Family Profile
Wood Family Home: Branson, MO (Taney County)
Earlier in the year, our son David became very ill with
what we believe started as the flu. Over the course of a week, his health started deteriorating and he started having hallucinations, behavioral changes, forgetting learned tasks, and even lost the ability to recognize us. We rushed him to the Emergency Room at Mercy, where he was admitted. We were told he had Haemophilus Influenza Meningitis, a bacterial infection that had traveled from his spinal cord to his brain, and we would be spending the next three weeks in the hospital for treatment. It is difficult to describe all of the scary situations in our head of what David’s life would be like; if he would ever remember us again, if he would lose his amazing personality to this illness, and not to mention the fact that his birthday was a week away and he would not be able to attend his 5th birthday party. During this time, driving an hour back to our home in Branson was the last thing on our minds, so we were thankful when a staff member suggested Ronald McDonald House and we were approved to stay. Initially, our time spent in the hospital was difficult and scary, but the Ronald McDonald House did everything in their power to make life easier for us. I remember David’s hospital birthday very well. The Ronald McDonald House staff members came to our room with a bag of goodies for David (they had asked us about his favorite things and surprised us). Everyone worked to make his birthday so special and amazing! RMH also let him borrow movies to watch in his room, and when he was finally able to leave isolation, David enjoyed going to play and getting a break from his hospital bed. We particularly enjoyed the ability to do our laundry and get a nice warm meal. We are so thankful that out of all the things we had on our minds during this time, we never had to worry about how we were going to eat, shower, or do laundry. We were able to devote all of our time to our son and helping him get better.
David responded well to treatment and recognized us again on his birthday, which to this day makes me teary-eyed to think about. We were discharged from the hospital after only a 10 day stay and he is now a perfectly healthy little 5-year-old, full personality intact. Words cannot express how forever grateful we are to everyone who helped us during our hospital stay, and the time and effort put into making David’s hospital birthday one he’ll never forget.
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