Declan Hercules & Keevah Nyx House: Three down, nine to go

Burdened by my namesake, I have 12 labors to conquer during my life’s journey.

I accomplished my first labor by surviving a harrowing birth and entering the world 11 weeks premature in a surprisingly healthy state (see here). I conquered my second labor 3-months later when I had grown strong enough to leave the intensive care unit that had been my only home and travel to Mount Olympus where Daddy and Mama live (see here).

It has been 19 months since I accomplished my second labor, and during that time, I have experienced some amazing things. Daddy and Mama have taken me to New York City, Chicago, Hawaii, and Paris. Yet none of these adventures earned me another labor. Each real labor requires extraordinary effort, courage, skill, and persistence.

In ancient times, the first two Herculean labors—killing the Nemean Lion and killing the Lernean Hydra—were intense struggles for survival. The intensity of those labors mirrored my fight in the womb as well as my fight in the intensive care unit. My third labor was appropriately parallel to the 3^rd ancient labor, which required the 1-year persistence hunt of the Golden Horned Hind of Ceryneia. To capture the Hind, Hercules did not rely on his god-like strength or his formidable courage; rather, it was his unending tenacity that ultimately won the day.

I was born before my digestive system fully developed; furthermore, my stomach had slipped through my diaphragm, and as such it was compressed each time I took a deep breath. Those ailments meant that I started life with a terrible condition that caused stomach acids to be injected into my throat while I ate. That constant chest pain made eating excruciating, and as such, I was fitted with a tube that put food directly into my stomach so that I could get the nutrition that I needed while we worked to fix my stomach and throat.

To correct my anatomy, mama and daddy did drastic things. I had a surgery to place my feeding tube; I had a surgery to tighten my lower esophageal sphincter; and I had a surgery to relocate my stomach to my abdomen as well as to fix the diaphragmatic hernia that enabled my stomach to move into my chest. These surgeries—and the associated recovery times—took nearly 9 months. So, around October of last year, the mechanical errors in my anatomy had—at long last—been fixed.

But, during that time, I had grown accustomed to getting most of my nutrition through my tube. So, now I had to learn to eat on my own. To be immodest—which is rare for me—I took to eating on my own damn fast! By the end of October, just about 1 month from having fully recovered from my surgeries, I was eating 100% of my calories by mouth. I told Mama and Daddy that we should remove the feeding tube in my stomach because I was eating so well.

But, Mama and Daddy were more cautious than me. They were worried that I while I was eating all of my calories by mouth, most of those calories were coming from special formula. I was not yet skilled at eating meats, bread, cheeses, etc. So, they decided that I would keep the tube in my stomach until I was able to eat a well-balanced diet of solid food.

That was a challenge that I accepted. I worked hard every day to learn how to chew, how to bite, and how to swallow. During my trials, I had help from two incredible people. Heather Keeton—my nanny—and Anne Giosso—my feeding therapist. These two amazing ladies were there for me every day. Their dedication inspired me, and I could not have triumphed without them.

I became familiar with a cornucopia of delightful dishes including pasta, steak, guacamole, crackers, soup, yogurt, chicken, bread, butter, vegetables, fruit, and so on. By the middle of February, I was eating anything that anyone put in front of me. I told Mama and Daddy, “ok, now let’s take out this tube.” But, being overly cautious, they decided to wait a little longer to make sure that I would continue to grow while eating all on my own.

By mid-April, it was time. I had grown consistently for the past 6 months while eating entirely on my own, and I had developed a wide and inclusive palate. So, on Sunday, April 14, Mama and Daddy decided that I had conquered my 3^rd labor. As the Hercules of antiquity had patiently tracked the Hine for over a year, I had conquered my feeding tube through dogged persistence and dedication.

I now have 9 more labors to complete.