Rachael and Jarron awoke in the middle of the night to their baby’s cries.
Until now, 13-day-old Jeremiah seemed happy and healthy. But that night, his cry was different.
As a veteran emergency room nurse, Rachael was not one to panic. But she was alarmed when her firstborn stopped feeding, his breathing became labored, and he spiked a fever. At 3 a.m., she called the pediatrician, who advised them to go to their local hospital.
Instead, the new parents drove straight to Boston Children’s Hospital. “If something was wrong, we wanted to be where the best care was,” says Rachael.
A life-threatening diagnosis
A test revealed that Jeremiah had bacterial meningitis, a life-threatening inflammation of brain and spinal cord membranes. If not treated in time, the infection can be deadly. The risks were magnified because Jeremiah was so young.
For 18 days, his parents lived at his bedside, watching their son fight for his life. The hardest part was not being able to hold him or feed him because of all the wires and monitors.
One day Rachael broke down in tears but was comforted by the attending doctor, who told her, “With all my heart, we’re going to do everything we can to save your son’s life and make sure he has a normal life.”
With all my heart, we’re going to do everything we can to save your son’s life and make sure he has a normal life.
Jeremiah's doctor, to his mom
A healthy son, and grateful parents
The grateful parents brought their son home when he was 31 days old. Jeremiah had no neurological problems but experienced some hearing loss. Speech programs at Boston Children’s have carefully tracked his progress.
Jeremiah is now healthy and a wonderful big brother to siblings Elijah and Savannah. He loves spotting airplanes and helicopters and is an expert on dinosaurs.
Rachael and Jarron believe the swift response and expert care that Jeremiah got at Boston Children’s made all the difference.
