Lucas DeRosier

Lucas DeRosier, age 8, became sick while on vacation with his family in Big Sky, MT. What started out as simple flu like symptoms quickly turned into something no one ever expected. After a few days of the flu like symptoms his parents took him to the Urgent Care/ER in Big Sky where they gave him an IV of fluids and sent him on his way. The family immediately left for home in Mandan, ND where they hoped to see improvement. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Lucas’ symptoms continued to worsen. He became more unresponsive and lacked strength in his left side. Matt and Kim took him to his regular pediatrician who immediately sent them to the ER, where he had a CT scan taken. The doctor told them the results, words no parents ever want to hear, “Your son has an abscess on his brain and we need to airlift him to the Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery.” Shortly after they received the news, Matt and Lucas were on a plane heading to Minneapolis. Upon arrival, Lucas was taken immediately into surgery where they placed a catheter in his 3rd ventricle to drain and relieve the pressure on his brain.

Since Friday night’s surgery, Lucas has been in the Pediatric ICU at the Children’s Hospital. The doctors are confident that it was an infection that went to his brain that caused the abscess and the subsequent swelling in the brain. The doctors are working hard to find the right dose of antibiotics and pain meds to help Lucas be comfortable and allow his body to fight the infection. We are all praying that we will see the abscess and swelling go down quickly! However, we understand that it may be a long healing journey for Lucas.  Lucas will remain in ICU until they are able to remove the drainage tube in his brain and then he will be moved to a regular room for continued healing and therapy.  The doctors have said the healing process could takes weeks to months.  Lucas had a PICC line put in his arm which will not only provide the medicine he needs while he is in the hospital but also for continued treatment once he returns home.

Lucas is a tough little guy, who has been through a lot in his short life, more than any little boy should endure. A few years ago, Lucas had a similar, but less severe, infection which set in his bones. He is receiving the best medical care with the pediatric experts at the Children’s Hospital and he has fabulous parents who will stop at nothing to help their son regain his health. Their unwavering faith is and will continue to be what gets them through. As my sister put it beautifully tonight, God is the Ultimate Physician.

Matt and Kim would ask for all of your continued prayers, as that is by far the best support you can give. As Kim’s sister, I would also ask for you to pray about financially supporting them as well. Surely, the medical bills will abound and the travel expenses will rack up as well in the next few weeks. We serve a mighty God who is ever present in times of trouble and blesses us with family and friends who support us during life’s trials. Thank you for being that for Kim and Matt.

Serving Him,

Allie Hein (Kim’s Sister)