Jackson's Journey at Sister's of Charity NICU
Donation protected
Hello, we're the Sroka family!
Rick, Danielle & our little miracle, Jackson.
On February 22, 2020 our lives changed forever when our son Jackson came crashing into the world at only 24 weeks gestation. He was born at only 1lb 12oz and 12.5 inches long. He was small (the size of 6 sticks of butter) and he wasn't breathing. As I lay on the hospital bed in shock the doctors and nurses immediately began working on him. Before rushing him to the NICU I had just one moment to look at him, to tell him I loved him, to kiss his tiny head. Although I wasn't thinking about it at the time, it was most likely that this would be the last time I would see my baby alive.
It was explained to us that babies born this early had a 40% chance of survival.
But our little fighter Jackson, he had big plans.
We are thankful, we are grateful and we feel truly blessed that our little boy survived. In fact, Jackson is thriving, and it's only because of the amazing team of doctors, nurses, therapists, techs and others at Sisters of Charity Hospital NICU who spent the following 4 months keeping our son alive.
This is a fundraiser to support the Sister's of Charity Hospital NICU in honor of our son Jackson.
Jackson spent exactly 120 days in the NICU, and during that time he experienced more than most of us will in a lifetime. Jackson's wonderful doctors and NPs walked us through each step and every choice we had to make on this long journey. With clinical precision, thoughtfulness, patience and care, the doctors helped us to decide on each treatment and understand what was happening to our son. From his many blood transfusions, to deciding on steroids. From navigating his pulmonary hypertension diagnosis to explaining what his level 2 brain bleed really meant. These dedicated physicians were there for us, with us, every day, saving our son.
His fantastic team of respiratory therapists spent countless hours monitoring his lung development. Jackson has Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (Chronic Lung Disease). Always working to wean down his mechanical ventilation from the oscillator to the traditional ventilator to NIV and finally oxygen through a canula (which he is still on). But without the work of these therapists he wouldn't have been able to breath on his own at all.
Jack had a team of the most incredible nurses who watched over him day and night. They did every day things like changing his diapers, feeding him and giving him medicine. To extraordinary things like monitoring his SATs and catching his "spells" to make sure he continued breathing and his heart kept beating. The nurses were like his guardian angels. They protected him and watched over him, they loved him. They read him books and cuddled him in the early morning hours when we couldn't be there. They soothed him during scary and painful procedures like eye injections for his Retinopathy of Prematurity and the many heel pricks and arterial lines and IV lines that were put in and taken out. Those nurses were everything to us as parents . We trusted them with our only son. They became like family, like mothers and sisters, counselors and friends. We would not have gotten through this experience if it were not for Jackson's amazing team of NICU nurses.
As he grew older Jackson greatly benefited from a group of excellent occupational and physical therapists who helped him learn to take bottles and even breast feed. They gave him baby massages, stretched his limbs and worked his core to help him gain strength. His therapists helped us understand his limitations and what we could do to help him progress developmentally and physically.
Our little guy grew and kept growing, and eventually after 4 months, on June 20th, 2020 he was released from the NICU at 9lbs 2oz and 20in long. The clinical team at Sisters of Charity Hospital NICU saved our child's life. He was delivered at the very edge of viability, and the clinical team worked tirelessly to give him every opportunity to survive, and thrive. Without them, we know that our story would have ended very differently, and we want more than anything to say THANK YOU for giving us the precious gift of our son.
Our family has so much gratitude for the NICU team at Sisters and we want to give back. To say thank you for what they did for our family, and to help them continue to save the tiniest lives. And that's why we started this fundraiser. The Sisters of Charity NICU is an amazing facility, with high tech equipment and beautiful rooms that allowed us to have a private space to stay with our son 24 hours a day.
For the first two months of his life Jackson was in a very specialized isolette (incubator) called a Giraffe. Giraffe's are very expensive ($60k each) and therefore reserved for the smallest and sickest babies. This incredible piece of equipment kept Jackson safe from germs, monitored and controlled his temperature, and provided the humidity he needed for his delicate skin. The Giraffe is able to open up quickly to allow full access to the baby if an emergency arises. Without this specialized equipment Jackson would not have survived.
We would like to donate to the NICU to help purchase a new Giraffe Isolette (the kind Jack spent his first few months in). These specialized isolettes are $60k but our goal is starting at $20k. If you are at all interested in donating any amount towards our goal, it would be so greatly appreciated by our family and the future NICU families who will benefit from your generous donation.
Thank you so much to all of you who have supported our family through this very difficult season in our life. We love you and appreciate each of you more than you will ever know!
