FAIRBANK –Doctors in Iowa City have named him “The Miracle Boy.” Hunter Fuller, the four-year-old from Fairbank who was airlifted from Waverly Hospital to University Hospitals in Iowa City with the onset of bacterial meningitis on Sept. 23, went home Wednesday.
While he is still months away from returning to the active preschooler he was, doctors felt it was time to grant him his wish to go home. His family is happy and relieved to have him home again, as well.Hunter’s mother, Amber, reported that Thursday he was putting Halloween stickers on the living room window.“He’s been doing a lot of walking around with his little walker,” she said, explaining that Hunter has to reclaim his walking skills after the disease ravaged his body.
“He has watched some TV, but is still sleeping quite a bit due to the number of medications he is still on. He’s really happy to be home and sleeping in his own bed again — we all are,” Amber said.For 29 days, Amber and Jason Hunter barely left their son’s bedside in University Hospital.
While he lay in a coma-induced state, his parents and other family members and friends prayed for his recovery. They brought in his two-year-old sister Leena to talk to him, knowing that although he couldn’t respond, hearing his sister’s voice would stimulate brain activity, another critical point in recovery. They played his favorite TV shows in the room as though he were watching them and read stories aloud.
“We did a lot of praying and reassuring ourselves that everyday he was still alive. That was the most important thing, even though he couldn’t communicate — he was still alive,” Amber said.
His grandmother Deb Schaefer of Oelwein said doctors told her that most children who contract bacterial meningitis don’t make it to the hospital. Of the few that make it to hospitals for treatment, survival is truly rare. She said doctors credit the Waverly Hospital staff with saving Hunter’s life by administering antibiotics immediately, even though they were not positive of a diagnosis. Those antibiotics slowed the progression of the bacteria enough to buy Hunter the precious hours needed.Schaefer said her grandson will go to dialysis two times each week in Iowa City, where the only pediatric dialysis center in the state is located. She said doctors are not offering any guarantees his kidneys will return to full function again, but they are really optimistic about it.
“His body can rebuild itself, it just takes time. His kidneys are working, just not up to full capacity,” she said.Trips to dialysis will be accompanied by physical therapy sessions three times a week at Covenant Rehab Center in Waterloo. Hunter has had some skin grafting that means therapy is also necessary toward recovery.
The good news is Hunter will probably never get this strain of bacterial meningitis again because his immune system survived this battle. And he keeps getting a little better each day.
Those who wish to see what a child suffering from bacterial meningitis looks like can view photos from his hospital bed that the family has posted at carepages.com.
After signing in on the website, go to hunterfuller. Viewers should understand they will see the extremely graphic nature of Hunter’s condition when the disease was at its worse in his body.
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