124 | May• 2019
swellingfromthesurgery.Hebegan
tocry.Finally,theygotaneedle
intotheport.TPP1begantof low
throughanIVdrip.Connersettled
down,intermittentlynappingand
watchingmoviesduringthefour-
hourprocedure.
Twoweekslaterhediditagain.
Andagaintwoweeksafter that.
Nothingabout Conner’s health
seemedtoimprove.“Itwasfrustrat-
ingandhard,”Holliesaid.“Ihadto
tellmyselftokeepgoing.”Drdelos
Reyesexplainedthattheenzyme
couldtakea whiletohavean effect.
Or it might not work at all.
AteveryinfusionConnerwatched
TheLorax, themoviebasedonthe
belovedDrSeussstoryofthesame
name.“Unlesssomeonelikeyou
caresa wholeawfullot,”themain
charactersaysatonepoint,“noth-
ingisgoingtogetbetter.It’snot.”
InDrdelosReyes’sclinic,itwasa
familiarmantra.
Aroundhis fifth birthday, in
August2017,HolliewasreadingCon-
nerastory.Shepointedatvarious
objectsonthepages,namingthem
slowly.Themethodwassupposed
tohelpConnergainwords,butthat
hadn’thappenedinalmosttwoyears.
Hollieplacedherfingerona star
andnamedit.Shewasabouttomove
onwhen Connerraisedhisright
handandplacedhisindexfingeron
thepage.Therewasalong pause.
ThenConnerspoke.
“Star,” he repeated.I
NOCTOBER 2017 I visitedthe
Beishes’homeina quietresiden-
tialneighbourhood.HollieandI
hadmetoncebefore,ataninfusion
appointmentinColumbus,rightafter
Connerstartedsayingwordsagain.
Wesettledontoa sofaintheliving
room.Joy,theyellowlabrador,lay
acrossmylap.Connerwasonthe
f loorplaying.Atonepoint,hehoist-
edhimselfuptostrokeJoy,making
eyecontactwithme.Hewasmore
responsive,moreinteractive,and
moredeliberatethanI remembered.
In the coming weeks, ConnerConner,withJaxon,in
September2018.Hewasn’table
to stand the year before