Riley Radio Days Features Stories Of The Littlest Angels
March 20, 2019 at 4:49 p.m.
Riley Radio Days Features Stories Of The Littlest Angels
By David [email protected]
He wasn’t expected to live to see it.
His story is one of a dozen listeners will hear during the eighth annual Riley Radio Days from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday on WRSW 107.3.
Cassiel’s mom, Britney Slone, and grandmother, Tammy Slone, shared their little angel’s story Monday before recording it at WRSW for the two-day event.
“People ask us where we came up with his name. Where did we get Cassiel?” Tammy said.
Britney answered, “We were sitting at the dinner table one night and we pulled up angels’ names. Cassiel is actually an archangel. Before we knew he was going to be the angel he is, we gave him that name and he has stood strong to that name since the day we named him.”
Tammy said archangels are warriors and fighters. Cassiel’s fight began even before he was born on March 23, 2018.
“We found through an ultrasound that there was something wrong with Cassiel. Basically, we found out he had spina bifida and hydrocephalus,” Britney said.
Hydrocephalus is water on the brain, and spina bifida is a birth defect in which a developing baby’s spinal cord fails to develop properly.
“We see a bunch of specialists and, basically, from what we found out, he would have probably had a very normal life other than his disability, which would have been walking because usually everybody born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus overcome it in ways but they just have to learn how to make things work as far as mobility,” Britney said.
Tammy said Cassiel’s legs had feeling in them down to his knee caps. He would have walked with braces.
“They did a back repair right when he was born at Riley’s – he was born at the Methodist Hospital (which was really close to Riley’s but a Riley’s Care Team was there). Within two to five hours after he was born, he was taken over to Riley’s NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) right away. At 12 hours old they did a shunt placement to drain the hydrocephalus and they did a back repair to fix his (spina bifida),” Britney explained.
After that repair, he was at Riley for two weeks. He then moved from NICU to the regular floor. Tammy said they thought that was a blessing because they believed he’d be in NICU for much longer.
“It was almost like we were bringing home a normal newborn baby other than the paralyzation from the kneecaps down,” Britney said.
One day they noticed something was off with Cassiel’s crying. They took the 2-month-old to the local emergency room to make sure everything was fine with his shunt. Tests found his white blood cell count was “pretty high,” Britney said. The hospital called Riley, which said to bring Cassiel to Indianapolis right away.
Doctors put a needle in Cassiel’s shunt to take fluid out to run labs. They learned Cassiel had an infection on his brain and needed immediate surgery.
“We didn’t know what it was,” Britney said, but they knew it was serious.
Cassiel was rushed to surgery, where doctors took out his shunt. They knew it was infected but not what it was infected by, Britney said.
After testing came back, doctors learned the infection was E. coli meningitis.
Cassiel experienced “more seizures than they could count,” Britney said, including 37 in one day. Each seizure did some kind of brain damage to Cassiel, and he had four mini-strokes inside of his brain.
He was put in a medically induced coma for three weeks.
“They said that was the only way they were going to be able to get control of the seizures,” Tammy said.
Riley threw everything they could at him, but Cassiel’s seizures continued. Machines kept him alive while doctors tried to cure the meningitis and stop the seizures. They didn’t know why Cassiel’s body wasn’t responding to the medicine.
When they thought the meningitis was cured, the seizures still didn’t stop. Cassiel’s coma was induced even deeper to shut down his brain to the lowest point they could to try to get the seizures under control. He began having fewer seizures, and Riley worked on figuring out his medication and doses.
One day the nurse came in and Tammy could tell something was wrong. Cassiel was scheduled for an MRI, but Tammy said the staff was “acting different” but didn’t say anything other than they had to “travel.” Travel at Riley means packing everything up and moving to another part of the hospital.
At that point, Britney got a call saying Cassiel’s brain had stopped working. “He was pretty much brain dead,” Tammy said, fighting back tears. It was just a matter of time before Cassiel’s heart caught up to his brain and would stop.
The family sat there all night, devastated. They talked about what they’d do next, even planning Cassiel’s funeral. Riley kept Cassiel hooked up to the EEG, a test used to find problems related to electrical activity of the brain.
“The next morning, we’re all – me, Britney and my son – were there and they come in and they flipped the EEG on. And there’s brain waves. They didn’t expect it. There were no brain waves the night before. The doctor even said at that point, ‘We don’t have an explanation. We didn’t do this.’ Of course, we knew who had it. We’re like, he’s a fighter. He doesn’t want to quit,” Tammy said.
After everything he went through – the seizures, strokes, E. coli meningitis, etc. – Cassiel was left with severe brain damage and “a whole list of specialties from his head to his toes,” Britney said. He doesn’t move much, but he still smiles when he looks at a person.
“He’s there. You can see him. He’s full of life. We know he’s there. He looks and responds to our voices,” Britney said.
Tammy said every day is a battle as his health is declining and is more oxygen-dependent now.
“But he’s still here,” she said.
Despite Cassiel’s ongoing health issues, Britney said their experience with Riley was “amazing.”
“They became family,” Tammy said. “The care was there, and he’s their baby.”
Doctors would come in to specifically see Cassiel, and nurses always asked how he was doing.
“They leave with their jobs. They think about it all the time. We’ve had so many nurses just stop us in the hall and say hi on our outpatient visits because that’s just how friendly and that’s how involved with the families they are. They were just amazing. If it wasn’t for them, my baby wouldn’t be here today,” Britney said.
Tammy said they’re going to have a celebration of life for Cassiel this weekend for his 1st birthday.
