Patient Spotlight: Meet Garrett
Pediatric Home Service has always lived by the mission of ‘taking care of the child‘, we have made it our goal to always provide the best care for our patients and their families, every single day. In our new monthly Patient Spotlight segment you’ll read stories and see pictures of some very special kiddos and their families. PHS kids truly do thrive and we’re excited to be able to share their stories.
Good things come in small packages: Garrett’s story
We learned that Garrett would be born with Spina Bifida and Arnold Chiari II Malformation during a routine ultrasound when I was approximately 20 weeks pregnant.
After he was born we spent a little over a week in the NICU. We were home for a week before rushing to the ER, where he was admitted to the PICU for six weeks.
Garrett continues to beat out the odds
Garrett needs frequent suctioning. He aspirates, so we are very careful about the tastes he takes by mouth. We have nebs on hand at all times and give them at the first sign of respiratory illness. We have our PHS Respiratory Therapist, Carrie, in-home nursing to help us monitor him and his pulmonologist is updated weekly, so any change in his health status is quickly addressed.
We are very proud of how far Garrett has come! We worked with PHS and our team of health care professionals to take him from being on a ventilator 24/7 to only needing it while sleeping. PHS Dietitian, Teresa helped Garrett transition from not consuming anything orally to taking small tastes of yogurt, pudding, and apple sauce. The majority of his nutrition is a blended diet through his G-tube, which he handles so well that we have been able to decrease the medication he takes for reflux. He is walking great. His speech was delayed, but he has always worked hard to communicate – first with sign language, and now, most people can understand just about everything he says! He is very smart – he knows his colors, numbers, letters… I could go on and on!!
Garrett’s favorite things
Garrett loves to play and watch sports – baseball, basketball and golf are his favorite right now. He plays on a Miracle baseball team in the summertime. (Garrett’s PHS respiratory therapist, Carrie had a great time cheering him on at his game this past summer.) He also likes to read books, sing, play with Play-Doh, blow bubbles, go to the park, and wrestle with his older sister.
Left to right: Garrett with his mom, dad and older sister; Garrett walking off the field at the Miracle game after a great inning; Garret with PHS RT Carrie.
The difference of home care
We first learned about PHS by a social worker at the hospital. When Garrett was in the hospital, our goal was to get him home as quickly as possible, PHS helped make that dream a reality. Being able to care for Garrett at home means more time together as a family. My husband and I would have to split time between the hospital with Garrett and at home with our daughter. It also allows us to give him more opportunities to be out in the community, so that he can develop socially as well as physically and cognitively.
If you’d like your child to be featured in our monthly Patient Spotlight on the PHS Thrive Blog, just send an email to dmakerson@pediatrichomeservice.com and we’ll touch base with you for more information and pictures of your All-Star.
Originally published: October 23, 2012
Showing 4 comments
I’m so proud of Garrett. We so enjoyed watching him play this last summer.
Keep up the good work.
Aunt Fern
Thanks PHS! Garrett’s improvements have blown me away! He is a fun little guy who would have never been here if it wasn’t for today’s technologies and your help!
My 9 yr old grandson is currently trach dependent, but otherwise VERY independent. He just finished basketball season and is beginning baseball. We were wondering what type of helmet Garrett wore while playing baseball, and if it had protection for the trach, as we are looking for helmets for Elijah.
Thank you very much!
Garrett plays baseball with the Miracle League Association here in MN. They use tennis balls rather than baseballs to reduce risk of injury. The kids wear average baseball helmets (no cage or face mask included) while batting. Most kids don’t use any other kind of protective gear while playing in the field. Good luck to you and Elijah on your hunt for the perfect helmet, I hope you can find something that works well for him.