Brady Eikleberry
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Brady was born March 15, 2002. Ten hours after his birth we learned that he had tracheal esophageal fistula. This attributed to his tracheal and bronchial and he was intubated. Brady received a tracheostomy in May and remained ventilator dependent until September 2003.
Brady spent the first fifteen months of his life in Akron's Children's Hospital. During that time he underwent eight difficult surgeries including a repair of his esophagus and a heart repair.
Brady was ready to go home in December 2003, but by October he had exhausted both of our health insurance policies and he was on Medicaid. In order to get Brady home we had to apply for the Ohio Home Care Waiver. The waiting list for this waiver was in the thousands and we were told that Brady could remain in the hospital for another eighteen months. In the mean time the state of Ohio would pay approximately $70,000 a month to keep Brady in the hospital as opposed to $20,000 a month to care for him at home. My husband and I took Brady's story to the media. After six months of letter writing, television, and newspaper interviews our hard work paid off and we brought Brady home to Cadiz, Ohio on June 25, 2003.
Brady took off after coming home. He met other children for the first time, watched cars go down the street, took walks outside, and slept in his own bed for the first time. By September he was off his ventilator for a few hours during the day. By November he was off the vent all day and walking.
Brady has come such a long way and we are so proud of him. He is an amazing little boy with a unique and entertaining personality. We are so thankful for the dedication of his many doctors and nurses. Today Brady is still off the ventilator all day and making progress towards getting rid of the ventilator at night. We are hopeful that decannulation will occur within the next year.
Update, August 2005: Brady's tracheostomy was removed on August 5th, 2005 and he is doing quite well.
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