Britney said, “He’s the most difficult thing in my life but I wouldn’t trade it for the world because of how much I love him and how much everyone else loves him. He has changed so many lives.”
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He wasn’t expected to live to see it.
His story is one of a dozen listeners will hear during the eighth annual Riley Radio Days from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday on WRSW 107.3.
Cassiel’s mom, Britney Slone, and grandmother, Tammy Slone, shared their little angel’s story Monday before recording it at WRSW for the two-day event.
“People ask us where we came up with his name. Where did we get Cassiel?” Tammy said.
Britney answered, “We were sitting at the dinner table one night and we pulled up angels’ names. Cassiel is actually an archangel. Before we knew he was going to be the angel he is, we gave him that name and he has stood strong to that name since the day we named him.”
Tammy said archangels are warriors and fighters. Cassiel’s fight began even before he was born on March 23, 2018.
“We found through an ultrasound that there was something wrong with Cassiel. Basically, we found out he had spina bifida and hydrocephalus,” Britney said.
Hydrocephalus is water on the brain, and spina bifida is a birth defect in which a developing baby’s spinal cord fails to develop properly.
“We see a bunch of specialists and, basically, from what we found out, he would have probably had a very normal life other than his disability, which would have been walking because usually everybody born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus overcome it in ways but they just have to learn how to make things work as far as mobility,” Britney said.
Tammy said Cassiel’s legs had feeling in them down to his knee caps. He would have walked with braces.
“They did a back repair right when he was born at Riley’s – he was born at the Methodist Hospital (which was really close to Riley’s but a Riley’s Care Team was there). Within two to five hours after he was born, he was taken over to Riley’s NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) right away. At 12 hours old they did a shunt placement to drain the hydrocephalus and they did a back repair to fix his (spina bifida),” Britney explained.
After that repair, he was at Riley for two weeks. He then moved from NICU to the regular floor. Tammy said they thought that was a blessing because they believed he’d be in NICU for much longer.
“It was almost like we were bringing home a normal newborn baby other than the paralyzation from the kneecaps down,” Britney said.
One day they noticed something was off with Cassiel’s crying. They took the 2-month-old to the local emergency room to make sure everything was fine with his shunt. Tests found his white blood cell count was “pretty high,” Britney said. The hospital called Riley, which said to bring Cassiel to Indianapolis right away.
Doctors put a needle in Cassiel’s shunt to take fluid out to run labs. They learned Cassiel had an infection on his brain and needed immediate surgery.
“We didn’t know what it was,” Britney said, but they knew it was serious.
Cassiel was rushed to surgery, where doctors took out his shunt. They knew it was infected but not what it was infected by, Britney said.
After testing came back, doctors learned the infection was E. coli meningitis.
Cassiel experienced “more seizures than they could count,” Britney said, including 37 in one day. Each seizure did some kind of brain damage to Cassiel, and he had four mini-strokes inside of his brain.
He was put in a medically induced coma for three weeks.
“They said that was the only way they were going to be able to get control of the seizures,” Tammy said.
Riley threw everything they could at him, but Cassiel’s seizures continued. Machines kept him alive while doctors tried to cure the meningitis and stop the seizures. They didn’t know why Cassiel’s body wasn’t responding to the medicine.
When they thought the meningitis was cured, the seizures still didn’t stop. Cassiel’s coma was induced even deeper to shut down his brain to the lowest point they could to try to get the seizures under control. He began having fewer seizures, and Riley worked on figuring out his medication and doses.
One day the nurse came in and Tammy could tell something was wrong. Cassiel was scheduled for an MRI, but Tammy said the staff was “acting different” but didn’t say anything other than they had to “travel.” Travel at Riley means packing everything up and moving to another part of the hospital.
At that point, Britney got a call saying Cassiel’s brain had stopped working. “He was pretty much brain dead,” Tammy said, fighting back tears. It was just a matter of time before Cassiel’s heart caught up to his brain and would stop.
The family sat there all night, devastated. They talked about what they’d do next, even planning Cassiel’s funeral. Riley kept Cassiel hooked up to the EEG, a test used to find problems related to electrical activity of the brain.
“The next morning, we’re all – me, Britney and my son – were there and they come in and they flipped the EEG on. And there’s brain waves. They didn’t expect it. There were no brain waves the night before. The doctor even said at that point, ‘We don’t have an explanation. We didn’t do this.’ Of course, we knew who had it. We’re like, he’s a fighter. He doesn’t want to quit,” Tammy said.
After everything he went through – the seizures, strokes, E. coli meningitis, etc. – Cassiel was left with severe brain damage and “a whole list of specialties from his head to his toes,” Britney said. He doesn’t move much, but he still smiles when he looks at a person.
“He’s there. You can see him. He’s full of life. We know he’s there. He looks and responds to our voices,” Britney said.
Tammy said every day is a battle as his health is declining and is more oxygen-dependent now.
“But he’s still here,” she said.
Despite Cassiel’s ongoing health issues, Britney said their experience with Riley was “amazing.”
“They became family,” Tammy said. “The care was there, and he’s their baby.”
Doctors would come in to specifically see Cassiel, and nurses always asked how he was doing.
“They leave with their jobs. They think about it all the time. We’ve had so many nurses just stop us in the hall and say hi on our outpatient visits because that’s just how friendly and that’s how involved with the families they are. They were just amazing. If it wasn’t for them, my baby wouldn’t be here today,” Britney said.
Tammy said they’re going to have a celebration of life for Cassiel this weekend for his 1st birthday.
Britney said, “He’s the most difficult thing in my life but I wouldn’t trade it for the world because of how much I love him and how much everyone else loves him. He has changed so many lives.”
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