Patient Stories

Althea-It's So Worth It

In March of 2011, Althea acquired a rare condition known as Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which attacks the nervous system, causes paralysis, and affects breathing. In the early stages of her illness, she had a great deal of difficulty communicating with family and caregivers. Because she was nearly totally paralyzed, she was only able to communicate with a letter board, a crude and time-consuming process.
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Grady-It's Been Amazing

Grady was born premature with intraventricular hemorrhage and severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). At Nationwide Children's in Columbus, Ohio, he began using the PMV^® 007 in-line with the ventilator. The Passy-Muir^® Valve helped Grady participate in feeding and speech therapy.
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Kelly McKann-Just a Surfer Catching a Wave

My name is Kelly McCann. I’m 26, and have been a ventilator dependent quadriplegic for 22 of those years. During those years I’ve experienced a lot of adventures and a lot of falls too, but as they say, if we didn’t fall, we wouldn’t learn how to get back up and keep fighting.
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Cooper-Three Screaming Babies is a Beautiful Sound!

Cooper and his triplet brothers were born 4 months prematurely, on June 5, 2007, at only 24 weeks gestation. Cooper weighed 1 lb., 6 oz. at birth, and spent the first six months of his life in the NICU. His biggest issue was tracheomalacia, and he came home with a trach.
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