"No Pro" Outdoors: June 2012

Please enjoy a moving article by my friend Rob Heiden. The following story is receiving national attention with interest from the NCAA and ESPN.

A long summer and two incredible young men part 1 - by Rob Heiden

With the Prospect League baseball season just around the corner, and our season tickets now in hand. I thought I would reflect on last year’s incredible season.
For those who are not familiar with the Prospect League, it is made up of baseball players in their freshman thru junior years of Collage. There are 8 Teams in the East, and 8 Teams in the West. The Quincy Gems are in the West, and they are our hometown team. The Prospect league is a wood bat league, and the players are from colleges all over the country. They are some of the best players in college baseball.
Starting in 2008, Bryce and I have attended most every home game. My daughter Erin joined us in 2009, and we watched the Gems win the very first Prospect league championship that year. And both of my kids have had favorite players during the first couple of years. But, at the end of each year, they are disappointed that the players leave, not to be seen again. Bryce snagged 1 signed ball in 2009, and another in 2010, but not much player/fan involvement in the first couple of years.
Little did we know going into the 2011 season that things were going to be different. Like the previous years, Bryce wanted to get to the ball park early. Before each game he staked out a little spot next to the dugout, from there he could talk to and occasionally fist pound a random player. But, this only worked when we got to the ballpark about an hour before the game. The chance to interact was pretty much gone once game time got closer, more kids would show up and the players had a job to do. This went on for much of the early season, and the players gave Bryce the occasional baseball, and sometimes a fist pound.

Bryce and Jordan talking before a Gems game.

After about 10 to 15 home games, Bryce caught the eye of a junior pitcher from West Chester, Pa. his name was Jordan Lehman. Jordon started to talk to, play pranks on, and befriend Bryce. Little did Jordan know that Bryce had Type 1 diabetes, he was just showing a young baseball player/fan a good time. Then, one game while Bryce was in “his” spot, Jordan asked him a question, I was too far to hear what was asked. Bryce headed up to the stands, directly to me. He wanted to know if he could go on the field with Jordan. I looked at Jordan; he seemed to be up for it. So, Bryce went out on the field and warmed up with the team, although mostly Jordan. They played pitch and catch, and Bryce fielded some pop flies. As game time approached, Bryce headed off the field to ask me a second question. “Could he sit in the dugout during the game?” he asked. Not knowing how the coaches and players would react to a 7 year old in the dugout, I reluctantly said ok. Bryce headed for the dugout; it was now time for the National Anthem. Then it hit me. What was his blood numbers? How will I get him food? How will I get his insulin in him? Did he have insulin on board, and if he did how much? As, the national anthem started I noticed that Bryce was right in the middle of the lineup of college players, as if he was their teammate. It was one of my prouder moments of being a parent, seeing him out on that field.
I thought to myself that is was pretty neat that a college ball player would take the time to make a little 7 year old boy so happy. Bryce must have thought he was in the big leagues, although it’s hard to know how a 7 year old was thinking about the experience.

National Anthem time!

Once the pregame was over, the players headed to the dugout, Bryce was right behind them. All I could see was the top of his Gems hat as he sat in the dugout watching the game. Jordan, being a reliever headed to the bullpen bench to watch the game.
Around the end of the third inning, Bryce stood up on the dugout bench and looked out towards me, he looked sad or unhappy I couldn’t tell which. I motioned him to come out of the dugout and head up to me, in the stands. He headed out between innings and made his way up to my seat. He was hungry. So we checked his blood, got him some food, and shot him up with Insulin. He headed back to the field gate to rejoin “his teammates”. However, the girls keeping an eye on the gate didn’t know he was invited into the dugout. They wouldn’t let him back in. Bryce was pretty upset for the rest of the game, he wanted to go home!
The next night, we decided to head to Hannibal, Mo. To watch the Gems take on the Cavemen. Hannibal is less than 20 miles from Quincy, so we drove down to the road game. We entered the ballpark, and found our seats. We got there early, like we always do, so
Bryce headed to the Gems dugout. It seemed like several of the players remembered him, and they took turns talking to him and stealing his hat. Then, Jordan talked to Bryce, and here he come. He came to me to ask if he could sit in the dugout. I agreed, and since the dugout was more accessible, food and insulin weren’t a problem in Hannibal.

Hanging with the Gems in Hannibal, Mo.

