Posted: February 5, 2010

Dr. Cynthia Kelly, a pediatric allergist with Children's Specialty Group, has helped many children cope with asthma. A former patient, Jessie Nunn III, remembered her care fondly when nominating her for a Health Care Hero award.

"When I first became her patient, I could barely breathe, which was really scary," Nunn said. "She encouraged me not to give up even when I felt it was hopeless. If a medication didn't provide the results I needed, she always had an alternative."

Kelly makes a point of not just telling parents how to deal with their child's asthma, but to empower the child himself to be aware of triggers and limits.

"I learned early on doing this job that I can only impact kids so much in the short amount of time I have them for a visit," Kelly said. "In actuality, kids with asthma have a lot of other things going on in their environment and at school."

Kelly designs cohesive treatment plans for her young patients, involving parents, school nurses, coaches and others in an effort to complete the loop and reinforce the treatment plan with the child outside the doctor's office.

"Pediatrics in general is a field where with good prevention you can have a long-lasting impact on a child's life," Kelly said. "If you intervene early on you can help them avoid problems in adulthood. I help children understand how their medicines work. One of the things we try to do is help the kids understand that if they take their meds and avoid triggers, they'll be able to do the things they want to do like play soccer on cold mornings, run on the basketball court, chase friends around, sleep at night without coughing."

In addition to serving as a pediatric allergy specialist, Kelly has done research that's part of Eastern Virginia Medical School's Division of Community Health and Research.

"I often think back on my condition when I came to Dr. Kelly and wonder where I would be today had it not been for the wonderful treatment I received," Nunn said. "I owe my health and breath to Dr. Kelly."nib

- Mary Worrell A

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