Story of aid recipient

Our grandson, Roman Rhett Todd, was born Feb. 29, 2016, at only 24 weeks’ gestation. He was in the neonatal ICU for the first six months of his life and has been hospitalized four times since. Earlier this month he was having severe breathing troubles and his parents took him to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. While he was there the doctors did a follow- up CAT scan to check on the shunt in his head for severe brain bleeds. They found it had malfunctioned and he was rushed into operation. Afterward his breathing got much worse and his status declined rapidly. He nearly died. He was in the hospital for two weeks recovering.

Roman is severely developmentally delayed. Sixteen months have gone by since he was born and he is still physically and mentally like a newborn. He can’t sit up on his own, he can’t even hold his head up straight for more than a few seconds. He doesn’t crawl or even have the ability to roll from his stomach to his back. Though disabled, Roman is the happiest little boy; he wins over the hearts of all around him in moments.

Because of Medicaid, Roman is still alive and thriving. He receives physical, occupational, and speech therapies from a Medicaid-funded program for disabled children in Cabot.

Roman’s father works for a WalMart distribution center out of Searcy. Roman’s mother is a stay-at-home mom taking care of Roman and taking him to doctor appointments.

My wife Andrea and I have Roman over on the weekends and sometimes during the week to give our daughter some rest. Roman is the love of our lives. He is sweet and loves to be held and even kisses back when kissed. Roman’s laughter is contagious when you tickle him.

Even with Medicaid, Andrea and I help our daughter and son-in-law pay for medication and medical supplies as Medicaid only provides a limited amount each month. This $800 billion cut and caps on Medicaid will send our family into bankruptcy and possibly Roman’s death. PATRICK GRAY

Lonoke