Who doesn’t love summer – especially if you’re a kid?
Meet some Pediatric Home Service children who don’t let complex medical conditions get in the way of safely enjoying all kinds of outdoor activities.
Lucas loves baseball and sees plenty of action on his Miracle League, team the Rays. Born with Down Syndrome, Hirschprung’s Disease and short bowel syndrome, Lucas is safe at home plate and safe at home with his family. PHS provides TPN, enteral feedings and other care, and he has been in the hospital for two brief stays in the last three years.
Although she is wheelchair-bound, Tana rides horseback, swims, tubes, and goes four-wheeling. Born with spina bifida, she was also diagnosed with a brain malformation, breathing disorder and MRSA. Expected to live to age five, Tana is almost 13 and enjoys a remarkable quality of life. She has even taken trips to Mexico and Disney World.
Emily can do almost everything other kids do, which is remarkable considering what she’s been though. Born with multiple congenital problems, including omphalocele and restrictive lung disease, she spent her first six months in a hospital and required 24-hour nursing care when she first came home from the hospital. Today, Emily uses some oxygen at night and will have surgeries on her back until she reaches skeletal maturity, but as you can see, that doesn’t slow her down one bit.
Here are a few more PHS “kids being kids.”
In these “mom and me” photos: Kali comes down the slide, Emerson enjoys swinging, and Mary Kate plays kitchen.
Do you have stories or photos to share?
Got any photos or stories you’d like to share about special needs kids having fun? Or any tips to share on what you and your family do to help your child with special needs venture out into the world and enjoy all it has to offer?
We’d love to hear from you.
