Medical Bills for Vincent
Donation protected
This page has been set up to help with medical bills for Vincent Kelleher. Our family has spent the last year fighting with the insurance company to try to get Vincent the help that he needs. If we can make this happen it will greatly improve his overall health and quality of life. Please take a few minutes to read what is actually just a small part of Vincent's story, but needs special attention right now.
Vincent Dominic and his twin brother, Anthony Luca, were born 2 months early on November 28, 2014. On top of facing the general struggles of being a preemie, Vincent was diagnosed with VACTERL association. There is no known cause for VACTERL, it is not linked to genetics or any environmental causes. Each letter of VACTERL stands for an abnormality and Vincent was born with 6/7 of them, plus additional health issues.
At 2 days old and barely maintaining his birth weight of 3 lbs 3 ozs, Vincent went into his first surgery. He spent the first 75 days of his life in the NICU at Stony Brook University Hospital recovering from surgery and facing several other health complications. He finally came home to live with his family on February 11, 2015. Since that day Vincent has faced many illnesses, surgeries, and hospitalizations.
As of June 2016, at the age of 18 months old, Vincent has had a total of 15 surgeries. He’s actually had 27 procedures, because the doctors often performed several procedures during one day of surgery to try to lessen the number of times he’s under anesthesia.
Some of Vincent’s diagnoses include Caudal Regression Syndrome, Tracheal-Esophageal Fistula, Esophageal Atresia, Renal Agenesis and Dysgenesis, Conductive and Sensorineural hearing loss, GERD, Failure to Thrive, Hydroureter, among several others. He sees seven different kinds of specialists and faces daily challenges due to medical complications from these diagnoses.
A day in the life of Vincent involves a lot of reflux, pain, and vomiting. He is fed through a feeding tube but still faces a pretty severe case of these symptoms. He also struggles in other areas due to his numerous health complications. He isn't even 2 years old yet and is on 5 daily medications and requires several different kinds of medical equipment to perform daily routines.
Vincent’s Esophageal Atresia and Tracheal-Esophageal Fistula (EA/TEF) were repaired during his very first surgery, but there have been some complications. He has had recurrent esophageal strictures (scar tissue building up) that become so narrow his surgeon describes his esophagus as having a “pinhole” opening. Vincent was getting esophageal dilatations once a month for almost a year but for some reason they aren’t working and his esophagus will not stay open. This has caused a lot of health problems for Vincent, as he wasn’t able to eat or drink enough to really grow and put on enough weight. Vincent had the feeding tube (g-tube) put in earlier this year and has since started gaining weight and becoming healthier. He is not able to eat “normally” but we hope that he will be able to one day after all of his surgeries are complete.
Right now Vincent's esophagus is shaped like an hour glass because of the stricture. His saliva pools at the top of his esophagus and sits there until it becomes so much he either vomits it up or chokes on it. Any time he is sick he ends up hospitalized because he isn’t able to handle his secretions (mucus/saliva) in his throat, causing breathing problems, choking, and often turning into bronchiolitis. Every night when Vincent goes to bed he has to be hooked up to a pulse-oximeter to monitor his oxygen level and heart rate, because even when he isn’t sick at all he has a history of desatting (his oxygen levels drop dangerously low) due to his secretions.
In order to improve his quality of life, Vincent needs to be seen by Dr. Russell Jennings at the Esophageal and Airway Treatment Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. Since dilatations aren't working, they might have to open him back up to cut out the bad part of his esophagus and then reattach his esophagus and stomach, again. Or he could need intensive dilatations and steroid treatments, which means going under anesthesia once or twice a week for a couple of months (which is actually extremely dangerous for his one and only kidney). There are other ways to remove a stricture that are also very dangerous because not many doctors have experience with them yet, and this doctor in Boston is the most knowledgeable and capable when it comes to these types of complications.
The doctors in New York are wonderful and we value their opinions and their services, but they've told us that Vincent is one of the most severe cases of esophageal stricturing they have ever seen. They have referred us to Dr. Jennings at Boston Children’s Hospital because he is the top EA/TEF surgeon in the world and sees severe cases like Vincent’s every single week.
Unfortunately, we can’t afford all of the medical bills that come with taking Vincent to Boston Children’s Hospital. Vincent's doctors have spent months trying to help convince the insurance company that seeing this specialist is medically necessary, however our insurance company still refuses to cover it. Any money raised here will be used for Vincent’s medical bills.
Vincent is a bright, playful, and sweet little boy who has had a rough start to life, but you would never know it being around him. As his Nona calls him, he is “Mr. Smiley” all the time. He is truly a fighter and is the strongest person we know. Vincent's parents - Keith & Natalie Kelleher wholeheartedly appreciate anyone even reading through all of this, and considering donating just a few dollars to help get Vincent the care he needs.
