Help for baby Owen Buell and his Family
Donation protected
I am starting this at the request of my sister Jackie Moore who is the great grandmother of this precious baby boy. These are her words.
Owen is the son of Valerie Mitchell and
Brian Buell. He has two brothers: Elliott, age 7, and Bentley, age 4.
Owen is 17 months young. Born on August 10, 2018
Owen has neuroblastoma that has affected other parts of his body. He was treated by a local pediatrician for the past several months. When Valerie took him to the doctor she never ordered any tests that could have caught this earlier. She treated him for viruses, then the flu, then viruses and then the flu again. Between these bouts during a bad episode Valerie took him to the ER. They treated him for stomach flu and sent him home. He would get a little better but not completely. Finally on Sunday he began screaming with pain and would not stop crying. His right eye was drooping and he had what appeared to be a black eye. His abdomen was enlarged to almost twice its size and he couldn’t eat or drink. Valerie took him to a newer hospital affiliated with Northwestern. When they got to the ER, they immediately recognized the telltale signs of his problem, which was the black and drooping eye. They did scans, ultrasounds and found a huge mass in his abdomen. After they got the results of the blood and urine tests they diagnosed him as having neuroblastoma and immediately got him transferred to Luries Childrens Hospital-Northwestern. From the time he got there, they continually ran all kinds of tests and lab work. He has undergone many painful tests and biopsies. Every time they do a test, they find more bad news. He was dehydrated when he got to the hospital and unable to have bowel movements. Once they started doing tests, they found a tumor behind his right eye and confirmed the huge mass in his abdomen; a spot on his liver. They did surgery today and did a bone marrow biopsy and biopsies of the affected organs.
Owen was a 10 pound baby. He was a happy baby, he loves llamas and the baby shark song. He loves to dance. He is very affectionate and loves everybody. With two older brothers he joined in the rough and tumble play as boys and brothers do. He is a mimic; everything they did he tried to do. He loves their pool and the trampoline.
Brian is a great dad. He worked two jobs to make sure Valerie could be home with the boys. Valerie is a beautiful Mom, she is so loving and good with the kids. They have very little and struggle to live from month to month but they are happy and proud to be on their own two feet even if things have been tight. You could not find two better parents. They teach the kids, play with them and their home is filled with love and happiness. They made sure their kids knew about caring for others by teaching them to be kind. They showed them responsibility by making sure they had a dog and fish.
They were struggling on their shoestring budget but Brian isn’t able to be at his part time job and also be at the hospital with Valetie and Owen, so he had to put this job on hold. He got a short leave of absence from his full time job at half pay. They live modestly and this loss of income is devastating for them. They have no credit cards, they pay as they go. They have a family van which they share. They drive to Chicago to the Childrens hospital and keeping the gas tank full and parking in downtown Chicago at the hospital parking garage is $15 a day.
This family needs help. They have a support network of family and friends to help but there is so much more they are going to be facing.
Can you please find it in your heart to help?
Owen is the son of Valerie Mitchell and
Brian Buell. He has two brothers: Elliott, age 7, and Bentley, age 4.
Owen is 17 months young. Born on August 10, 2018
Owen has neuroblastoma that has affected other parts of his body. He was treated by a local pediatrician for the past several months. When Valerie took him to the doctor she never ordered any tests that could have caught this earlier. She treated him for viruses, then the flu, then viruses and then the flu again. Between these bouts during a bad episode Valerie took him to the ER. They treated him for stomach flu and sent him home. He would get a little better but not completely. Finally on Sunday he began screaming with pain and would not stop crying. His right eye was drooping and he had what appeared to be a black eye. His abdomen was enlarged to almost twice its size and he couldn’t eat or drink. Valerie took him to a newer hospital affiliated with Northwestern. When they got to the ER, they immediately recognized the telltale signs of his problem, which was the black and drooping eye. They did scans, ultrasounds and found a huge mass in his abdomen. After they got the results of the blood and urine tests they diagnosed him as having neuroblastoma and immediately got him transferred to Luries Childrens Hospital-Northwestern. From the time he got there, they continually ran all kinds of tests and lab work. He has undergone many painful tests and biopsies. Every time they do a test, they find more bad news. He was dehydrated when he got to the hospital and unable to have bowel movements. Once they started doing tests, they found a tumor behind his right eye and confirmed the huge mass in his abdomen; a spot on his liver. They did surgery today and did a bone marrow biopsy and biopsies of the affected organs.
Owen was a 10 pound baby. He was a happy baby, he loves llamas and the baby shark song. He loves to dance. He is very affectionate and loves everybody. With two older brothers he joined in the rough and tumble play as boys and brothers do. He is a mimic; everything they did he tried to do. He loves their pool and the trampoline.
Brian is a great dad. He worked two jobs to make sure Valerie could be home with the boys. Valerie is a beautiful Mom, she is so loving and good with the kids. They have very little and struggle to live from month to month but they are happy and proud to be on their own two feet even if things have been tight. You could not find two better parents. They teach the kids, play with them and their home is filled with love and happiness. They made sure their kids knew about caring for others by teaching them to be kind. They showed them responsibility by making sure they had a dog and fish.
They were struggling on their shoestring budget but Brian isn’t able to be at his part time job and also be at the hospital with Valetie and Owen, so he had to put this job on hold. He got a short leave of absence from his full time job at half pay. They live modestly and this loss of income is devastating for them. They have no credit cards, they pay as they go. They have a family van which they share. They drive to Chicago to the Childrens hospital and keeping the gas tank full and parking in downtown Chicago at the hospital parking garage is $15 a day.
This family needs help. They have a support network of family and friends to help but there is so much more they are going to be facing.
Can you please find it in your heart to help?
Organizer
Denise Kingsley
Organizer
Elizabeth, CO