Former RMHC Guest Family’s PICU Patient turns 21 This Fall

We often get notes of thanks here at the Ronald McDonald House. Those messages are often short notes from mother’s who want to share with us how much they value the gift of togetherness our home provided for their family. We received this message from a mom on Facebook earlier this year. With her permission, we would like to share her note of thanks to you, our supporters, as her son is about to turn 21-years-old. Because without you as our foundation, we couldn’t have been able to provide a temporary home in Columbus for her and her family while her son got better.

Sunday, April 7, was the four year anniversary of my son’s first brain surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He was 16 years old at the time. The proposed treatment plan included one brain surgery, 1-2 days in the PICU, 10-12 days in the neuroscience unit and then go home. My other two children were 12 and 14 at the time and our family resides in Delaware County- 45 minutes away from campus and gas was around $4.53/ gallon. We were already struggling with the transportation costs and medical bills from previous hospital stays.

We planned with the staff and social workers to stay for 14 days but then things got really ugly for my son and plans changed- radically. The short version of this long tale is that we ended up spending 10 days in PICU, 10 days on the neuroscience floor, 59 days in the rehabilitation unit and instead of one brain surgery, my son endured 3 brain surgeries during that time. Many tears shed. Many meals cooked and snacks provided by the house. Your love and support did not change or waiver even though our plans changed weekly and sometimes daily.

There is much more I could say but there are really not enough words to tell you what RMHC of Central Ohio means to us. My son turned 20 last fall. He managed to graduate from high school the summer of 2017. I had him take last year off due to some other medical issues that we needed to manage due to the casualties incurred from the brain surgeries that saved his life. However, I am thrilled to share with you that my son began his college journey this past January at Columbus State Community College. His short-term goal is to graduate with an associate’s degree from the Social and Human Services program at Columbus State. His long term goal is to earn a master’s degree in psychiatry. These dreams would not be possible without the support we received from you.

Thank you,

Mindy Chemacki