Vincent Dominic and his twin brother, Anthony Luca, were born 2 months early on November 28, 2014. On top of facing the general struggles of being a preemie, Vincent was diagnosed with VACTERL association. There is no known cause for VACTERL, it is not linked to genetics or any environmental causes. Each letter of VACTERL stands for an abnormality and Vincent was born with 6/7 of them, plus additional health issues.
At 2 days old and barely maintaining his birth weight of 3 lbs 3 ozs, Vincent went into his first surgery. He spent the first 75 days of his life in the NICU at Stony Brook University Hospital recovering from surgery and facing several other health complications. He finally came home to live with his family on February 11, 2015. Since that day Vincent has faced many illnesses, surgeries, and hospitalizations.
As of June 2016, at the age of 18 months old, Vincent has had a total of 15 surgeries. He’s actually had 27 procedures, because the doctors often performed several procedures during one day of surgery to try to lessen the number of times he’s under anesthesia.
Some of Vincent’s diagnoses include Caudal Regression Syndrome, Tracheal-Esophageal Fistula, Esophageal Atresia, Renal Agenesis and Dysgenesis, Conductive and Sensorineural hearing loss, GERD, Failure to Thrive, Hydroureter, among several others. He sees seven different kinds of specialists and faces daily challenges due to medical complications from these diagnoses.
A day in the life of Vincent involves a lot of reflux, pain, and vomiting. He is fed through a feeding tube but still faces a pretty severe case of these symptoms. He also struggles in other areas due to his numerous health complications. He isn't even 2 years old yet and is on 5 daily medications and requires several different kinds of medical equipment to perform daily routines.
Vincent’s Esophageal Atresia and Tracheal-Esophageal Fistula (EA/TEF) were repaired during his very first surgery, but there have been some complications. He has had recurrent esophageal strictures (scar tissue building up) that become so narrow his surgeon describes his esophagus as having a “pinhole” opening. Vincent was getting esophageal dilatations once a month for almost a year but for some reason they aren’t working and his esophagus will not stay open. This has caused a lot of health problems for Vincent, as he wasn’t able to eat or drink enough to really grow and put on enough weight. Vincent had the feeding tube (g-tube) put in earlier this year and has since started gaining weight and becoming healthier. He is not able to eat “normally” but we hope that he will be able to one day after all of his surgeries are complete.
Right now Vincent's esophagus is shaped like an hour glass because of the stricture. His saliva pools at the top of his esophagus and sits there until it becomes so much he either vomits it up or chokes on it. Any time he is sick he ends up hospitalized because he isn’t able to handle his secretions (mucus/saliva) in his throat, causing breathing problems, choking, and often turning into bronchiolitis. Every night when Vincent goes to bed he has to be hooked up to a pulse-oximeter to monitor his oxygen level and heart rate, because even when he isn’t sick at all he has a history of desatting (his oxygen levels drop dangerously low) due to his secretions.
In order to improve his quality of life, Vincent needs to be seen by Dr. Russell Jennings at the Esophageal and Airway Treatment Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. Since dilatations aren't working, they might have to open him back up to cut out the bad part of his esophagus and then reattach his esophagus and stomach, again. Or he could need intensive dilatations and steroid treatments, which means going under anesthesia once or twice a week for a couple of months (which is actually extremely dangerous for his one and only kidney). There are other ways to remove a stricture that are also very dangerous because not many doctors have experience with them yet, and this doctor in Boston is the most knowledgeable and capable when it comes to these types of complications.
The doctors in New York are wonderful and we value their opinions and their services, but they've told us that Vincent is one of the most severe cases of esophageal stricturing they have ever seen. They have referred us to Dr. Jennings at Boston Children’s Hospital because he is the top EA/TEF surgeon in the world and sees severe cases like Vincent’s every single week.
Unfortunately, we can’t afford all of the medical bills that come with taking Vincent to Boston Children’s Hospital. Vincent's doctors have spent months trying to help convince the insurance company that seeing this specialist is medically necessary, however our insurance company still refuses to cover it. Any money raised here will be used for Vincent’s medical bills.
Vincent is a bright, playful, and sweet little boy who has had a rough start to life, but you would never know it being around him. As his Nona calls him, he is “Mr. Smiley” all the time. He is truly a fighter and is the strongest person we know. Vincent's parents - Keith & Natalie Kelleher wholeheartedly appreciate anyone even reading through all of this, and considering donating just a few dollars to help get Vincent the care he needs.
Organizer and beneficiary
Jenna Noto
Organizer
Terryville, NY
Natalie Kelleher
Beneficiary