cooling,
you essentially shut down the activity in the brain for three
days. The heart, the lungs, and other organs still work, but
the brain is at rest,” Dr. Buchheit said.
This process gives the brain time to heal and reduces
the risk for long-term injury. After 72 hours of cooling, the
infant is removed from the cooling system and gradually
warmed to a normal 98.6-degree temperature.
continued from page 5

7. “He looked up at
me like, ‘That’s my
mama.’” — Kala Malone
7Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren
Their NICU stay
During their time in the NICU, the Malones built
relationships with Children’s Hospital staff. Kala and Alex
were thankful for the doctors, nurse practitioners and
nurses who took care of their newborn son. “They made
us feel comfortable, and they answered all of our many
questions.” Kala said. “They really took care of us, too.”
Nurses created care packages and sent them to
Mallory, saying they were from her baby brother. “They
even let us bring him to the door of the NICU so Mallory
could see him for the first time,” Kala said.
continued on page 8

8. 8 It’s About Children, Issue 3 • 2015
continued from page 7
Next steps
Now, Rains is healthy at home with his family. While
he is no longer on any medication due to his hospital stay,
he will continue care with Children’s Hospital specialists
and be monitored closely during his first year. Weekly,
Rains has therapy with a Home Health occupational
therapist to work on things like holding his head up and
holding toys. Every three months, the Malones take Rains
to appointments with pediatric neurologist Dr. Anna
Kosentka to monitor his milestones. He will also have
follow-up occupational therapy with pediatric physiatrist
Dr. Nadine Trainer.
The Malones are thankful for the health of their son.
“We believe God used cooling treatment to heal our son,”
Kala said. “I truly think if the technology hadn’t been
there, we would be looking at a different outcome.”
“It really is a miracle. He is a miracle.”
PhotobyMatthewShaver
Rains visits with one of his NICU nurses, Sandy Workman, at
the Children’s Hospital 35th Anniversary party.
Rains and one of his NICU nurses, Nancy Parnell.

9. 9Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren
Neonatology at Children’s Hospital
Every year, more than 750 of East Tennessee Children’s Hospital’s smallest patients
are treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Infants are transported to
the NICU for premature birth, breathing problems, congenital birth defects and
neonatal abstinence syndrome. Each NICU patient is monitored closely by
pediatric neonatologists, nurse practitioners, critical care nurses, respiratory
therapists and other pediatric subspecialists trained to treat these fragile infants.
In 2014, Children’s Hospital began a $75 million expansion, which includes
the addition of 44 private NICU rooms to provide a private, comforting environment
for both patients and families.The new building will open fall 2016.
Learn more at www.etch.com/expansion.
The Science of Cooling
Found in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), Children’s Hospital uses cooling
treatment to help heal an infant’s brain by lowering the core temperature of the body.
Maintaining the temperature for 72 hours slows the metabolism and can decrease
the risk of further damage to the brain. Patients treated with cooling technology
are monitored closely through the entire process.

