The following is a quick history of what Matthew and I experienced when this storm hit his 9 year old son Orion's life.
June 2, 2008 approximately 7pm Austin time: we each received a call from Aris's boyfriend that Orion was in a coma. He told us that he, Aris, her brother Finn, and Orion had been zip-lining and that Orion had a headache and didn't want to go after the first line. He said they tried to encourage him to finish with them and when he didn't want to, I remember Mark saying that they told him to wait for them for the next hour and a half that it would take them to finish out. From what I remember, Mark said they came back from their zip line tour and Ri was convulsing, he vomited, and then passed out. They rushed him to a clinic who sent him and Aris by ambulance to the children's hospital in San Jose, approximately 4 hours away given the bumpy roads. He and Finn went back to check out of the hotel and grab the cell phone which is when they called Matthew and me.
The rest of the evening, Matthew and I were on the computer getting the best tickets possible for Costa Rica. I gather all my work and literally dumped it on my partner and niece, Eileen, not knowing when I'd be back. Matthew and I left just after midnight for Houston, going to Matthew's brother's home. Mark Fierro was definitely a godsend - helping us to get organized, loaning me a proper suitcase, giving us some cash which we were low on, and taking us to the airport so that we wouldn't have to worry about the car at all.
We left at 5:50 am and after a change in Atlanta, arrived in San Jose at noonish. A cab dropped us off at the Hospital Nacional de Ninos on Calle Colon where we were met with friendly but curious stares as I realized I definitely wasn't dressed for a Central American summer day and I was dragging along my suitcase. At the time, though, the only thing on our collective mind was Orion. Matthew went upstairs first after obtaining a pass from the information desk. When he came back down so that I might go up, he looked devastated. He wanted to warn me but had a hard time talking.
Matthew took me up and when I arrived in the intensive care unit, I saw our sweet little boy lying flat on his back with his eyes half open although there was some type of balm over his eyes, I imagine was to protect them from drying out. There were tubes coming out of him all over the place but when his daddy spoke to him, his eyes darted all around giving us our only indication that he knew his father was with him. We stayed until Aris returned a few hours later and then got a hotel room, one that the doctor suggested. We were told to come back later that evening.
We couldn't sleep and we hadn't eaten since the day before so we stopped at a restaurant 2 blocks from the hospital and walked in as after another man. As it turned out, that other man was the evening chef and the owner greeted us and told us that although the place was closed, he would personally fix us a meal. It was a fine meal of filet mignon, medium rare, with vegetables. It was great and his kindness towards us was so appreciated. By the time we left, we realized that he had guessed why we were there in his city and he told us he would pray for our nino.
June 4, 2008 7:30 am
We all met with 4 or 5 doctors who told us that other than the drain they had placed in his head, there was not much more they could do for Orion except wait for the swelling to go down. They did not answer very many of our direct questions pertaining to his chances of recuperation. Finn got the doctor from Dell Children's Hospital on the line so that he could be a part of the meeting. One of the doctors told me afterwards, when I asked him directly about Orion's chances of survival, that the way Orion's was at that time, he wouldn't give him more than a 25% chance of making it, much less chance of ever being the Orion we love.
It was determined that Orion would be air-lifted home, which Finn arranged with the help of several individuals he knew back home. Thank God for all of them doing their part.
As only one parent could fly with Orion, Matthew and I again called our lifeline, his brother Mark Fierro and found out a flight was leaving back to Houston at 1 pm. It was 11:00 by this time. Matthew handed Aris the insurance card he had for Orion, we gave the babe a kiss goodbye, asked his angels to protect him, and we ran to check out and grab a cab back to the airport. What a visit to Costa Rica! It seemed we had been there in a dark haze for so long yet 28 hours after we had arrived, we were headed back to the states, back to all the love and prayers everyone had for Orion.
June 5, 2008 3:45 am
Grandpa (Julio) and Matthew were at the hospital waiting for the precious one to arrive at the emergency room. By 8am Aris, Matthew, and I were in a meeting with Dr. Timothy George who agreed with the prognosis that the Costa Rican doctors had given us, figuring it was an AVM rather than a tumor or an aneurysm. He said Orion's window of opportunity was fast closing and he felt that he should operate right away. We asked how soon this would be and he said he had the operating room ready, he just needed the parents permission.
What was supposed to hav ebeen a 4 hour operation turned into a 7 and a half hour one but the doctor was cautiously optimistic about everything and said Orion should come out of his coma in 3-5 days and then we'd know a lot more. Here come the thousands of prayers from family, friends, and strangers alike. and God heard! Matthew was spending the night with Ri and about 6 hours after the operation, Ri opened his eyes and responded to his father's voice!
The next morning everyone was amazed and we heard a word that doesn't often seem to be uttered by a doctor very often, and how very "miraculous" it was.
Now here it is ten days later, and Orion is struggling so we still need everyone to continue to pray for him. I'm sure that besides the tremendous frustration that he's confused and angry. I know I would be if my mind said one thing and my body refused to follow through.
Please, please pray for Orion and his parents.
Love to all, Orion's Nana
