Leigh Ann Breen: From Patient to Provider
Leigh Ann Breen, Child Life specialist at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, says that her mother always told her, "You don’t have a disability. You have a different ability." That type of positive thinking and encouragement helped Leigh Ann, who was born with a type of dwarfism known as achondroplasia, to become educated, independent and, most of all, sensitive to others who may differ from the status quo.
Today, the board-certified Child Life specialist works at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital – where she once underwent a new and lifesaving procedure as a baby.
Twenty-four years ago, Leigh Ann had a gradual narrowing of the spinal column that cut off her ability to breathe and move like other infants. Fortunately, the very surgery she desperately needed to widen her spinal canal had just received FDA approval.
The 12-hour surgery was a success. Leigh Ann transformed from lying nearly motionless because of the compromised spinal cord to wiggling like a normal baby. "You were kicking your little legs and flailing your arms when we saw you in recovery," Leigh Ann’s mother responds when asked to describe the event. "I think that is probably the hardest I have ever cried. You are a miracle!"
By the time Leigh Ann was 19, she had undergone 19 surgeries, from ear tubes and tonsils to growth-plate and bone removal for her legs. She also had additional spinal decompression surgeries, performed by Children’s Memorial Hermann pediatric neurosurgeon James Baumgartner, M.D., who follows her progress to this day.
When Leigh Ann was in second grade, her parents decided to send her to Texas Lions Camp, which serves children with physical disabilities, diabetes and cancer. Leigh Ann felt she had found a place where the "outside" of a person is overlooked to see the child inside. When she was old enough, she became a camp counselor.
"It was hard to send her away to camp, but I knew Leigh Ann had to survive in any situation," says her mother. "Little bits of independence led her to become a very lovely young lady."
Her camp counseling experience, coupled with her own experience with Child Life specialists when she was a patient, greatly impacted her. "Child Life made such a difference in my hospital stays. They made sure I was okay and coping and they made me feel like a normal person," says Leigh Ann, who works in the pediatric dialysis unit at Children’s. "I know what I went through and so I can relate to the children here and it’s rewarding. I get paid to have fun."
Leigh Ann credits much of her success to that first medical care team. "I’m eternally grateful," she says. "If not for them, I wouldn’t have graduated from high school or gone on to college at Texas State University. I’m living independently, supporting myself, and enjoying a rewarding life."