- 1
- 2
- next
- | single page
SOUTH BEND – Parenting is not for the faint of heart: It's stressful, heartbreaking, and time consuming. But imagine if your child needed constant medical care to survive -- 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It would be nearly impossible to go to the grocery store, to the movies or on vacation.
A specialty hospital called A Rosie Place, is the first of its kind in Indiana and offers a vacation for the medically fragile child and some much needed time off for the rest of the family.
Jeremy Kredlo is like most grandparents. He loves spending time with his granddaughter Kylee. But Kredlo is also raising Kylee.
"Basically, I have two full-time jobs. During the day, I am an IT project manager and in the evenings, I'm a nurse," says Kredlo.
Kylee is medically fragile. The 4-year-old suffered a brain injury at birth and now needs medical equipment and 24/7 care to survive. She is blind. She can't eat food by mouth, and her hypothalamus is damaged which means she can't regulate her body temperature.
"As far as how I deal with it, it is a matter of giving her the best quality of life that I can at any given time, making sure that I always treat her as if she has the ability to do anything," says Kredlo.
But that also means Kredlo rarely gets a break. And even spending time with his 17-year-old daughter is tough because all of his attention has to be focused on Kylee when he is home. That's why A Rosie Place in South Bend is such a blessing.
"So, we are licensed as a hospital, but the really cool part about it is we really don't function as a hospital. We really function as a house," says Tiel Bishop, the executive director of the O'Hana Heritage Foundation, Inc. which raises money for A Rosie Place.
A Rosie Place gives families and parents of medically fragile children a break. Parents can leave their medically fragile children at the center knowing they are being taken care of by trained staff. And the kids get to participate in activities and be around other children.
"A Rosie Place really helps give parents an opportunity to take a step back for a couple of days," says Kredlo, "release some stress and just refocus, revitalize and recharge and come back refreshed which is much better for them and much better for their children."
While Kylee has spent time at A Rosie Place, Kredlo has taken his daughter on vacation and on college visits. And Kylee has enjoyed her time at A Rosie Place.
