The first thing you notice about Dr. Robert Parry’s office is that it holds a great number of clues about him. A motorized skateboard is propped against a wall, below a mounted, fiberglass sailfish, fabricated from a prize catch off the coast of Key West. He has a degree in electrical engineering, which like pediatric […]
Patient Stories
Understanding the Risks vs. Benefits of Epidurals May Ease the Pain of Deciding Whether to Get One
Gone are the days when women had no choice but to endure labor and delivery without medication to ease the pain. Nowadays, options like epidural anesthesia can make the inevitably painful experience of childbirth calmer, controlled and, yes, even comfortable. Today, epidurals are the most popular method of pain relief during labor. More than two-thirds of […]
Akron Children’s Mahoning Valley continues the mission of Touched by Nathan
A Struthers couple is living up to the mission they began nearly 2 decades ago: support families who struggle with caring for a medically fragile child. Ken and Vicki Pavalko started the Touched by Nathan Foundation in honor of their late son, Nathan Charles Pavalko. He passed away 40 days after he was born with […]
Pediatric Surgeon Continues Tradition of Making Unique Surgical Dressings for All of His Patients
We go the extra mile to help kids feel like kids. Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Robert Parry creates special drawings on surgical dressings. For Nicholas Sender, 8, that meant waking up from surgery with his own Lamborghini.
Food Chaining: A Proven Technique to Double the Number of Foods Your Child Eats
Getting your preschooler to stop playing and sit down to dinner is challenging enough, let alone getting her to eat the nutritious meal you just prepared. Preschoolers are picky by nature. For some kids, fussy eating is a fleeting stage. For others, it can become an ongoing challenge and make mealtime a stressful, chaotic experience […]
Overweight Kids Take a Lot of Grief. Here’s How to Help.
They call it “bean dipping.” Kids come up to an overweight boy at school and pretend to dip a chip under his so-called “man boobs.” “They think that they are being funny,” said psychologist Geoffrey Putt, who works with obese children in the healthy weight clinic at Akron Children’s. “But it’s torturous.” Harassment of overweight […]













