Healthy Living 2014 40 40 40

Cover Story
By Jacqueline Klecak
From Doctor to Patient to Doctor,
TLC Star, Dr. Jennifer Arnold, Has
Developed a Unique Insight by Being on
Both Sides of the Dr.-Patient Relationship
Big!
Think
D
r. Jennifer Arnold, a pedia-
trician and neonatologist
physician, couldnt wait to
start a family of her own with her
husband and best friend, Bill Klein.
Co-star of TLCs hit reality show The
Little Couple, Arnold was not able
to have children of her own due to
her achondroplasia, or dwarsm, so
Arnold and Klein decided to adopt.
While in India adopting her soon-to-
be-daughter, Zoey, Arnold became
ill and had to rush back on a 20-
hour, heart wrenching and anxiety-
lled plane ride to America, leaving
her husband and son, Will, behind
to complete the adoption process.
After undergoing numerous tests,
she found out what she thought at
rst to be food poisoning was actu-
ally cancer. Focusing her energy on
bonding with her new daughter and
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Healthy Living 2014 42
embracing the rst memories with
her now complete family was put on
hold when this doctor found herself
on the other side of the needle in
December 2013.
Arnold has been doing big things
her whole life. In this past year
alone shes celebrated her 40th
birthday, renewed her wedding
vows with her loving husband, and
adopted a rambunctious son from
China and a precious daughter from
India. And thats just her personal
life. Her professional life, which has
been quite the inspiring medical
journey, is equally as exciting and
full of big things. From endur-
ing many orthopedic surgeries, to
studying medicine to practicing
neonatology and helping run a
simulation center Arnold is pretty
much unstoppable.
Discovering she had a rapidly
growing, cancerous tumor in her
uterus did not slow her down either.
After all, shes used to adapting her
environment to satisfy her needs
shes been doing it her whole
life. With her family by her side
throughout the chemotherapy treat-
ment process, as well as TLCs cam-
eras, Dr. Arnold, who had to take
on the role of patient for a change,
fought the brave battle against
cancer and is in remission. Now she
is taking her motto of Think Big
to new levels by inspiring other new
mothers, intelligent doctors, resil-
ient cancer survivors and deter-
mined little people to face whatever
life throws at them, starting with a
big infectious smile.
Dr. Arnold had already experi-
enced the difcult and draining
process of being a patient many
times when she was younger but
now shes viewing her own can-
cer recovery from a more medical
standpoint. With a medical degree
from Johns Hopkins School of Medi-
cine, a Pediatric Residency Program
Healthy Living 2014 43


JENNIFER ARNOLD: Doctor, Patient, Parent
Bill and Jens son, Will, who is also a little
person, undergoes his rst surgery to
improve his breathing, hearing and
speech.
Jen is the keynote speaker at the
International Meeting on Simulation
in Healthcare in San Francisco.
Jen allowed TLCs cameras to follow her
throughout her Chemotherapy process
because, I know Im not the only one
battling cancer.
Jen is named the winner of New York
Lifes Shorty Award in the #KeepGood-
Going category for being one of the
most inspiring people in social media.
In Jens commence-
ment speech at
West Coast Uni-
versity, a school
focusing on
healthcare educa-
tion, she chal-
lenged the gradu-
ates saying, Now
that you have the power
to heal, can you maintain the
courage to be humble?
Jen and Bill
celebrate the
renewal of their
vows in the
season 6 nale of
The Little Couple,
TLCs #1 series
in 2014.
Jen goes to
Capitol Hill to
the Speak Now
for Kids event
(#speaknow-
forkids) to bring
attention to the
Advancing Care
for Exceptional
Childrens Act.
Jen posts a quote from esteemed poet
Maya Angelou, which seems to sum
up her life motto.
Jen, now in remission, returns to
work at Texas Childrens Hospital
after four months of Chemotherapy.
While adopting their daughter, Zoey,
in India Jen experiences health
issues and must return home.
September 2013
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December 2013
November 2013
at Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh
and a current position as a physi-
cian in the neonatal intensive care
unit as well as medical director of
the new pediatric simulation center
at Texas Childrens Hospital you
could understand if Arnold was a bit
of a backseat doctor, so to speak. To
the contrary she seems fairly calm
and optimistic and certainly open
about this overwhelming time in
her life. In fact so much so that she
allowed cameras to show her actu-
ally receiving Chemotherapy and
baring her bald head. Perhaps her
openness and modest condence
results from getting attention her
whole life shes denitely learned
you dont have to be big to stand out.
Arnold is used to taking care of
everyone else, and just like many
mothers and doctors, she may have
forgotten what its like to take care
of herself. She really has had a
full-circle experience of everything
medical from, rst and foremost,
her position as a doctor to being
a patient, which is what initially
inspired her to get involved in
medicine, as well as being a parent
observing, worrying and asking
many questions when her children
went through surgeries.
No wonder shes so focused on
spreading the word about the
importance of simulation centers in
hospitals where doctors and nurses
can train as a team in a safe envi-
ronment before encountering real
high-risk situations. Arnold clearly
wants not only big things for herself
but also hospitals, patients and the
whole medical world as well.