Rick, Danielle & our little miracle, Jackson.
On February 22, 2020 our lives changed forever when our son Jackson came crashing into the world at only 24 weeks gestation. He was born at only 1lb 12oz and 12.5 inches long. He was small (the size of 6 sticks of butter) and he wasn't breathing. As I lay on the hospital bed in shock the doctors and nurses immediately began working on him. Before rushing him to the NICU I had just one moment to look at him, to tell him I loved him, to kiss his tiny head. Although I wasn't thinking about it at the time, it was most likely that this would be the last time I would see my baby alive.
It was explained to us that babies born this early had a 40% chance of survival.
But our little fighter Jackson, he had big plans.
We are thankful, we are grateful and we feel truly blessed that our little boy survived. In fact, Jackson is thriving, and it's only because of the amazing team of doctors, nurses, therapists, techs and others at Sisters of Charity Hospital NICU who spent the following 4 months keeping our son alive.
This is a fundraiser to support the Sister's of Charity Hospital NICU in honor of our son Jackson.
Jackson spent exactly 120 days in the NICU, and during that time he experienced more than most of us will in a lifetime. Jackson's wonderful doctors and NPs walked us through each step and every choice we had to make on this long journey. With clinical precision, thoughtfulness, patience and care, the doctors helped us to decide on each treatment and understand what was happening to our son. From his many blood transfusions, to deciding on steroids. From navigating his pulmonary hypertension diagnosis to explaining what his level 2 brain bleed really meant. These dedicated physicians were there for us, with us, every day, saving our son.
His fantastic team of respiratory therapists spent countless hours monitoring his lung development. Jackson has Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (Chronic Lung Disease). Always working to wean down his mechanical ventilation from the oscillator to the traditional ventilator to NIV and finally oxygen through a canula (which he is still on). But without the work of these therapists he wouldn't have been able to breath on his own at all.
Jack had a team of the most incredible nurses who watched over him day and night. They did every day things like changing his diapers, feeding him and giving him medicine. To extraordinary things like monitoring his SATs and catching his "spells" to make sure he continued breathing and his heart kept beating. The nurses were like his guardian angels. They protected him and watched over him, they loved him. They read him books and cuddled him in the early morning hours when we couldn't be there. They soothed him during scary and painful procedures like eye injections for his Retinopathy of Prematurity and the many heel pricks and arterial lines and IV lines that were put in and taken out. Those nurses were everything to us as parents . We trusted them with our only son. They became like family, like mothers and sisters, counselors and friends. We would not have gotten through this experience if it were not for Jackson's amazing team of NICU nurses.
As he grew older Jackson greatly benefited from a group of excellent occupational and physical therapists who helped him learn to take bottles and even breast feed. They gave him baby massages, stretched his limbs and worked his core to help him gain strength. His therapists helped us understand his limitations and what we could do to help him progress developmentally and physically.
Our little guy grew and kept growing, and eventually after 4 months, on June 20th, 2020 he was released from the NICU at 9lbs 2oz and 20in long. The clinical team at Sisters of Charity Hospital NICU saved our child's life. He was delivered at the very edge of viability, and the clinical team worked tirelessly to give him every opportunity to survive, and thrive. Without them, we know that our story would have ended very differently, and we want more than anything to say THANK YOU for giving us the precious gift of our son.
Our family has so much gratitude for the NICU team at Sisters and we want to give back. To say thank you for what they did for our family, and to help them continue to save the tiniest lives. And that's why we started this fundraiser. The Sisters of Charity NICU is an amazing facility, with high tech equipment and beautiful rooms that allowed us to have a private space to stay with our son 24 hours a day.
For the first two months of his life Jackson was in a very specialized isolette (incubator) called a Giraffe. Giraffe's are very expensive ($60k each) and therefore reserved for the smallest and sickest babies. This incredible piece of equipment kept Jackson safe from germs, monitored and controlled his temperature, and provided the humidity he needed for his delicate skin. The Giraffe is able to open up quickly to allow full access to the baby if an emergency arises. Without this specialized equipment Jackson would not have survived.
We would like to donate to the NICU to help purchase a new Giraffe Isolette (the kind Jack spent his first few months in). These specialized isolettes are $60k but our goal is starting at $20k. If you are at all interested in donating any amount towards our goal, it would be so greatly appreciated by our family and the future NICU families who will benefit from your generous donation.
Thank you so much to all of you who have supported our family through this very difficult season in our life. We love you and appreciate each of you more than you will ever know!
Organizer and beneficiary
Rick Sroka
Organizer
Buffalo, NY
Richard Sroka
Beneficiary