Rion and family: February Update

The last time we talked about my grandson’s progress was December 1. For those who don’t know, four and a half months ago, my grandson was hospitalized with an unknown illness that was later determined to be viral meningitis caused by the enterovirus. He spent weeks in the intensive care unit. There was a time when I was unsure that he would survive, although I would never have told my daughter that.

I posted about his illness on this blog, and many of you told me that you were praying for him. Well, it seems that those helpful thoughts were successful, because he is doing better than I had hoped. All of the things that he used to be able to do, the things we all take for granted, he has had to learn all over again. He had to be toilet trained all over again. Walking, reading, writing, speaking, feeding himself, all of it had to be learned again.

He now walks and runs nearly like a normal, six year old boy. and is no longer in a wheelchair, although he does occasionally wear leg braces. He relies on the braces less and less as time goes on. He even returned to ice skates two weeks ago. One of his favorite things to do was play youth league hockey. He still isn’t back to that, but he is pushing himself.

He still doesn’t have the fine motor control he had, but he can write (sloppily), His speech is still stilted and somewhat robotic, but also improving. If you want to read his entire story as posted on this blog, click here.

The care that he received was second to none. My daughter’s boyfriend works at a different hospital in that hospital chain, and the nursing director of his hospital personally made the drive to the hospital where his stepson (my grandson) was, so that he could visit and deliver gifts that included gift cards, food, cash, and stuffed animals. The entire staff of the hospital where he works was wonderful. They offered to care for the other kids, cooked meals for the family, and even came over and cleaned the house. What large companies do that anymore?