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Tonja Phillippe and Amber Davids have never met. They live 80 miles apart, Phillippe in Eugene and Davids in tiny Glide, near Roseburg.

But they share an experience that unites thousands of families with seriously ill or injured children: They've stayed at a Ronald McDonald House. The two Portland-area houses, near Doernbecher Children's and Legacy Emanuel Children's hospitals, provide a base for out-of-town families going through medical crises.

Davids' ordeal started in February, when her infant daughter Brianna's cheek turned purple.

By the time they reached the emergency room in Roseburg, about 30 minutes away, the baby was swollen and turning black. She was immediately taken by Life Flight helicopter to Doernbecher, where doctors gave her a 2 percent chance of living through the night.

Brianna, then 8 months old, had an advanced case of cerebrospinal meningitis, also known as meningococcal disease, a bacterial infection that clogged her blood vessels and killed tissue all over her body.

She beat it in about two weeks. But doctors had to amputate her feet and the tips of three fingers, and graft skin from her back to cover missing tissue.

She spent two months in an induced coma and another two months recovering in the hospital. Her mom stayed with her the whole time.

"When someone survives something this devastating, God had a hand in it," said Dr. Clyde Keys, her doctor in Roseburg. "This mom is heroic and this baby is a miracle."

It was the most terrifying time of Davids' life, but after the first few nights, she somehow knew Brianna would make it.

"I heard her talking to me, telling me she was going to be all right," Davids said.

When she thought something was wrong with Brianna, Davids could walk from the Ronald McDonald House to the hospital to be with her. And when Davids needed privacy and sleep, she had a retreat.

"It's nice to have a place to go and have peace and quiet, especially when something that tragic is happening," Davids said. "Sometimes you just want to go there and cry."

Emergency trips to Doernbecher are a way of life for Phillippe and her husband, Michael, who decided to take in foster children with developmental and medical problems after raising five kids of their own.

Their youngest daughter, Julie, was in elementary school when she asked for a baby sister. The Phillippes did not want to have more kids, so Julie suggested foster parenting.

Since then Tonja, a registered nurse, and Michael, a certified nursing assistant, have taken in 25 foster kids. Two girls are placed permanently with them, and they have adopted another.

"They just need love, and we've got lots of that here," Tonja Phillippe said.

Jaelyn, 1 1/2, has spina bifida, a neural tube defect that causes nerve damage and paralysis. But she gives a big toothy grin to everyone she sees, is learning to use a stander with wheels and someday might push herself around and, eventually, walk.

Jasmine, 3, was born 15 weeks early, weighing 1 pound, 9 ounces and addicted to methamphetamine. When the Phillippes brought her home at the age of 7 weeks, she was floppy, jittery and anxious. Now she's a sweet and energetic kid with glasses and long blond curls who has caught up developmentally but still has attention problems.

Jasmine loves to cuddle in bed with Joanna, 16, who has cerebral palsy and can't talk or move most of her body. Tonja Phillippe calls Joanna her "forever baby" because she'll always be totally dependent.

The Phillippes receive foster care and disability benefits for Jaelyn and Joanna, adoption assistance for Jasmine and extra money for night care providers for Jaelyn.

Jaelyn and Joanna both have had multiple life-threatening medical emergencies that required long hospital stays and frequent follow-up appointments at Doernbecher and Shriners Hospital for Children.

The family stays at a Ronald McDonald House whenever they can.

"We can chat with other people going through the same kinds of things," Tonja Phillippe said. "There's a lot of support in staying there."

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Oregon and Southwest Washington expects 1,600 family visits this year at its Portland houses, up from about 1,400 last year and 1,000 three years ago.

Tom Soma, executive director, attributes the increase to an expansion at Doernbecher, a regional population increase and more children being hospitalized because they don't have health insurance that covers preventive care.

Families are asked to pay $20 a night, but no one is turned away for inability to pay. About one-third of families pay directly, one-third have the fee covered by the Oregon Health Plan and the last third don't pay.

"The drama is the medical situation, but the reality is they are dealing with much more than the medical situation," Soma said. "The fact that we are here is an incredible relief."

Davids and her fiancé, Blake Wise, still have worries. Wise will lose his job building boats at Bayliner just before Christmas because the Roseburg plant is closing. And the couple are expecting a baby boy, their first child together, in January.

Davids does not have a job. She also has a 9-year-old daughter, Destiny, and Wise has a 4-year-old daughter, Jasmine.

Brianna, now 17 months, goes to Portland once or twice a month for treatment and physical therapy at Doernbecher and Shriners. Davids doesn't have a car, so she relies on Wise or her grandmother to drive.

The bright spot is Brianna's progress. She is healthy, loves to give kisses and is learning to stand and walk using pink prosthetics with princess pictures.

"She is so happy," Davids said. "She doesn't even realize what she's been through."


The Oregonian, November 19, 2008
by Suzanne Pardington


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