From the Newsroom -- Tony Dodero

For years, we in the newsroom have been left to watch the CHOC follies

from afar.

Conducted at the El Toro Marine base for its first few years of

existence, the annual fund-raiser for the Children’s Hospital of Orange

County was well out of our coverage area.

So I was happy to see that change this year as the follies moved to

Costa Mesa into a tent across from the Orange County Performing Arts

Center.

Readers may have noticed that we have unleashed our reporters on this

worthy event.

I was happy for the move, not just because that meant that we could

now cover this extravaganza, but because now I could put in my two cents

worth of gratitude toward the children’s hospital that had cared for my

little girl, Kristen Elise, when she was stricken with a serious

respiratory ailment.

And I wasn’t the only one with a personal story to tell of CHOC.

Costa Mesa Mayor Linda Dixon, was also glad to see the follies come to

her hometown, as it would give her a chance to personally thank the

hospital that cared for her son, who was rushed to the Mission Viejo

facility when he was just 16.

“He was experiencing mini strokes,” Dixon said of her son, now a

healthy young man. “He was in intensive care for a month because they

didn’t know what was happening to him.”

Dixon said the hospital ran a battery of tests on her son and during

his stay, the nurses and other staff people would bring him pizza or play

cards with him.

“It was just a really good experience,” Dixon said. “They were caring

and they were warm. They did everything to try and put us at ease and

make him feel comfortable being there.”

As for me, I will always be indebted to the doctors and nurses at CHOC

who took such good care Kristen.

When she was one month old, Kristen came down with a bad cough and

cold. My wife and I tried nursing her back to health. Then one horrifying

night she had a wheezing and coughing episode that had us rushing her to

the emergency room at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange at 1 a.m.

After a few hours in the emergency room, the doctors decided to admit

Kristen into CHOC, which sits right across the street from St. Joseph’s.

Kristen was diagnosed with RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, which is

often cited as the most frequent cause of serious respiratory tract

infections in infants and children younger than 4.

It was heartbreaking for me to see her in the hospital, oxygen tubes

hooked to her nose, her big eyes staring out at me from the plastic crib.

RSV can be deadly and can sideline a young child often for as long as two

weeks.

Thankfully, though, Kristen only stayed in the hospital two days. Now,

a spunky little 15-month-old girl, her rapid recovery I’m sure had

everything to do with her strong nature and the great treatment she

received while she was at CHOC.

Still, for all the fright that Kristen put me and my wife through, my

story pales in comparison to that of her honor the mayor, who must have

been beyond scared when she learned of her son’s illness.

So when CHOC Follies visionary and organizer Gloria Zigner asked Dixon

to take part in a singing and dancing number for this year’s festivities,

the mayor was more than happy to oblige.

“It’s a small way for me to give back to CHOC for everything they did

for my family,” she said. “If coming to see me sing and dance will

encourage people to buy tickets, I’m willing to do it.”

Dixon will be teamed with about 90 other community members to perform

in this year’s production known as “The Slipper and the Surfer: An Orange

County Cinderella Story.”

“I am having a wonderful time,” she said. “I am amazed at the talent

because these are not professionals and they are so talented.”

And while Dixon’s newfound show biz career probably won’t derail her

reelection bid next November, there’s always a chance she could be

discovered by a talent agent, she joked.

So if you have an interest in seeing the mayor sing and dance or you

just want to give a little help to a hospital that does good work for

sick young children, then make sure you catch the CHOC Follies this

coming weekend. Here’s the info for how to do it:

FYI

Times:

Friday 8 p.m.

Saturday 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Sunday 2 p.m.

Prices: Tickets range from $25 to $100.

Information: 714-532-8690

***

Finally, a reader called and pointed out to me that I made an error in

my column last week. I mistakenly referred to my parents as “kettlers,”

mangling a popular nickname for bowlers.

The real nickname is keglers. I apologize for the goof but it just

goes to show you that everyone needs a good editor, even an editor.