Meet Ryker!
Our friend Ryker is about to celebrate his first birthday! Born at 26 weeks, Ryker spent about the first 6 months of his life at The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (BBCH) before making the trip to Boston. He is a strong and smiley little guy! Read on, and Ryker will tell you the beginning of his story (with some help from his mom and dad, of course)!
Hi, my name is Ryker! I have two amazing parents, a 9-year-old sister, and two dogs that I can’t wait to meet when I finally get to go home. I am ready to celebrate my first birthday, and have spent my whole life, so far, in the hospital.
In December 2021, my mom got pregnant after being told that she would never have kids- my parents were so excited! Then in May, my mom was diagnosed with COVID-19 and diagnosed with placenta previa. That basically means that I couldn’t get the proper blood flow from the placenta that I needed. My mom really struggled, and was in and out of the hospital, eventually being admitted to Maine Medical Center. My mom and the doctors did everything they could to keep me safe, but on June 21st my numbers got worse and I was delivered via C-section at 26 weeks.
I was immediately brought up to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (BBCH) and intubated. My due date wasn’t supposed to be until September 26th, so I was really early! I weighed 1 lb. 8 oz. and was 11 inches long when I was born. The doctor said that the first 72 hours was the most crucial, and after that, the first 30 days would be another milestone. But I hit those milestones and then some- they didn’t know how strong I am!
I have had a lot of different medications, treatments, and surgeries. I have a feeding tube and a g-tube to help me eat so that I can grow even stronger. I have lung disease called Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) from being born early, and in October I had surgery to get a trach to help me breathe. Now everyone can see my adorable smile! My parents call BPD my “superpower” and started calling my BBCH care team our “superheroes” because they saved my life every single day.
In January, I took a long ambulance ride to Boston with my BBCH care team onboard, to be transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital. It was a hard trip and a hard transition, and I needed some extra medical care- everyone was really worried about me.
Once I became stable at Boston Children’s, I started to improve. On March 20th, I even graduated from the NICU! I was transferred to the MICU (Medical ICU), where more ‘big kids’ like me are. Then on Mother’s Day I needed a break- I went into cardiac arrest. My mom was at work and had to drive from Maine to Boston by herself for the first time (dad usually drives, but he was here with me already). My mom did such a great job! My cardiac arrest lasted 6-8 minutes, and they had to use pads on my heart to help jump-start it again. My nurses and doctors saved my life. For two days after that I had to be paralyzed to let my body heal. Since that day, I have been better and back to my normal self.
I was just recently approved to have a tracheopexy operation. With BPD, my lungs are too floppy and sometimes they collapse, so this surgery will help keep my lungs open and prevent that from happening. Once this is all done, and I can show stability, I may go to a rehab facility called Franciscans. It’s a place that specializes in kids like me!
My mom and dad don’t take any of our time together for granted, and they stay with me in Boston so that I don’t have to be alone. But we can’t wait for the day I get to go home- we’re hoping that happens in time to celebrate Christmas this year.
