Stem Cells for Evie Grace
Donation protected
UPDATE: Evie is now 2 years old! After brain surgery on May 19, 2014 Evie has been progressing beautifully with physical therapy and swallowing (not aspirating). We continue to do all we can to help our diva princess to be all that she can be. We have decided, as a family, after much prayer and research that we want to pursue a stem cell therapy for Evie at Nova Cells Institute. The cost of the treatment is not covered by insurance so it is costly. For the treatment and travel it will cost roughly $20,000! We have done an amazing job raising funds to pay off all of Evie's outstanding medical bills (THANK YOU!!) so I know we can do this! Please help us by praying for us, sharing her page (go fund me page and facebook - www.facebook.com/evieswarriors) and donating! Thanks so much for your support! {note- the first $5,300 raised on this page went towards paying off Evie's medical expenses from her birth and 3 surgeries and mutliple hospital stays. The goal on this page is set to $25,300 since I couldn't take out the money already raised for her!}
As most of you know, Evie was born on May 7, 2013 with Spina Bifida. At 14 hours old she underwent her first surgery to repair her spine and at 4 weeks old had another surgery to place a shunt in her brain to help drain the excess fluid (hydrocephalus). While we knew there were going to be bounds and bounds of medical bills, they have taken more of a hit on our family than initially expected. We have been applying for all of the state aide that is out there but unfortunatly we make too much money for most of the programs as they do not take into consideration other debts or obligations like daycare (which is more than our house payment each month!) We ask that you donate what you can or what you feel led to donate or pass this page on to someone who you feel would benefit from reading Evie's miraculous story!
EVIE'S STORY: It was New Years Eve, 2012....an exciting time, right? My husband and I had a 1 year old son and had just found out we were expecting a daughter. Just the way I always dreamed, a boy first then a girl. We were naming her Evie after my incredibly strong great-grandma Evelyn. We went to the 20 week ultrasound appointment to confirm anatomy and got the shock of our lives, to say the least.
The ultrasound tech seemed normal during the scan but then instead of returning to give us our pictures, a specialist returned and said she needed to take a look. My heart sank, tears ran down my face, I said "something is wrong?" and she replied "we think so." I immediately began to pray, pray that my daughter was ok; Was I going to be able to do this?
After the second scan and speaking to the specialist we had discovered our unborn daughter had Spina Bifida and the beginnings of hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain, often associated with Spina Bifida).
We were then referred to the doctors at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis (where we are from) and immediately began an intense remainder of my pregnancy, more frequent doctors appointments, meeting with pediatric neurosurgeon, plastic surgeons, genetics counselors, the whole nine yards. To make a very long 4 month story short, we ended up delivering our daughter on May 7, 2013, 3 weeks early.
I delivered Evie at St. Mary's Hospital in St. Louis where she was immediately taken from me to begin her stay at Cardinal Glennon. 14 hours after her birth Evie underwent her first surgery to close and repair her spine where it hadn't fully formed.
The area was much larger than we were expecting and our neurosurgeon warned we may need a plastic surgeon to come close her skin. The spinal closure surgery took nearly 2 hours. The good news: NO DEAD NERVES!!
This meant that Evie had not lost full function anywhere but would have some weakness, we just aren't sure the severity of that weakness yet. Then it was confirmed, the neurosurgeon couldn't close her skin and the plastic surgeon would come in to perform a skin flap. Another 2 hours later and Evie had survived her first surgeries.
10 days in the NICU seemed like a lifetime. I had a husband and son at home that I was trying to care for and a daughter in the NICU across town I wanted to care for as much as possible. Our family was spread thin and Mother's Day didn't seem as joyful as it should even though we were so thankful for our miracle.
At 4 weeks old our neurosurgeon decided it was best to place a shunt in Evie's brain to help drain the fluid since her head had continued to increase in size. Evie underwent brain surgery successfully and her head has already shown great improvement.
We are now home as a complete family with an overall healthy baby girl. We have God to thank and many, many prayer warriors to thank! Throughout this journey we kept our eye on the prize, so to speak, and trudged through even through our darkest days. I felt like we got bad news quite a bit for quite some time but now we can say we survived it all!
