Karter’s Long Term Care

Last week, our lives changed forever in a matter of 7 minutes. My husband and I were outside with 3 of our kids enjoying the nice weather. My husband was snacking on defrosted pitted frozen cherries with the kids when our youngest Karter choked on one. We called 911 right away and despite all of our efforts to dislodge it, nothing worked . Karter lost consciousness in about 1 minute and began to go limp and turned blue. 2 of our neighbors ran over to help, their efforts were also unsuccessful. By this time Karter was lifeless and his heart stopped. We started CPR and continued until paramedics arrived. We’re still unsure when the paramedics removed the cherry but when we arrived to the ER I was told they were able to get it out and that he was alive with a pulse. Our house to the ER was a 5 minute ambulance ride. It took them 4 tries to intubate him. He was later put in a paralyzed state and transported by air to Fairfax Children’s Hospital were he is currently receiving care.

He has been under sedation and his breathing supported with a ventilator. The good news is, the breathing tube removed this morning without any complications. He’ll remain on light sedation and is currently resting comfortably. It’s still unclear what injuries he may have suffered but his MRI shows multiple brain swelling areas. He’s being monitored for neurological and respiratory complications. He has been at Fairfax Hospital Children’s PICU since Thursday, July 20th. His care team has confirmed that the road to recovery will take some time, ranging from months or years.

Parents and caregivers please be careful what you give to your children, especially those that can be a choking hazard to smaller children. Take the time to get trained in life saving techniques and keep an anti choking device close by just in case. It’s truly better to be safe than sorry. This pain in my heart is unbearable and I don’t wish it on anyone.

Please pray for continuous healing for Karter and patience for us, his loved ones. The brain is slow to recover and we are trying to remember to be grateful for each improvement, big or small.

 To conclude, I’ve cherished every minute as Stay At Home Mom but we always had the plan for me to go back into to full time employment once Karter started kindergarten. Although we are hopeful, my return to work may not be a possibility in the near future as brain trauma and injuries like this have a timing entirely of their own and I will be his full time care taker while trying to do the best I can to provide support for my other children simultaneously. After losing the Gym during the Pandemic, My husband, Khemeran continued to work 2 jobs to our support our family. If you know him, you also know he will work as many jobs as necessary to make sure we’re ok…he always has and always will but as we learn more and more about Karter’s health status, we are realizing the extent of current and future medical expenses. We are asking for the support of our family and friends to help cover some of the unexpected expenses that we are experiencing.

Thank you so much in advance for your love and support. Whether it be through prayer, donations, or words of encouragement, we are so appreciative for the community surrounding us.

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If you would like to participate in the neighborhood meal train, here is the link:

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/lk7wr4?fbclid=IwAR0DoZgiwICkg3gwZYFBmoN2OU0aVG3pDbAJ5Gov_e3GdHTpCi_AgGdJVIw_aem_Adf8LMLORViZ0-yfzErQFri-cA4YyxKPxS5Z4JzDIIWG05zOmnGiA3MpXb-qHmUJz_c&mibextid=Zxz2cZ