10. News
identified at birth as deaf or with significant hearing loss,
we try hearing aids first.” At 2 years old, the minimum
allowed age at that time, the Roberts turned to Dr. Little for
a cochlear implant. “We had never met anyone who had a
cochlear implant,” Melissa said. “We really didn’t have
anything to compare it to.”
Cheyenne’s school years were filled with hours of
therapy weekly. Melissa said her teachers were amazed
Cheyenne knew how to sit and listen in preschool. Even
before kindergarten, she was reading books, Melissa said.
“She was taught those skills at a young age as a necessity.”
Cheyenne learned more than just listening and
reading skills, though. Through working hard to succeed,
she learned to have a strong work ethic.
It paid off. After graduating at the top of her high
school class, Cheyenne began her freshman year at East
Tennessee State University in August. More than anything,
Cheyenne is looking forward to getting her degree. “My
undergraduate degree will be in special education,” she
said. “Then I want to do the audiology graduate program.”
Her experience led her to want to help others, so she plans
to be an audiologist and help other children with hearing
But they are sounds that 18-year-old Cheyenne
Roberts is able to hear thanks to a procedure more than
15 years ago at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. In May,
Cheyenne stood as valedictorian at Scott County High
School’s graduation. A cheerleader for four years, member
of the Beta and Science Clubs and Senior Class President,
the fact that she was born deaf never held her back.
Cheyenne was the first cochlear implant patient at
Children’s Hospital, a procedure she had at 2 years old.
Pediatric otolaryngologist Dr. John Little, the director of the
pediatric cochlear implant program at Children’s Hospital,
had just completed his fellowship at Johns Hopkins and
performed the surgery in 1999.
Cochlear implants are not hearing aids, which make
sounds louder, but rather a device surgically implanted in
the ear that stimulates the auditory “hearing” nerve with
electrical signals, allowing the patient to hear. Dr. Little
estimates approximately 250 cochlear implants have been
performed at Children’s Hospital, and it all started with
Cheyenne.
At age 1, Cheyenne was diagnosed as deaf and first
used hearing aids. Dr. Little explained, “If the patient is
News
Head of the Class
The sound of crashing waves, the music at your prom or
the whisper of the wind – these are all sounds many
of us take for granted.
10 It’s About Children, Issue 3 • 2015

11. Cheyenne with Dr. Little in 2008.
Photo by David Luttrell for Tennessee Alumnus.
SCOTT
impairment, especially those in the pediatric cochlear implant
program at Children’s Hospital. “The audiologists helped me
become the person I am today,” Cheyenne explained.
In May, Cheyenne said she told her friends and
classmates at graduation some advice that she has taken to
heart. In her valedictory speech, Cheyenne said, “Anything
is possible. You just have to work hard for it.”
Children’s Hospital’s pediatric otolaryngologists
treat patients with ear, nose and throat (ENT)
problems, as well as head and neck medical
and surgical issues. These issues can include ear
infections, nose and sinus conditions, voice and
swallowing disorders, hearing loss and deafness
and cleft lip and palate management.
Last year, East Tennessee
Children’s Hospital had
more than 1,800 visits
from Scott County, ranging
from infants to 21 years old.
• 603 emergency department visits
• 680 outpatient visits
• 95 inpatient visits
Pinpoint on
Scott County
Pediatric
Otolaryngology
11Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren

12. In June, Peyton Manning was back in East Tennessee
to raise money at the 18th annual Peyton Manning
Golf Classic. Every year, the funds raised from the
tournament are divided between Children’s Hospital
and the Peyback Foundation, an organization established
by the National Football League’s Denver Broncos
quarterback. This year’s golf tournament raised more
than $203,000, and the portion for Children’s Hospital
benefits much-needed equipment and services in the
surgery department.
Throughout the day at Fox Den Country Club, the
256 golfers enjoyed breakfast, lunch and a 19th-hole
reception. Peyton visited with two Children’s Hospital
patients in attendance, Ethan Parsley and AJ Cucksey.
AJ sang a special rendition of “Rocky Top” for the former
University of Tennessee quarterback.
This year’s tournament had the largest attendance
since the event began 18 years ago, with 56 more
players and more than 14 additional teams than
2014’s tournament.
Thanks to our gold sponsors:
• Cellular Sales
• Engineer Solutions, Inc.
• Knoxville News Sentinel
• Republic Plastics, Ltd.
Your Dollars at Work
Golfing with Peyton
AJ Cucksey sings “Rocky Top” to Peyton Manning.
12 It’s About Children, Issue 3 • 2015

13. Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren 13

14. Your Dollars at Work
Calming courtyard
Knoxville artist Marga Hayes McBride had a vision to
create a peaceful fountain, and two years ago, when she visited
Children’s Hospital, she knew it belonged here. Marga wanted
to create a peaceful space and provide a calming outdoor place
for patients and their families. The courtyard is between the
second floor patient rooms and hematology and oncology
clinics, but it is available to all patients looking to step outside.
Thanks to generous donors, Marga was able to begin her
work earlier this year. For the fountain, she designed a
sculpture of a girl sitting at a basin of water, with stained
glass, tile, stone, rocks and crystals throughout the sculpture.
Around the courtyard, Marga and her team installed sculpted
greenery surrounded by metallic trees and sunflowers with
smiling faces.
To learn how you can help with “The Art of Healing”
program, visit www.etch.com/giving.
14 It’s About Children, Issue 3 • 2015

15. 15Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren

16. Your Dollars at Work
Addison Helton enjoys a game
provided by Andy’s iPad program.
Andy’s iPads connects
patients
Students at Webb School
of Knoxville set out to honor
one of their classmates, Andy
Whitcomb, while donating
to Children’s Hospital at the
same time. “Andy’s iPads” is
in memory of Andy, who
spent many months at
Children’s Hospital as an
oncology patient.
His friends donated 50
iPads, 50 cases, multiple
iPad apps and games and
one charging station after
seeing how much Andy
enjoyed his iPad during his
time at Children’s Hospital.
It provided not only a
distraction from his illness
but also allowed him to stay
connected with family and
friends.
Webb students will
continue to manage the iPads
and load apps and games at
no cost. The students are
supporting this program
through their annual event
“Sundown in Sparta.”
16 It’s About Children, Issue 3 • 2015

17. Sliding the city
It’s not every day a waterslide shuts down a city street,
but on June 20, Slide the City brought a giant waterslide to
downtown Knoxville for a fun-filled day. The slide’s three
lanes extended the length of three football fields back to
back, running from the top of Church Street to the bottom
where riders landed in a pool of water, bringing a total of
1,000 feet of water to the event.
This event marked the first Slide the City in Knoxville,
and more than 2,000 adults, children, families and students
joined in on the summer fun, riding inflatable tubes down
the padded water slide.
Slide the City Knoxville chose Children’s Hospital as
the charity partner for the event, raising $5,763. The
Children’s Hospital Volunteers will use the funds raised
to support hospital services and contribute toward the
volunteers’ $1.5 million pledge to the Children’s Hospital
capital campaign.
17Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren

18. East Tennessee Children’s Hospital presents the 31st Annual Fantasy of Trees
premier Christmas event in Knoxville. Fantasy of Trees is Nov. 25–29 at the Knoxville
Convention Center, and this year’s theme is “An East Tennessee Christmas.”
From ornately-decorated Christmas trees, on-stage performances of holiday tunes, shopping for gifts
and activities for children like face-painting, cooking-decorating and ornament-making, Fantasy of
Trees is sure to kick off the Christmas season with holiday cheer. This year, proceeds will purchase
updated equipment for the Children’s Hospital Emergency Department.
Major sponsors:
Preview Party
Tuesday, Nov. 24: 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.
(Separate ticket required, $
75 per person)
Daily Show Times
Wednesday, Nov. 25: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 26: 3 – 7 p.m. (Thanksgiving Day)
Friday, Nov. 27: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 28: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 29: Noon – 6 p.m.
General Admission Tickets
Visitors can purchase tickets for the following prices:
Adults: $
8 • Children Ages 4 to 12: $
4
Children 3 and under: FREE
Family 4-pack: $
20 (online only)
For directions, parking and more information, visit www.fantasyoftrees.org.
Tickets may be purchased online or at the door. Follow us on Twitter @FantasyofTrees.
18 It’s About Children, Issue 3 • 2015

19. Media sponsors:
19Donate at www.etch.com/ItsAboutChildren

20. Nothing puts a smile on aNothing puts a smile on a child’s face quicker than getting a gift— child’s face quicker than getting a gift
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Knoxville,Tennessee 37901-5010
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