The Grub Club
 When
you’re expecting a child, you secretly pray for certain
things. In the case of my first pregnancy, it was a little
girl with big brown eyes. The moment I slapped eyes on my
daughter, she of the big blue eyes, I immediately forgot I
wanted anything else. She was perfect.
But what happens when, after a little
while, you realize your perfect child really isn’t so
perfect after all? What happens when your gorgeous bundle of
girl doesn’t develop the way she’s supposed to? When she
doesn’t hold her head up? When her eyes don’t track moving
objects—like your smiling face? And, what do you do when her
little body is constantly besieged by tremors?
That’s what Rick and Kristine Larson of
Missoula wondered after their blue-eyed, blonde-haired
bundle of perfection was born in February of 2002.
 The
Larsons chose an old family name for their daughter and
adjusted the spelling from McCasslyn to Mikaslyn, to make it
appear less like a surname and more like a first name. Not
long after Mikaslyn’s birth, Rick and Kristine noticed she
experienced a constant stream of tremors, which were
attributed to “Baby Shakes.” In addition, when she didn’t
respond to loud noises and still wasn’t tracking visually,
they knew something wasn’t right.
After numerous visits to several
doctors and neurologists, and after exhaustive personal
research, the Larsons learned their daughter was having
seizures: hundreds and hundreds of tiny little seizures each
and every day, seizures 24/7, Seizures that interfered with
normal functions like hearing and seeing well enough to
track moving objects and sitting up on her own. After being
emergency life-flighted to Seattle at age eighteen months,
Mikaslyn was diagnosed with hypsarrhythmia.
Hypsarrhythmia is a neurological
condition of unidentified origin that manifests itself in
infants. It is characterized by seizures that vary from mild
to severe and most often result in brain damage. The
seizures generally do not continue beyond age 24 months.
Right now, three methods exist for
reducing or eliminating the seizures—all with their own
lists of side effects. After opting to allow Mikaslyn to
undergo daily injections, her EEG showed no sign of seizures
after two weeks of treatment. Ditto for the EEG review at
four weeks. Thankfully, Mikaslyn, has been seizure-free
since July of 2004.
Mikaslyn’s doctors identified brain
damage when she was fifteen months old and indicated that
they didn’t expect her to develop “normally.” The most
difficult thing for Rick and Kristine Larson to accept is
that no one can determine precisely how severe Mikaslyn’s
brain damage is or what the long-term prognosis is.
For Rick and Kristine, though, simply
waiting for the answer is not enough. If there’s a way for
their daughter to “catch up,” if there’s a way they can help
her develop “normally,” they’re going to find it. Mikaslyn
has been receiving physical, occupational, and speech
therapy every week since the diagnosis was made. The Larsons
have transformed their single-family ranch into an
environment that is conducive to Mikaslyn’s growth and
development.
They’ve torn up all the carpeting and
installed hardwood and laminate flooring so that her walker
can tool around unimpaired. The collection of brightly
colored toys and equipment is mind-boggling. At least to me,
the adult observing from the sidelines. For Mikaslyn, it’s
perfect. Her parents plan to remodel their finished basement
so that it includes mats and equipment, which will make
therapy sessions more beneficial and comfortable for both
Mikaslyn and her therapists. They’d also like to landscape
the yard with paved walkways so that she can scoot around
outside in her walker instead of just sitting in a seat when
she collects her daily doses of Vitamin D.
 Their
biggest problem? You guessed it—money. At $150 per session,
the price tag for three weekly therapy sessions is steep,
especially since the Larson’s have already maxed out the
limit on their health insurance. Having a special-needs
child involves a lot of other expenses, including uninsured
medical costs, necessary modifications to their home and
yard, developmental tools and equipment that will help
accelerate her progress, etc.
What are the Larsons doing to come up
with all that money? One thing they’re not doing is asking
for a handout. Instead, Rick and Kristine developed
www.TheGrubClub.com in 2005. It’s a web site Rick created so
restaurants can post their menus online—at no cost. Not just
restaurants in Missoula either.
If you check out the web site, you’ll
find that restaurants all over the US and in other
countries, like The Grafton in Chicago, Illinois, or The
Spicy Tomato in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, or Zios
in Melbourne, Australia have posted their menus on Rick
Larson’s web site. Restaurant owners upload their menus and
location information and/or submit menus for printing in a
.PDF file.
 Going
on vacation? TheGrubClumb.com not only offers access to
information about local restaurants, it also provides a map
so you don’t get lost on your way! How about Chez Donald’s
in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada? Or The Classic Café in
downtown Providence, Rhode Island—just 20 minutes from where
I used to live in Massachusetts?
Rick is in the process of expanding the
services TheGrubClub.com makes available so that restaurants
will soon be able to post photos and patrons will be able to
write reviews.
If this web site provides services at
no charge, how are the Larsons making money? Well, right now
they’re not.
Although the web site’s traffic
increases every day, Rick is planning to sell advertising
space on the site when traffic reaches a certain level. He’s
been working on and improving the site for the past 2 years,
waiting for it to reach the point where it’s worthy of paid
advertising. When that happens, Rick, Kristine and Mikaslyn
will have the financial assistance they so desperately need.
 What
can you do to help? Increase the traffic to the web site by
visiting it yourself. Contact restaurants you know and
encourage them to register (free) on the web site and upload
their menus. Share this story with friends and relatives,
locally and out of state, asking them to do the same. The
web site details Mikaslyn’s story and shows photos of the
blue-eyed, blonde-haired little girl, so if you want to know
more about the web site’s background, be sure to visit
www.TheGrubClub.com.
Mikaslyn’s progress since the seizures
ended has been phenomenal. She attends pre-school at
Co-Teach here in Missoula and she’s advancing every day.
She’s sitting up on her own now. She doesn’t speak, but she
hums and sings and chats in her own special way—quite
nicely, I might add.
As I was preparing to leave the Larsons’
home, Rick carried Mikaslyn in his arms and they all walked
me to the door. She’s tall for her age, on the thin side,
and cute as a button with blonde hair and big blue eyes
behind her eyeglasses. As I took my leave, Mikaslyn, in her
father’s arms, hummed and chatted while playing with her
fingers. At the door, I said, “Bye bye, Mikaslyn.”
She looked up at me, made eye-contact,
and began chatting a bit louder, all with sounds beginning
with “B.” This from a child who didn’t make a sound for the
longest time, from a child who—it was once believed—wouldn’t
be able to talk.
I guess perfection is in the eye of the
beholder.
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