After the National Anthem, were Bryce stood in formation as a Gems player, I noticed that he put a batting helmet on. Since the visitors bat first the first Gems batter went to the plate. After the first at bat, Bryce headed out to retrieve the bat; the Gems had made Bryce their bat boy for the evening. It was a pretty great site to watch him recover bats for his favorite ball team. The Gems went on to win in an 11 inning game, I got Bryce fed and shot up with insulin, and he didn’t miss a single chance to be bat boy.
Over the next few weeks Bryce spent every home game in the dugout with the team. He either warmed up with the team, before the game. Or, he helped Jordan drag the field on the golf cart. He had become part of the team, although he didn’t hit, pitch, or field. Several players made comments about Bryce being their lucky charm. Bryce and I even worked out a hand signal system for him to tell me what he needed (food, drink, felt low, etc.…). The gate girls figured out that he was supposed to be in the dugout, so he could come out and eat, then go back in. Gems were winning, I had a 7 year old who thought he was in the big leagues, and life was good. Or so we thought.

Part 2:
A long summer and two incredible young men- part 2

What I didn’t realize at the time, but learned the hard way was, we were wearing ourselves out. I would work all day, hurry home to get Bryce and Erin, and then rush to the ballpark. The kids were out of school, so their schedules were pretty much sleep till noon, eat lunch, and wait for me to get them for the game. They weren’t eating as much as they should, which meant they weren’t getting the insulin they should. They were skipping Breakfast, plus spending a lot of time in the summer heat at the ballpark.
This all caught up with us one Saturday morning with about a month left in the Gems season. Bryce woke up with a stomach ache. His blood numbers were in the 140’s so we didn’t worry about ketones. Within hours, he started vomiting, and was unable to keep anything down. After hours of fighting it, he just kept getting worse. We took him to the ER, and they started him on fluids and meds for the vomiting. The meds didn’t work, and he kept vomiting, so they did some blood work. His BG had been in the 120-140 range the whole day, but his blood looked dark, almost like BBQ sauce. They determined he was in DKA, the problem was they were unable to treat him. They told us that if we could get ahold of his Dr. and get an order to treat, that they would. Otherwise, they were going to have to airlift him to Springfield, IL or St. Louis, Mo.. We were unable to get ahold of his Dr.. So, we were left with an airlift, we decided St. Louis. My wife and I had talked many times in the years since Bryce’s diagnosis about transferring care to St. Louis, we just never had. But, now we were going to have to make some decisions.

This is what DKA looks like!

The ER Dr.’s consulted St. Louis Children’s Hospital, gave them Bryce’s vitals and blood gas readings. It was determined that Children’s Hospital would send an ambulance up to get Bryce. And, and insulin drip was started. I posted on my Facebook page about what was happening with Bryce. Wouldn’t you know it, the first one to respond to the post was Jordan. This was the first time he had an clue that Bryce was “different” or special. This impressed me, Jordan not only takes the time to interact with Bryce on the field, but he cares off the field about Bryce.
Bryce gradually got better over the following days, we took diabetes education classes. And, 3 days later we were headed back home. My wife and I felt really bad that we didn’t know what signs we were looking for that previous Saturday morning. And, I have beaten myself up over it many times since. However, I have come to the conclusion that our previous Dr. had not provided us with enough diabetes education. I will be posting more on the previous Dr. in future posts, especially Bryce’s diagnosis story. We have changed both of our kids over to St. Louis Children’s Hospital Diabetes Team, it is worth it to us to make 4 trips a year for real endocrinologists.
Almost 2 weeks after Bryce got out of the hospital, and regaining some strength and weight, we returned to the ballpark. Bryce went right back to field duty with Jordan and sitting in the dugout for the games. We then went to all of the remaining home games.

Bryce throwing the first pitch!

The Gems ended the year with the best record in the league, which meant they hosted the championship game; a one game winner takes all type of deal. Like always we got there early, and Bryce went right on the field. I remember telling him that this game might be different and that he may not get to be on the field. But, he went right out, right back to his team. Several minutes passes, and Jordan came to the fence, he motioned for me to come down. I went down to the fence where Jordan asked me if Bryce could throw out the first pitch. I was full of pride on the inside, and told Jordan that it was ok with me. Jordan invited me out on the field with Bryce for the first pitch. He threw a strike right to Jordan. I left the field, and Bryce joined the team for the National Anthem. He then climbed thru the railing and into his spot on the bench.

Jordan and Bryce after the Championship game.

The Gems won that game, and Bryce was on the field for their celebration. After the celebration died down a little and the fans were let on the field, my wife, Erin, and I joined Bryce. Jordan had one more surprise left for Bryce’s magical year, he gave Bryce a bat signed by every member of the championship team.
As I write this Jordan is finishing his college career at West Chester, they are headed to the playoffs. I don’t know if I will ever see him again, but I am grateful for everything he did for Bryce. Bryce is a more confident young man with a big heart and special needs, who is better today because of the attention given him by one college player and one special team.