She was born with a congenital heart defect that meant her body wasn’t receiving enough oxygen. The surgery that should have fixed her heart resulted in numerous complications, including a chemical burn on her neck, a leg that turned black from a blood clot, and finally a stroke that would leave her developmentally and physically delayed.

After transferring to a different hospital and stabilizing medically, Alicia’s family brought her to ChildServe. At that time, her family didn’t know whether she would ever be able to talk or eat solid food again.

“She loved animal crackers,” says her mom. “I remember thinking that I just wanted her to be able to eat animal crackers again.

”She spent two and a half months in intensive rehabilitation at ChildServe’s Stelter-Fisher Transitional Care Unit, receiving nursing care, therapy,  aquatics, therapeutic recreation, orthotics, and child life services.

While Alicia was making progress with her rehabilitation, her family was making preparations for her to come home. ChildServe’s integrated childcare center, which cares for children with special health care needs and their typically-developing peers, made that transition easier. By attending ChildServe Childcare Center, Alicia could continue her therapies during the day and have nursing support as well.

Now three-and-a-half years old, Alicia still attends ChildServe Childcare Center and receives therapy every day. She has a healthy appetite, is running with the help of a walker, and still loves animal crackers.

Imagine if your child had seizures every day, dropping to the ground without any warning, her eyes moving erratically, her lips turning blue, her whole body stiffening and jerking wildly. From the age of two, these seizures were a reality for Rachel and her family. Medications didn’t help, and by age five, she was losing cognitive skills and strength on the left side of her body. The  seizures were making the right side of her brain literally disappear.

Last year, Rachel underwent a hemispherectomy, a rare type of  brain surgery in which much of the right half of her brain was disconnected and removed, at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The surgery was successful in stopping her seizures, but she lost all motor skills on the left side of the body. Therefore, recovery would take some time as her brain reorganized to regain lost skills. Rachel and her parents were in California for more than a month for the surgery, and they missed home and Rachel’s three brothers. Luckily, ChildServe’s Stelter-Fisher Transitional Care Unit is right here in central Iowa, providing intensive nursing and rehabilitation for children recovering from illness and injury. Rachel stayed at ChildServe for two months, where she could be close to her family and her home while she regained her abilities. Today, Rachel still comes to ChildServe for physical, occupational, and speech therapy each week, which has helped her resume dance classes, t-ball, soccer, and all the other activities that little girls love.

Just days before her seventh birthday, Rose experienced a brain bleed caused by a congenital malformation of veins. Surgeons, doctors, and nurses at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines saved her life, but the stroke left her unable to eat, walk, or use her left hand.

Rose came to the Transitional Care Unit at ChildServe, and she spent nearly a month here, performing intensive physical, occupational, and speech therapy.

When she left, therapists had her eating regular food, running, skipping, and stringing beads with her left hand.  Today, Rose is not only back in school, but she is also back in her hip-hop dance and gymnastics classes.

Cayden came to us just a few weeks after a tragic car accident that caused traumatic brain injury. When he arrived, he could not walk or talk, and he had to be fed through a tube.

After nearly six months of intensive physical, occupational, and speech therapy, Cayden was discharged home - walking, talking, and laughing like a four-year-old should.

After he went home, he continued to receive therapy on an outpatient basis for several months. While the staff miss Cayden very much, we're also proud to say that he no longer comes to ChildServe, as all of his needs can be provided right in his own community.