At the age of 12 my son needed immediate/emergency surgery on his right elbow. At the time my wife and I were unaware of Shriners Hospital. We were referred to several local (Bucks county) Orthopedic surgeon's, as well as CHOP. None of the surgeon's in our area wanted to do the surgery based on his age and the complicated nature of the surgery itself. As I said before we were told the surgery needed to be done ASAP, so we contacted CHOP. I know CHOP does a great job of helping countless children and their families. That being said we were told our son would not even be evaluated for roughly a week then we would have to return for a scheduled surgery. Unfortunately after explaining our need for immediate attention CHOP was still unable to accommodate our son. After doing some research and talking to other Doctors we were told about Shriners Hospital. Wow what a difference! After contacting Shriners Hospital our son was immediately scheduled for a consultation the following day. Dr. Zlotalow (please excuse my spelling) was the attending surgeon who explained all of our options and potential outcomes. The Dr. and staff were all extremely nice, attentive, and welcoming. Due to the nature of the procedure special pins needed to be ordered, but the Doctor had them rush the delivery and scheduled the surgery for the next day! From start to finish Shriners Hospital, it's doctors, nurses and staff were amazing! They surgery went well and our son was soon on the mend. Following the surgery there were several follow up visits and his progress continued. If your reading this Dr. Zlotalow just know you are a god send! After being told (in local physical therapy) that he would not be able to straighten his arm completely and would have a limited range of motion, he continued to fight and work hard. After just a few months he proved them wrong and not only regained full use of his arm but was able to continue playing baseball as a starting pitcher and homerun leader! He won the homerun derby and the speed pitch competition the very next season, None of which would have been possible without Shriners Hospital! So thank you again and again and AGAIN! We will continue to contribute and support Shriners in any way possible. We can't thank you enough.
Sincerely, The King Family