Angels in rehab give Devin wings to fly

By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org

Devin Holland has a story for every one of his scars. Maybe it was a shark attack, a wrestling match with a tiger or an alligator encounter.

Regardless, Devin comes out the victor, just as he is determined to do as he confronts another health battle.

The Center Grove teenager’s many scars actually stem from surgeries performed on his head, his eyes and other areas to first remove mixed germ cell brain cancer, then implant shunts on both sides of his brain to drain fluid, and put in a port to receive chemotherapy.

The eye surgeries came a bit later after his eyeballs began to shrink and sink back in their sockets, presenting the danger of blindness.

It’s been almost six years since Devin first began fighting cancer as a middle-schooler. He was declared cancer-free in October of 2020 but has dealt with the aftermath of the disease and its treatments ever since, including a fall he suffered at home last month, which landed him back at Riley Hospital for Children for emergency brain surgery and another stint in the hospital’s inpatient rehab unit.

That’s where we found him last week, sporting orange sunglasses to protect his eyes from the bright light in the therapy gym while he worked with physical therapist Lindsay Schaefer on balance and coordination.

“He’s getting better every day,” Schaefer said, as she supported Devin, now 18, while he used a cylinder to simulate rowing a boat.

The two joined their voices to sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” Devin a little haltingly but no less joyfully.

“Devin is a jokester,” the therapist said, and “king of the air quotes.”

That tracks, according to his parents, Tyler and Heather Holland, who say their eldest child has always loved watching funny shows and playing practical jokes.

“That’s one thing that hasn’t changed,” Tyler said as his son rested in his room on the rehab wing between therapy sessions.

Therapy on the inpatient unit can be intense – multiple sessions per day of physical, occupational, recreational, speech and music therapy – designed to give patients the best shot at returning home with the strength and skills to live their best life.

Devin did it once before, after his first inpatient stay following neurosurgery in 2020. He’s here again after another emergency surgery to relieve swelling in his brain following the head injury he suffered when he fell on the stairs at home.

“This could have been fatal,” Heather said. “Because Devin has left and right shunts for hydrocephalus, any head injury could be fatal. When he fell, we truly thought that was the moment we’d lose our boy.”

Devin was nonverbal for four days, and he’d gotten much weaker, yet his recovery has been nothing short of miraculous, she believes.

She gives God the credit for her son’s healing, but much of that is due to the “angels” he has working here on Earth, she said.

The doctors, of course. The therapy team, for sure. And the nurses – one in particular.

“Nurse Karl was Devin’s nurse on nights after his cancer diagnosis in 2020,” she said. “He would sometimes come in before his shift when Devin was having chemo and play his guitar. We’ve been taken care of really well by many of the staff, but nurse Karl is like the MVP.”

Little did they know that Karl Myers would be back in their lives five years later. Now a night-shift nurse on the rehab unit, he reached out immediately when he learned that Devin would be admitted back to rehab.

“He sat with us and just took the heaviness off our hearts,” Heather said. “Knowing that Karl is there helps us sleep. He’s like an angel by his side.”

The stars certainly aligned to bring “nurse Karl” back into their lives, she said. “It was so comforting.”

It takes a team of people with critical skills and compassion to support patients during their time in rehab, and that’s what occupational therapist Sheronda Moore was doing Friday as she worked with Devin in the afternoon.

“We are working on hand strengthening and fine-motor coordination,” she said, as well as neuromuscular re-education, basically getting his right arm to re-incorporate itself into his everyday activities.

They do that by playing games, using both sides of the body.

“We get to incorporate some of the activities of daily living, but I love that it’s in the context of play,” said Moore, who is new to pediatric rehab therapy, having spent 12 years working with adults.

“What I like about peds is these kids are so resilient,” she said, adding that she has to keep resetting goals as her patients achieve more than she expected.

“I’m constantly learning from all the things they do. They keep me on my toes.”

Also working with Devin on Friday was Jaye Hajduk, therapeutic recreation specialist. The two were doing more mental than physical gymnastics during this session, as Hajduk quizzed Devin on what jobs he might be interested in and how to balance his day, incorporating rest, work and play.

Devin, who graduated from Center Grove High School this year, might benefit from vocational rehab in the short term, she suggested, as he continues his recovery.

All of the therapists do a good job in challenging Devin, his dad said, pushing him a little harder when he thinks he can’t do something.

“They take a lot of care with the kids, but it’s good to have somebody who’s not afraid to say, ‘Come on, you can do this.’”

As Devin finished PT and headed back to his room Friday, he offered his signature fist bump before moving quickly down the hall. “Have a good day,” he said with a smile.

Devin, who has two dogs and two younger siblings waiting for him at home, was discharged from the Riley inpatient rehab unit Tuesday and had one thing on his mind when they left, his mom said: stopping at McDonald’s for French fries and a chocolate shake.

His recovery will continue at home, but Heather said he’s already come so far.

“I like to say that Devin knows he can do all things through Christ, who gives him strength, while he also walks by faith and not by sight a lot of the time. It is truly miraculous how far he’s come in such a short time. We have so much to be grateful for.”

Photos submitted and by Mike Dickbernd, IU Health visual journalist, mdickbernd@iuhealth.org