In a long-term medical nightmare that begins with repeated resuscitations at birth, 2-year-old Grayson Handikar thinks of a rare form of diabetes to her mother through a scan, a optic nerve defect that heralds blindness to cerebral palsy. Apple Icon’s has been diagnosed with everything, from the undeveloped brain to let.
“Someone seems to have had a big bite from his brain,” his 22-year-old mother, Makayla Hunziker, told The Daily Beast.
However, despite countless tests and needles and tubes, and multiple surgeries, Grayson maintained an unusually sunny temperament from the beginning. And he suffered from additional disorders such as rapidly developing obesity, which went from £ 40 to £ 85 in the first half of 2021 and continued to smile throughout. He also had problems with the hypothalamus, which regulates blood pressure. Especially heart rate and body temperature.
“Control Center,” said his mother.
And with a smile, the spirit of determination came. One doctor said Grayson would never be able to sit and stand on his own, but he did it the very next day.He couldn’t stand yet, but he was delighted to dance while sitting and Bus wheels I especially liked it. He proved to be able to distinguish colors, even though four different doctors claimed he was permanently blind. And despite that Apple icon scan, he was able to count up to 20 and quote and recognize all 26 letters of the alphabet.
“Gray is naturally optimistic,” his mother said.
Makhaira attended nursing school and managed to continue her class as she and her 24-year-old husband, Tyler, helped her son deal with so many medical problems that one little child couldn’t bear. I was able to do it. She studied many diagnoses of her son and, along with everything else she learned, is now periventricular nodular ectopic, schizophrenia, seizure disorder, diabetes insipidus, hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency. , Pan-hypophysitis, septo-optic dysplasia and optic nerve hypoplasia can be spelled out.
“I feel like I’ve almost finished medical school,” she later joked.
And in July of this year, Grayson was hit by a virus that anyone could spell. This is a virus that shrugs anti-maskers and anti-bakers as not a real threat to children. COVID-19 hit him harder than anything else. His oxygen levels dropped to dangerously low levels and he held his breath many times. He seemed to be suffering from generalized cramps and cried until he could no longer cry. He went crazy.
“He will start saying things that really don’t make sense,” his mother recalled. “One of the things he kept saying was’No, mom, no’, and I didn’t even mess with him.”
The mother lay down in the hospital and woke up eight days after a positive test, before dawn. She was told that Grayson had developed COVID pneumonia and his condition had deteriorated to the point where it needed to be intubated.
She called Tyler. Tyler quickly rushed to the hospital on his way to work as a diesel mechanic. The parents were asked to leave the room, and the mother leaned against Grayson’s bed and hugged him.
“He didn’t know what was going on,” she later said. “I just wanted to get some love before they put him to sleep.”
The parents were told that the procedure would take at least an hour and went down the street to the dining room for a quick breakfast. They were just walking when their mother’s phone rang. One of the documents was calling.
“She said,” Hey, Makhaira, I need you to go back to the hospital. Some things are happening, so I need you here. Then you make a decision for Grayson. Can be given, “remembered the mother. “I’m like,’What are you talking about?'” She said, “Grayson has coded and I need to come back here so you can make a decision.” “He coded. What does that mean? “
The parents hurried back and were allowed to enter the room, even while the medical team was working on him. Parents were told that Grayson, along with everything else, suffered from pneumothorax or lung collapse and stopped breathing twice while intubated. His oxygen levels plummeted to a very disastrous low.
“Basically, he got into life-sustaining,” his mother recalled.
Doctors asked questions to parents who became disastrously common during the pandemic.
“They wanted to know if we wanted to keep him alive or revoke him,” the mother recalled.
She hugged Grayson, shed tears, and desperately wanted to be able to explain to him what was happening.
“Then they stopped talking and I was just staring at them,” the mother recalled. “I don’t know what I was waiting for,” she said. “They are like,’Do you want us to go through the procedure, or do you want us to do it?'” And I said, “What are you talking about?” “Are you?” And Tyler stood up and said, “Yes, yeah, you have to do what you have to do.” And they are like “OK”. “
In subsequent surgery, Grayson was connected to an ECMO device responsible for heart and lung function. The veins used when Grayson was intubated shortly after birth complicated the procedure and are now too fragile to be used for ECMO. The doctor had to use a vein on his leg.
From July 26th to August 9th, Grayson used ECMOs and ventilators. He stayed only on the ventilator for another 6 days. He could no longer sit or control his head.
“He was literally like a big newborn,” Makhaira told The Daily Beast.
He suffered from withdrawal symptoms because he was separated from the accompanying combination of powerful analgesics.
