Week 5: 10-31-2011 Ruby Update

Ruby has been hospitalized in Los Angeles for a month now. For the last two weeks she has been in the children's rehabilitation ward as she undergoes physical, occupational, and speech therapy every day. Each day shows some signs of improvement. Though she is still very wobbly, she has been able to take quite a few steps on her own over the last couple of days. This has been hugely encouraging to the family. She has gone from "yeah" being her only word to being able to occasionally say, "no", "mama", and "da" (we think she's trying to say "dad"). While she is lifting her right arm a bit, it is still largely ignored as she does not use it to reach for or manipulate anything. We found out at the end of last week that the doctors and therapists think she's going to need to stay in the hospital for 6 more weeks and follow that treatment with another 6-8 months of out-patient therapy.

Ruby's Story

Thank you for taking the time to read about our precious girl’s recent journey. On Friday, September 30^th 2011 a joyful 2 year old girl named Ruby Marie Weeks kissed her parents and 2 month old baby sister and went to sleep. Like so many nights before, Ruby laid in her bed singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” until falling peacefully to sleep. Little did she or her loved ones know, this typical night would change all of their lives forever. The next morning Ruby’s dad went in to get her from her bed after he heard her on the monitor at her usual wake-up time.  When he entered the room he found her seizing in her crib and drenched in sweat. Paramedics were called and she was rushed to the hospital as her seizure refused to relent. While she was witnessed to have seized for an hour, Ruby’s parents are tormented by the possibility that her seizure had been happening for hours before she was found. Ruby and her dad were airlifted to a Pediatric ICU in Los Angeles where her symptoms and continued seizures challenged the doctors and specialists on her case. As a result of the length of the seizure, Ruby has been left with paralysis on the right side of her body and is unable to speak. Her family has relocated to be near the hospital so she can receive the best treatment and therapy in hopes of getting their bright, funny, and sweet little girl back. Your prayers are much appreciated.