May 18, 2023
patient story
Jeane Minor
everyone agrees - Jeane is extraordinary!
patient name: Jeane Minor
age: 16
condition: Hearing Loss; Grand Mal Seizure; Vision Loss
Jeane Minor is both a typical 16-year-old and an extraordinary one.
Jeane loves Dewey’s Pizza and going to Dayton Dragon’s baseball games where her dad, Paul, worked for many years. She’s an avid gamer and is passionate about Dungeons & Dragons.
Jeane also is an old soul. She loves books and studies Mandarin Chinese for fun. Her family has been through a lot together, and Jeane lives each moment to its fullest – filled with gratitude for each day. Not many teenagers would feel comfortable talking about how much they love their parents – but again, Jeane is extraordinary.
As a newborn, Jeane failed her infant hearing test. That launched the Minor family into a lifelong relationship with Dayton Children’s. Jeane began working with the pediatric audiology team right away. “I was definitely aware that I was different from other kids in that my first language was sign language.”
Her mom, Jessica, was also born with hearing loss and is an American Sign Language (ASL) professor, so the whole family readily embraced their new normal. In fact, Jeane spoke only sign language until she was about 5 years old.
When her little sister, Joy, was born with Down syndrome in 2012, Dayton Children’s truly became the family’s second home. Children with Down syndrome often have related medical conditions and struggle with illnesses. Little Joy was admitted to the hospital often, and the Minors became frequent flyers in the hospital’s emergency department.
“Dayton Children’s has become our second home,” says Jessica. “We don’t have to travel far to make sure our kids have the very best care, as often as they need it. The specialists here are our family - together we’ve laughed, cried and celebrated every achievement. The nurses and doctors support us, reassure us and encourage us, every step of the way.”
Joy has apraxia of speech, a disorder that causes difficulty with words, and big sister Jeane helped her parents teach her ASL so she can communicate with her family and friends. The two siblings are best friends; Jeane is her biggest helper and protector.
When Jeane was in 4th grade, suddenly she was the one who needed all the support her family could provide. Jeane suffered a grand mal seizure and was rushed to Dayton Children’s.
A grand mal seizure involves a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions. It can have many causes and is often the only seizure a person may ever have.
She was released from the hospital after being monitored for two days, but it wasn’t long before another crisis struck. Two weeks after the seizure, Jeane began developing eye pain and her vision started changing.
“At first, I lost my color vision, then I lost my vision-vision. Then I went completely blind."
The seizure had affected Jeane's optic nerves. It was a frightening experience for her and her parents.
After a week, her vision started to return, although she was left with some color vision loss. Jeane, extraordinarily, bounced back to the optimistic, funny, caring kid she always was – full of appreciation for her family, her medical team, and a community that helped her get through the experience.
“Ever since I was little, my doctors at Dayton Children’s have explained things to me in a way I could understand, and helped me get through things,” she says. “Not everyone has the luxury of having a great children’s hospital nearby. I just really appreciate everyone who donates to Dayton Children’s to make sure it can always be here for kids like me and my little sister.”
Over the last year, Jeane decided to give back to the hospital she loves by becoming a patient ambassador and spreading the word about all the great things Dayton Children’s does for kids in our community. “It feels amazing to know that the people at Dayton Children’s have my back no matter what me, my sister or my friends go through.”
