Brenden's plight

"I told you not to do that," Ryen says as Brenden takes one of her toys and starts to play with it. Her voice whines with the impatience of a 7-year-old sibling who was growing tired of playing with her baby brother.

"The other family who has a son like Brenden told us that they had to appeal to their insurance carrier three times before they finally agreed to the surgery," April says.

Rob takes a piece of the puzzle Brenden offered him and scoops him into his arms. "I don't want to bad-mouth our insurance company, but they need to understand that time is critical for him," the young father says.