As soon as we walked in the door to the neurosurgery ward, we were greeted by a boy with an outstretched hand, who wouldn’t let us pass until we had given him a high-five. This boy was 12 year-old Bryner, who came to have a shunt replacement surgery for his hydrocephalus, accompanied by his mother and grandmother. Loud and extremely friendly, his favorite thing to do was to give everyone a high-five! Bryner loves listening to music, and constantly held a portable radio up to his ear in bed so he could still have his music in the ward. When he wasn’t listening to music, he was whistling the tunes from his very favorite songs! His favorite food is oatmeal, but he drank chocolate milk nearly every day. Bryner was very excited for surgery, and his mother was both excited and relieved when he came out of the operating room with a brand-new shunt! Other than watching TV, Bryner loves to run around, which worries his mom. Once he recovers, he can’t wait to be able to run and play with his older brother again!
Easily the happiest baby in the ward, one-year-old Vivianny brightened everyone’s days with her infectious smile, giggles, and singing. At Robert Reid for a shunt placement to correct her hydrocephalus, Vivianny just couldn’t stop talking—with the doctors, nurses, mothers, other children…and on the cell phone! Her favorite toy of the week was easily her mother’s cell phone, which she wouldn’t put down, and she constantly could be found talking and laughing into the phone. As her mother says, Vivianny can’t understand everything that is being said, but she still talks nonstop nonetheless! After her surgery, Vivianny was on her way to a fast recovery. Whenever the team entered the ward, she would stand in her crib, hold on to the railing, and start dancing! Vivianny obviously couldn’t wait to get back home to her big pink stuffed animals and her favorite toys: a football, and her little brother. Vivianny loves blowing kisses, and whenever she decided to put the cell phone down, blew kisses to the team. She can’t wait to go home and be able to blow kisses to her little brother again! The team can’t wait to come back and play with the happy Vivianny next year.
Quiet but strong, 5-year-old Sandy came with his mother in hopes of correcting his hydrocephalus. Even though he’s shy, once he gets to know you, Sandy just won’t stop chatting! Although he wasn’t comfortable enough to talk with the doctors yet, Sandy loves talking with his mom and his close friends. Sandy also loved the brand-new green truck the nurses brought for him (green is his favorite color), and was climbing all over his mother’s chair “driving” the truck around! Sandy loves relaxing, and as he began recovering from a successful surgery, he could be found lying in bed with his arms folded under his head for most of the day. However, he can’t wait to get better so he can get out of bed, go home, and hit some baseballs! When you take a camera out around Sandy, he almost immediately smiles. As his mother told us, he loves to smile for pictures! Once he gets out all his extra energy playing when he returns home, Sandy is excited to watch some TV—Tom & Jerry, of course! The team is looking forward to seeing Sandy again next year, and hopefully be able to talk to him a little bit more!
The child stories featured in this post were written by Allie Gullquist, IHC intern.
Posted by International Hospital for Children 
