Cerebral Palsy Awareness: Funds for Xander’s Care

To honor Mom’s wishes upon her death, we started a gofund me to help take care of my younger, special-needs brother in her memory. All the money donated will be used for Xander’s care and ensure he gets everything that my mom would have wanted him to have.

For those of you who do not know our story, my biological grandmother (now my forever Mom) for the past 12 years has been caring for my special needs, severely medically fragile younger brother. She is the reason he is alive today because she put her whole heart and soul into caring and providing for him. When Xander (Booder) was only five weeks old, he was smothered by our biological mother, who was suffering from drug addiction, which caused him to be oxygen deprived for an extended period of time. This has resulted in him being diagnosed with brain damage, cerebral palsy, seizures, tons of respiratory issues, deformities in his feet, anxiety, ADHD, autistic disorder, chronic allergic conjunctivitis, chronic gastritis, chronic ulcers and polyps, deformities in the knees, asthma, Chron’s disease, disorders of lungs/ears/pharynx, feeding disabilities that require tube feedings, hernias, chronic insomnia, intestinal obstruction, gastrointestinal hemorrhages, movement disorders, muscle spasms, sleep apnea, speech and language disorders (nonverbal), and TONS of other medical issues that effect his every day life. Xander has fought for his life every single day to still be here with us and he was mainly able to do this with the help of our Mom (and Aunties) who is now gone.

The one thing my mom wanted most in this world is for her children to be taken care of. We all want to respect her wishes and honor them but taking care of Xander. However, it is not an easy job. He requires so many different types of medicine as well as medical training in order to take care of him. At this point, my family is on the “struggle bus” trying to learn all of the things Mom did on her own. She was a fighter, caregiver, and a very compassionate soul, and she will now be his guardian angel from above.

Xander use to have 24/7 nursing provided to him through his insurance company. However, within the past couple of years the insurance company had cut his nursing hours (did you see that very long list above…how!) which put more stress on my mother physically, financially, and emotionally. We are in the process of trying to get 24/7 nursing care back because that is what he deserves! Mom can’t fight this fight anymore, but he has several new fighters (me, Auntie Shondra, and Aunt April) fighting and advocating for him. We have a small army supporting us as well, and we will not stop! Right now, my family is just asking to honor my mom’s wishes by donating towards my brother’s medical care.