Support Ellie's Fight for Life

On behalf of Nicholas, Tiffany, and baby Ellie, we would like to share some insight into their current situation.

During Tiffany’s pregnancy, we were informed that Ellie was going to have a heart issue when she was born. Nick and Tiffany tried to prepare themselves for what was to come, and even gained some hope from family and friends who had similar situations. What they were unprepared for was for Ellie to be born early due to Tiffany being in a critical state and finding out that Ellie had more health concerns than expected.

On May 3, 2024, Tiffany was found on the kitchen floor. When Nick tried to wake her, she was incoherent. She was rushed to the hospital and was found to be going into kidney failure due to preeclampsia. As they knew Ellie had a preexisting heart condition, they had to wait for the cardiac team to get together and as soon as everyone was on site, they delivered Ellie to save Tiffany’s life. Our beautiful little Ellie was born so precious and beautiful, but with more medical issues than anyone was expecting.

Days after Ellie was born, she was taken into surgery. This is due to her ductus arteriosus (connects two arteries of the heart) blood vessel not closing like it should have. In addition to this, she will need another heart surgery on the pulmonary valve (connects the right ventricle & main pulmonary artery) along with the hole in her heart. Making a total of 3 different heart problems when only one was expected. They also found that Ellie’s esophagus was not attached to her stomach and that she will likely have lifelong issues with her spleen.

Yesterday 7/3/24 Ellie went in for her second of many surgeries. They attempted to attach her stomach and esophagus and were unsuccessful. Finding out the surgery could not be performed, they put in a drainage tube, and sutures to try and help stretch the esophagus. Ellie is now being kept medically sedated until the additional surgery sometime next week to see if the steps they took to help enlarge her esophagus have helped. As soon as the esophagus surgery can be performed successfully, they will let Ellie heal for a short time and schedule a 2nd heart surgery.

Ellie’s road to recovery will be long and uncertain at this time. This little lady is a fighter and has a long road ahead of her. Tiffany is currently staying in Cleveland by Ellie’s side through this tough journey and Nick is working hard to support the family and goes up for visits as much as he can!

Thank you for keeping Ellie in your thoughts and prayers, it really keeps us going during this difficult time. Any amount given to this family to help cover expenses is appreciated. Your kindness and generosity will help to ease some of the financial burdens and stress.

With the family's appreciation, Allison Loudermilk & Lara Reibold

Watching our kids hurting, whether it be physical or emotional, is one of the hardest parts of parenting. We’d give anything to shelter them from it – even trade places with them if we could. The best we can do is support them, hold them and remind them they are loved. – unknown.