R2-BA (Artoo Beeyay)
Donation protected
I'm Jason. Jason M. Weaver if you need the whole name. I'm married to a wonderful woman, Beth, with three incredibly beautiful children. 2 daughters, Kara and Maycen, and my inspiration for this project, my son, Denim.
Denim was born in April of 2009. He seemed perfectly fine at birth, but for his first three weeks, he always seemed to have a heavy cough. We took him to the hospital when he was about 3 weeks old for some tests, and one of his x-rays showed a cloud. The cough cleared up, and we never found out what was causing it, but the cloudy x-ray, with still no explanation, brought a more serious problem to a doctor's attention. My son was born without a gall bladder (not so important), or the bile ducts from the liver to the intestines(VERY important). He was born with a rare liver disease called Biliary Atresia. When he was a month old, he had a major surgery called a Kasai Procedure to connect his liver directly to his large intestine. The procedure is very rare, and only works about a third of the time. It worked with my son.
Denim is doing incredibly well at 5 years. You'd never know that anything was wrong with him. But things can change very quickly with this, and he will most likely need a liver transplant by the time he's 30. Most kids with Biliary Atresia, or B.A. Babies, don't do as well as Denim.
A few years ago, became friends with someone on Facebook going by the name Artoo Katee. R2-KT is an R2 unit droid built by a member of the R2 Builders Club, in memory of a little girl, Katie Johnson, who died of cancer several years ago. Her father, the builder/owner of R2-KT, takes the droid around the country to different conventions and charity events, teaching about cancer. Please check out Artoo Katee's homepage, www.r2kt.com.
Being inspired by Artoo Katee, I decided I'm going to build my own R2 Unit droid, dedicated to my son, and the many other children suffering from Biliary Atresia and other pediatric liver diseases. I know it will take a lot of time, several years probably, but I think it will be worth it.
I discovered the R2 Builders club through Katee's homepage. Through them I am getting plans and meeting people who can help me with this.
I was debating whether to call my Droid R2-DW, for Denim Wayne, with a blue color scheme, or R2-BA, for obvious reasons. I settled on R2-BA, because, this isn't just for my son. The color scheme will be yellow and green, representing pediatric liver disease, and organ donation respectively. The familiar, or nickname of my Droid will be Bili
I'm asking for about $7,500 to start my project. This will help purchase materials, and have some of the metal work done by local shops. Anything that is raised over the amount to build Bili, will be used for maintenance/upkeep/updates, transportation, and informative materials about pediatric liver disease. Bili will not only be taken to conventions and charity events, but possibly hospitals and other medical facilities, schools, and different fairs/festivals.
Anyone who contributes will have their name (or the name of their business, or a loved one) on a list permanently kept within Bili (possibly etched in the metal, or on a plaque), and also listed on the "Journey to Bili" blog page at http://r2-ba.blogspot.com . You will also be sent updates on the progress, and will be sent information on all appearances. Also at $10 or more, a professionally taken photo of the finished droid,
So please, help contribute to a cause that is both fun, and educational. Pediatric Liver Disease, and specifically Biliary Atresia, are not really given much attention, and this will help spread the word. Donate, and help convince others to contribute!
Thanks!
Jason M. "DreamTripper" Weaver
- See more at: http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/r2-ba-artoo-beeyay#sthash.bya50mcv.dpuf - See more at: http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/r2-ba-artoo-beeyay#sthash.bya50mcv.dpuf
Denim was born in April of 2009. He seemed perfectly fine at birth, but for his first three weeks, he always seemed to have a heavy cough. We took him to the hospital when he was about 3 weeks old for some tests, and one of his x-rays showed a cloud. The cough cleared up, and we never found out what was causing it, but the cloudy x-ray, with still no explanation, brought a more serious problem to a doctor's attention. My son was born without a gall bladder (not so important), or the bile ducts from the liver to the intestines(VERY important). He was born with a rare liver disease called Biliary Atresia. When he was a month old, he had a major surgery called a Kasai Procedure to connect his liver directly to his large intestine. The procedure is very rare, and only works about a third of the time. It worked with my son.
Denim is doing incredibly well at 5 years. You'd never know that anything was wrong with him. But things can change very quickly with this, and he will most likely need a liver transplant by the time he's 30. Most kids with Biliary Atresia, or B.A. Babies, don't do as well as Denim.
A few years ago, became friends with someone on Facebook going by the name Artoo Katee. R2-KT is an R2 unit droid built by a member of the R2 Builders Club, in memory of a little girl, Katie Johnson, who died of cancer several years ago. Her father, the builder/owner of R2-KT, takes the droid around the country to different conventions and charity events, teaching about cancer. Please check out Artoo Katee's homepage, www.r2kt.com.
Being inspired by Artoo Katee, I decided I'm going to build my own R2 Unit droid, dedicated to my son, and the many other children suffering from Biliary Atresia and other pediatric liver diseases. I know it will take a lot of time, several years probably, but I think it will be worth it.
I discovered the R2 Builders club through Katee's homepage. Through them I am getting plans and meeting people who can help me with this.
I was debating whether to call my Droid R2-DW, for Denim Wayne, with a blue color scheme, or R2-BA, for obvious reasons. I settled on R2-BA, because, this isn't just for my son. The color scheme will be yellow and green, representing pediatric liver disease, and organ donation respectively. The familiar, or nickname of my Droid will be Bili
I'm asking for about $7,500 to start my project. This will help purchase materials, and have some of the metal work done by local shops. Anything that is raised over the amount to build Bili, will be used for maintenance/upkeep/updates, transportation, and informative materials about pediatric liver disease. Bili will not only be taken to conventions and charity events, but possibly hospitals and other medical facilities, schools, and different fairs/festivals.
Anyone who contributes will have their name (or the name of their business, or a loved one) on a list permanently kept within Bili (possibly etched in the metal, or on a plaque), and also listed on the "Journey to Bili" blog page at http://r2-ba.blogspot.com . You will also be sent updates on the progress, and will be sent information on all appearances. Also at $10 or more, a professionally taken photo of the finished droid,
So please, help contribute to a cause that is both fun, and educational. Pediatric Liver Disease, and specifically Biliary Atresia, are not really given much attention, and this will help spread the word. Donate, and help convince others to contribute!
Thanks!
Jason M. "DreamTripper" Weaver
- See more at: http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/r2-ba-artoo-beeyay#sthash.bya50mcv.dpuf - See more at: http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/r2-ba-artoo-beeyay#sthash.bya50mcv.dpuf
Organizer
Jason M. DreamTripper Weaver
Organizer
Wichita, KS