14 Oct A Healing Journey and Family Tradition Continues at RMHCNN
Four-year-old Zoey has had more experience with the inside of hospitals than most people do in a lifetime.
When she was just 17 months old, a regular appointment to look at her feet turned into a diagnosis of craniosynostosis, which is a condition where the bones in a baby’s skull join together too early, before the brain is fully formed.
“It was very shocking,” says her mother, Krystal. “It was just 13 days after her grandmother had passed away, and we were not prepared for something like this.”
That diagnosis happened on October 26, 2021, and by December 17, she had her first reconstructive skull surgery at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford in Palo Alto, California. The family was informed that once she healed from her surgery, Zoey would have to go back in to have her adenoids removed so she could breathe easier due to her severe sleep apnea caused by the craniosynostosis.
“She’s had more surgeries and procedures than I can count,” Krystal says.
Every time they’ve gone to the Bay Area for Zoey’s surgeries, they have stayed at the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford.
“They’re a family away from home,” Krystal says. “They have truly taken us in and made us feel like we can do this and we’re in a healing situation.”
Fast Forward
When Zoey turned four this year, she needed surgery at Renown Children’s Hospital to correct her wandering eyes, another complication from craniosynostosis.
Zoey has, understandably, been having severe anxiety about all of her surgeries and procedures, and her parents were trying to figure out a way to make it less stressful for her (and them).
Since the surgery was first thing in the morning and the family lives an hour away from the hospital in Wadsworth, Nevada, Krystal thought it would be best to stay in Reno the night before and after, in case anything went wrong.
“There’s always accidents on the freeway and we were talking about how we could make the situation less stressful,” Krystal says. “What can we do for Zoey to make it an easy-peasy healing process?”
After speaking with their social worker, they reached out to Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern Nevada (RMHCNN) to see about staying at the Reno House the night before and after Zoey’s surgery. Of course, we welcomed them with open arms.
Krystal’s pre-planning made even more sense when they found out there was an accident on the highway the morning of Zoey’s surgery that shut it down for hours.
“We would have never made it for her surgery, and this is one that we had been waiting since April for,” Krystal says. “If those accidents had made us miss that surgery, it would have meant all of the following surgeries would have been kaput too.”
Krystal trusts in God and she’s a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. “Because we were right there by the hospital, it was okay,” she says. “If we didn’t have Ronald McDonald House, she wouldn’t have had her surgery, and it’s much better to have these now rather than later.”
Every time Zoey has a procedure, Krystal puts her in her specially made bed in her Wonderfold Wagon, and they walk over to the hospital together, calmly talking about what she should expect.
Staying at RMHCNN allowed them to follow their procedure rather than driving through traffic to get to the hospital.
“I tell her that she’s going to go to sleep, and when she wakes up, she might be uncomfortable, but we’ve got you, and God’s got you,” Krystal says. “We’re sorry she has to go through it, but we’re going through it together. It’s important she knows.”
The Little Touches
Zoey had her first eye surgery in August 2024, and everyone at RMHCNN worked to make sure she was as comfortable as possible.
“If she has to go through a procedure, she knows she’s probably going to wake up to a stuffed animal,” Krystal says. “So when we went by the gift shop, she pointed out the one she wanted.”
But the gift shop was closed while they were there, so they weren’t able to purchase the toy. Instead, someone at RMHCNN heard about it and gifted her a small doll.
“It’s the little touches,” Krystal says. “Having a kitchen to cook meals and to be able to stay right there where we’re healing and not have to go out in public. It’s a blessing what Ronald McDonald House does.”
Krystal says she really appreciated how family-friendly and welcoming the homes are.
“I’ve been to two of them, and each one has its own uniqueness and quirk and personality.”
Since there was no TV in their room at RMHCNN, they went down to the basement family room, where they got to spend time with other families in similar situations.
“It was this amazing, wonderful step back into the past where people got together and they healed together,” Krystal says. “It was just a magical experience in the middle of something that isn’t so great.”
Krystal shares that Zoey is autistic and possibly ADHD, so she’s incredibly active, which can be tough for a child recovering from surgery.
“Being at Ronald McDonald House allowed her to move in a nice, clean environment,” Krystal says. “Even though we couldn’t contain her, we knew she was safe.”
This allowed her to heal like children should — being children.
“I want to say thank you so very much to the staff, volunteers, and workers cleaning the home, and the donors,” Krystal says. “Just thank you so much for giving us a safe, happy, enjoyable environment to heal in. I’ll never have the words to express how grateful I am to Ronald McDonald House.”