This experience has reminded us that God has all of our days planned before us and that we must not interfere with His plan and His timing. The testament to the power of prayer is astounding and our belief and trust in Him has never been greater. While we would find ourselves questioning His plan throughout all of this we were reminded by an awesome church family that we would get through this and we did.
Our girl is a fighter and is fearfully and wonderfully made. I wouldn't trade this life for anything, and I am eternally grateful that we were chosen to be her parents. While we will have many doctors appointments in the future and many obstacles to overcome, we will never forget that our God is greater and healer and we have living proof!
As most of you know, Evie was born on May 7, 2013 with Spina Bifida. At 14 hours old she underwent her first surgery to repair her spine and at 4 weeks old had another surgery to place a shunt in her brain to help drain the excess fluid (hydrocephalus). While we knew there were going to be bounds and bounds of medical bills, they have taken more of a hit on our family than initially expected. We have been applying for all of the state aide that is out there but unfortunatly we make too much money for most of the programs as they do not take into consideration other debts or obligations like daycare (which is more than our house payment each month!) We ask that you donate what you can or what you feel led to donate or pass this page on to someone who you feel would benefit from reading Evie's miraculous story!
EVIE'S STORY: It was New Years Eve, 2012....an exciting time, right? My husband and I had a 1 year old son and had just found out we were expecting a daughter. Just the way I always dreamed, a boy first then a girl. We were naming her Evie after my incredibly strong great-grandma Evelyn. We went to the 20 week ultrasound appointment to confirm anatomy and got the shock of our lives, to say the least.
The ultrasound tech seemed normal during the scan but then instead of returning to give us our pictures, a specialist returned and said she needed to take a look. My heart sank, tears ran down my face, I said "something is wrong?" and she replied "we think so." I immediately began to pray, pray that my daughter was ok; Was I going to be able to do this?
After the second scan and speaking to the specialist we had discovered our unborn daughter had Spina Bifida and the beginnings of hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain, often associated with Spina Bifida).
We were then referred to the doctors at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis (where we are from) and immediately began an intense remainder of my pregnancy, more frequent doctors appointments, meeting with pediatric neurosurgeon, plastic surgeons, genetics counselors, the whole nine yards. To make a very long 4 month story short, we ended up delivering our daughter on May 7, 2013, 3 weeks early.
I delivered Evie at St. Mary's Hospital in St. Louis where she was immediately taken from me to begin her stay at Cardinal Glennon. 14 hours after her birth Evie underwent her first surgery to close and repair her spine where it hadn't fully formed.
The area was much larger than we were expecting and our neurosurgeon warned we may need a plastic surgeon to come close her skin. The spinal closure surgery took nearly 2 hours. The good news: NO DEAD NERVES!!
This meant that Evie had not lost full function anywhere but would have some weakness, we just aren't sure the severity of that weakness yet. Then it was confirmed, the neurosurgeon couldn't close her skin and the plastic surgeon would come in to perform a skin flap. Another 2 hours later and Evie had survived her first surgeries.
10 days in the NICU seemed like a lifetime. I had a husband and son at home that I was trying to care for and a daughter in the NICU across town I wanted to care for as much as possible. Our family was spread thin and Mother's Day didn't seem as joyful as it should even though we were so thankful for our miracle.
At 4 weeks old our neurosurgeon decided it was best to place a shunt in Evie's brain to help drain the fluid since her head had continued to increase in size. Evie underwent brain surgery successfully and her head has already shown great improvement.
We are now home as a complete family with an overall healthy baby girl. We have God to thank and many, many prayer warriors to thank! Throughout this journey we kept our eye on the prize, so to speak, and trudged through even through our darkest days. I felt like we got bad news quite a bit for quite some time but now we can say we survived it all!
This experience has reminded us that God has all of our days planned before us and that we must not interfere with His plan and His timing. The testament to the power of prayer is astounding and our belief and trust in Him has never been greater. While we would find ourselves questioning His plan throughout all of this we were reminded by an awesome church family that we would get through this and we did.
Our girl is a fighter and is fearfully and wonderfully made. I wouldn't trade this life for anything, and I am eternally grateful that we were chosen to be her parents. While we will have many doctors appointments in the future and many obstacles to overcome, we will never forget that our God is greater and healer and we have living proof!
Organizer
Heather Morgan
Organizer
Ballwin, MO
