Brantley super heros Gamer 5th grader
Bug enthusiast
three dogs & two love birds
biker
Courtney Sorensen had a perfectly normal pregnancy. When she and her husband, TJ, welcomed Brantley two weeks after her due date, they couldn’t wait to bring him home and introduce him to his older sister. But during his newborn screening with Scott Boyens, MD, their family’s primary care physician, Brantley failed his hearing test. “Dr. Boyens wanted to run some tests to ensure it wasn’t anything but fluid in his ear,” says Courtney. Three days later, Dr. Boyens called. Brantley tested positive for cytomegalovirus (CMV), which can cause hearing loss and developmental issues. And once someone is infected, the virus remains in their body for life. At just a few days old, Brantley needed to go back to the hospital. “It was terrifying,” says Courtney. “I was 20 years old. My husband had to stay home with our 1-year- old, so we couldn’t even be together. I felt like my world was falling apart.” But Brantley’s care team in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), led by neonatologist Suzanne Reuter, MD, didn’t let Courtney feel alone. “Dr. Reuter was phenomenal,” she says. “She was so cheery from the get-go and assured me we were going to figure out what to do.” During his NICU stay, the care team discovered that Brantley’s CMV viral load was low and the antiviral drug regimen they started was working. The Sorensens went home just a few days later. But because Brantley’s medication could negatively affect his blood, they brought him back to the Sanford Children’s Specialty Clinic every two weeks to meet with an infectious disease doctor for monitoring. “And that was the first nine months of his life,” Courtney says.
Flash forward ten years to today, and most people wouldn’t
signer ant farm parks trampoline
even realize Brantley experienced all of this at the beginning of his life. He plays soccer whenever he can, loves listening to Imagine Dragons and Ed Sheeran, and writes fiction stories in his spare time. And his cochlear implant is barely noticeable. Due to CMV, Brantley lost hearing in one ear. After using hearing aids for years, his family recently decided to move forward with getting him an implant. “We went back and forth, but in the end, it was a safety decision,” says Courtney. “He’s going to be
driving in the next few years, and I wanted him to be able to hear all around him.” Now, Brantley hardly recalls his frequent visits to the specialty clinic. His hearing screens with audiologist Shana Vaith, AuD, and
Patrick Munson, MD, a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist, happen once a year. He’s more focused on what’s happening on the soccer field – and his cochlear implant comes in handy for that. “There were times his coach was yelling at him on the sidelines, and he had no idea where the sound was coming from,” says Courtney with a laugh. Brantley dreams of being a professional soccer player when he grows up. And with an early assist from his team at Sanford Children’s, Brantley’s closer to scoring all his goals.
To help with her mobility, Avery has undergone a couple of surgeries the last few years and she regularly has physical therapy. But thanks to early interventions, the Hill family is in maintenance mode. “Dr. Bauer is completely thorough with all her care,” says Mindy. “And now that she’s 10, we can follow up on all those little steps we took early on and make sure that we’re still covering every single base.” For Mindy, Dr. Bauer’s ability to keep track of Avery’s complex health history is foundational to the trusting relationship they’ve built over the last decade. For Avery, it’s more about his personal qualities.
“He’s funny,” says Avery. “And you can talk to him about anything – not just doctor stuff.”
For a kid who has spent a lot of time thinking about doctor stuff, it’s nice when she can just be a kid. & a bunny (chester) Archery
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