Its not about Us

Last year when Myah and I came to Cincy we met a boy named Manny Evans...To our surprise, Manny is in the same room and in the same conditon that we left him. He NEVER left. Cincinatti Childrens Hospital has officially made Manny's home the hospital, a place he's lived for the last four years.

Manny has neurofibromatosis, a disease in which non-cancerous tumors form on different nerves. His tumors interfere with his ability to swallow and speak, to breathe and to properly digest food. They grew with frightening speed when he was a baby. Most can't be removed surgically. Manny's also at risk for lung infections, as well as certain cancers down the line.
Manny has a permanent tracheotomy tube implanted in his throat. It's connected to the ventilator that lets him breathe. He gets all his nutrition in liquid supplements through a feeding tube in his stomach. He also uses a wheelchair. He lives at the hospital because managing the tracheotomy, ventilator and feeding tube takes a level of nursing care that he can't get in a home setting.

He has his biological mother, but he also has 60 other surrogate parents here in the hospital, the people who provide care for him, but who also provide companionship...I guess you can make that 61 ...Its our honor to sit by his side...

This post is for our buddy Manny....