Miracle Baby Ryland Marlette-Possible Super Hero?

Jodi Marlette is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Miracle Marlette.

Donation protected

Family and Friends,
My sweet grandson Ryland was born
prematurely on October 18, 2020; at 29
weeks and weighing just 2 lbs, 3 oz. We were
all filled with joy at his arrival.

My son Cody who is a Marine Corp Reservist
and who recently accepted a position with the
county sheriff’s office as a deputy and my
daughter-in-law Miracle (yes, that’s her real
name) who has been taking college courses
are young first time parents. High school
sweethearts; they wasted no time, getting
married right after graduation. Cody joined
the Marine Corp at 18 and now welcoming
their first child, Ryland, two and a half years
later.

Ryland was exposed in utero to CMV (Cytomegalovirus): a very common virus that
effects people of all ages, but which can cause serious problems in an unborn baby. The
CMV caused a stroke in Ryland somewhere
between 22-26 weeks. CMV can cause a wide range of long term health issues such as
hearing loss, vision loss, developmental and
motor delays and seizures to name a few.

Little Ryland recently had a follow up MRI on his brain which revealed “globally” severe
brain damage. You can see a comparison of
Rylands current brain scan compared to a
typical brain scan of a child his age.

As you can see from the images, Ryland’s
brain MRI does not look at all like a typical
babies. The large dark space is all fluid and his
cerebellum and spinal cord are all extremely
inhibited in their growth.

Ryland is a determined little warrior and he
has overcome so much already; but he has a
long road ahead and likely faces a significant
number of challenges for the foreseeable
future. He has spent his first weeks of life in
the NICU fighting to overcome NEC/CMV
colitis, numerous transfusions, procedures
and other close calls where we thought we
might very well lose him. And he just recently completed a successful surgery to address a
number of issues.

The doctors taking care of him and their
wonderful care team have informed us to
expect the worst: but work towards the best.

His great uncle, who “claims” to be an expert
on such things; has said that based on his
reading of Ryland’s brain scans, he appears to be a young new super hero. He states that the
extra space in his brain is designed to make
room for his developing super powers. The
doctors have not been able to independently
verify this ( nor as uncle pointed out-have they been able to conclusively deny it)

We don’t know what the future holds for
sweet Ryland, but we want to give this young
family support in providing Ryland with every opportunity to be his best self.

Donations received will support Ryland and
his parents with medical supplies not paid for by their insurance as well as Cochlear
implants (hearing aids), medical bills,
treatments, therapy, gear etc., that he will
need as he grows.

Ryland just came home this week and will
require constant round the clock care.
Miracle has decided to stay home and be
trained to be his full time caregiver (the only
and more affordable option versus utilizing a
home care company). He will not be able to go to daycare because of his substantial care
needs.

Every contribution is greatly appreciated and will go directly toward Ryland’s health and life support. We thank you very much for your
love and support.

If you’re not in a position to help financially
with Ryland’s journey; your prayers for his
well being and recovery are greatly
appreciated.