“He would have had a fever, sweat, couldn’t sit still, changed his mental state, and had an emotional roller coaster,” the mother said.
He stopped making eye contact with her.
“He didn’t act as he recognized me,” she said. “He didn’t act like he knew who I was. It was really hard. He wouldn’t have paid me the kind of attention I gave to doctors and nurses. It was as if all of us were the same. None of the attention he gave me was like a child giving to their mom. “
He didn’t even react to the wheels of the bus.
“He didn’t seem to have heard the song before,” the mother said. “It was as if he had no attachment to the song.”
And he lost that smile.
“It was as if he was there, but he wasn’t in him as a personality,” the mother said.
One thing that hasn’t changed is that he was always thirsty as a result of diabetes insipidus.
“Grayson’s natural condition is dehydration,” the mother said.
She poured ice water into a 4 ounce plastic cup.
“He didn’t have the power to hold the cup,” she reported.
And he now had a hard time performing a task that involved multiple steps.
“If he needs to chew and swallow, he will do one or the other,” she said. “He didn’t chew and swallow, or he swallowed and didn’t chew, so he suffocated.”
Five days later, Grain recognized his father, and two days later he recognized his mother. However, he continued to have a sudden mood swing, bursting into laughter at random moments for no apparent reason, and shedding mysterious tears at other times.
“It’s not like a painful cry, like a real sorrowful cry,” the mother said.
Doctors suggested that Grayson may be experiencing the aftereffects of a powerful drug. Doctors also raised the possibility that the boy had brain damage due to a sudden drop in oxygen levels, ECMO or COVID itself, or all three.
“So it wasn’t too unlikely that he would suffer a brain injury after all the trauma he experienced,” the mother said.
He was discharged on August 26th. The doctor who examined him the next day said he also suffered from cerebral palsy.
“So, for him we just learned, it’s a kind of new diagnosis,” the mother said.
After that, two brief hospitalizations were made. He is now home and during a random emotional eruption, Grayson is again very Grayson.
“He’s back to himself,” the mother reported. “He is now in control of his head. He supports his core.”
He still needed oxygen from time to time and couldn’t sleep well after getting a COVID, but his spirit has returned to all of its elastic splendor.
“Grayson himself is a very happy person,” his mother said. “He is always laughing, laughing and dancing. He Dancer.“
Courtesy Makhaira Hange Car
He only has to listen to the song and works with it. This includes the soundtrack to the Dwayne Johnson movie that was shown at home. The song ended suddenly with just a snippet.
“The music disappeared and he saw Tyler and said,’Music?'” Where did the music go? “The mother said.
He has never learned to walk, but he seems determined to go back to taking the supported steps and do more.
“He is learning his independence,” the mother said.
He is a model kid in many ways, knows his boundaries and says “please”, “thank you” and “welcome”. He learned to sign when it was difficult to speak.
“He talks when he can, signs when he can’t, sometimes talks and signs together,” the mother said.
Courtesy Makhaira Hange Car
And his spirit continues to highlight his parents through what his mother calls “crazy for almost three years.”
“I don’t know anyone who can overcome all this and be as positive as he is,” she said. “He’s always the one who’s been stabbed by the needle. He’s the one who experiences the worst of it, and he’s the one who remains the happiest.”
She added, “I wish everyone could see him. He’s a lot of fun.”
This week, her mother, a pediatric nurse currently working at Grayson’s family doctor, told The Daily Beast about the medical nightmare that began with Grayson’s birth.
“They had to revive him twice within 12 hours,” she said. “They thought he was just having a hard time adapting to life outside the womb.”
After spending four days in the neonatal intensive care unit, he looked fine and was discharged.
“I thought we were taking a perfectly healthy baby home,” the mother recalled.
However, on the shy day of the first month, Grayson began to vomit, stopped eating, and was clearly in pain. He had the first of many seizures and had to be revived after he coded. He was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
“Grayson has undergone a lot of testing to help him better understand what’s going on,” they recalled.
The day after Christmas, tests showed that Grayson had diabetes insipidus, which contained blood sodium instead of blood sugar. He was also diagnosed with a long list of other disorders that his mother later learned to spell.
The mother started to help her son’s medical expenses GoFundMe page.
Those who are impressed by Grayson’s story should fulfill their duty to fight the virus that was trying to kill him when he was already suffering from many other things.
But no one should imagine that Grayson’s parents are lucky to have this kid still smiling after COVID and everything else.
“I told Tyler that I don’t think there’s a way to be lucky twice,” the mother said.
For more information, see The Daily Beast.