Rylan King is a happy, fun-loving 6 year old that receives both feeding clinic services and occupational therapy through Floyd Valley Healthcare. He loves cars and people! He and his family live in Ashton, IA and make the trip to FVH every other week for therapy. Mom says he just loves coming to visit Jess and Linda, his speech and occupational therapists.
Due to pregnancy complications beginning at 9 weeks, Rylan was born on September 17, 2012 at just over 24 ½ weeks (his due date was January 3, 2013!) weighing in at 1 pound, 8 ounces. Among other medical support, he needed a tracheostomy to assist with his breathing. Rylan has a condition called bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). BPD is a form of a chronic lung disease that affects newborns and infants during the neonatal period. Due to immature air sacs (alveoli) in the lung, the infant requires external breathing support including oxygen and a ventilator. These treatments can cause damage to the existing alveoli and those that develop in the future.
Because of the low number of working alveoli, the affected children breathe much faster and harder than healthy infants. Working harder for this basic task may slow early growth because they do not have the energy or the time to feed properly. This leaves fewer calories for them to be nourished and grow. This "failure to thrive" may cause problems to other organs of the body also.
In general, infants with BPD tend to get better as they grow older. This is because most of the lung growth takes place after birth and throughout childhood. Though kids with BPD do not necessarily get sick more often than other infants, they tend to develop more severe symptoms than infants who have the same infections. Their recovery lasts longer and illnesses may set them back in their progress.
Please join us in celebrating Rylan, our first
Hot Shots!
