Kayden's story 

See Kayden's 2009 Miracle Kid video (WTAJ)

Kayden is a tough, active 3-year-old with no fear.  So little fear, in fact, that he laughs when his doctor gives him a shot.  And after everything this young boy has been through, it’s no wonder that he can shake off a simple injection.

In 2006, when Kayden was only 5 months old, he developed a fever that lasted two days – then turned more serious. 

“We had just thought he had the flu,” his mom, Laura, remembers.  “Then he had a seizure.”

He was taken to a local hospital by ambulance, and doctors there suspected something much more serious than the flu; they suspected it was meningitis. Antibiotics were started immediately, and Life Flight® was called to take the youngster to Geisinger’s Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville for more specialized care.

“It was very scary,” Laura says.  “They asked us how long it would take for us to get there, then told us to go home and get clothes, and be prepared to stay in Danville for a few days.  We had no idea why.”

As Laura and her husband, Andrew, nervously prepared for the trip, Kayden was on his way to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

“When Kayden arrived, his prognosis wasn’t great,” says Janet Weis Children’s Hospital Chairman Michael Ryan, DO, the infectious disease specialist who treated Kayden.  “A lot of credit goes to the local hospital for identifying this and starting the treatment so quickly, but he still had a long fight ahead of him.”

As soon as the family arrived, they were asked for permission to perform a spinal tap on their young son.  The procedure, also called a lumbar puncture, involves removing fluid from the area around the spinal cord for testing. 

It was the only way to confirm what doctors thought was causing Kayden’s problem: pneumococcal meningitis.

“This is the type of meningitis with the highest morbidity and mortality rate, and Kayden’s lab results weren’t good,” Dr. Ryan says.  “Because he was only 5 months old and couldn’t communicate or respond like an older child would, it was difficult to tell how he was going to do.”

“I had heard of kids dying from this, so we knew it was really serious,” Laura says, remembering her concern that her young son might never recover completely and might never have a chance to live life as most youngsters do.

The parents saw him for only a couple minutes before he was taken for the test, which confirmed the diagnosis.

Kayden was started on two strong intravenous (IV) antibiotics to combat the infection and was monitored closely. 

“We start with two medications and steroids before we can determine which one will be most successful,” Dr. Ryan says.  “When that was determined, we moved to one, and hoped that it will continue to work and that Kayden would continue to improve.”

“I didn’t know if he was actually going to get better.  No one could give us those answers,” Laura says.

The antibiotics seemed to work, however, and in a few more days, the answers grew clearer.  Kayden was moving more and wanted to be held.  He would still need to be monitored, but the infant was doing extremely well.

“He far-exceeded everyone’s expectations,” Dr. Ryan says.

After a 10-day stay in the PICU at Janet Weis Children’s Hospital – with the benefit of Children’s Miracle Network-funded items ranging from the IV pumps to the in-room recliners available for his parents – Kayden was well enough to go home.  He would still need IV antibiotics twice a day, but he continued to improve quickly.

He continued to visit Dr. Ryan for follow-up care for about a year, but shows no signs of lingering health effects from the ordeal.

And while his fear factor has definitely seemed to diminish, his parents found it hard to shake theirs.

“The first time he got a fever after that, I called his physician, bawling,” Laura says.

That fear may last for a while, but seeing Kayden as he is now – tough, active and enjoying life – is a better gift than anyone could imagine.