Meet D.J.
A note from D.J.'s website:
Hi, my name is Dino Christopher Rivera Jr. but I go by D.J. I just celebrated my 5th birthdayon July 19th. On August 30th, 2010 I was diagnosed with Rasmussen's Syndrome. It is a rareautoimmune disorder affecting the left side of my brain. I am starting the preparation processfor surgery. The only cure is a hemisphererectomy (the removal of the left side of my brain). Ihave a long road ahead of me and invite you to follow me on my journey to recovery.
Click here for D.J.’sblogsite
A recent excerpt from “Prayers for DJ”
Overall the reports from DJ's therapist are amazing! Miss Megan, DJ's Speech therapist, is still thrilled at the progress he's making week from week. When DJ first started seeing Megan she really had to try to get him talking and now he is offering up more words all the time. We all think that is fantastic! Miss Yvonne, DJ's Occupational therapist, has seen a huge improvement. DJ used to give her a hard time, (kind of surprising since DJ is my most cooperative child) in the beginning and now he likes to go to therapy and is very willing to work! Yvonne works a lot with his right arm and that has been the hardest thing to come back so far. Before surgery we were pretty much told that he would be very limited in his right arm and most likely have no fine motor skills in his hand anymore. I think not being able to use that arm has been very frustrating but he is working hard trying to get it back. Since sometime in December DJ's physical therapist changed and now he is seeing Miss Jamie. Since Jamie has started working with him he has always enjoyed playing with her and he is accomplishing more & more every visit. During these last 6 months our lives have been a roller coaster and we apologize for not updating the blog as much as we'd like to. We will try to sit down and update at least once a month on how DJ is doing and appreciate the love and prayers.
Thank you all for your love and support
The Rivera's
The Sanger Foundation has been watching the Rivera family’s road to recovery for five months. Recently the foundation stepped in and helped the Rivera family with some past due out of pocket expenses that had become overwhelming for the family. The foundation has also negotiated down hospital and doctor bills and paid all outstanding balances so the family has no remaining medical past due debt at all. We will also be helping with ongoing copays for DJ’s therapy in 2011.