The Hoekstra Family

Edit: The Hoekstra family received devastating news yesterday. Paxon has now been diagnosed with cancer. He will be beginning in patient chemo soon. What is certain is that this will be ongoing for the next 5 months. The financial impact of not being able to send him to child care, being at the hospital for minimum five day stays each month, and trying to care for Peyton and Parker will be intense.

Please consider helping to minimize the incoming impact of the next chapter. ❤️

Paxon and Parker Hoekstra surprised their parents when they were discovered on their original ultrasound! Twins!? :) The pregnancy became high risk when it was discovered that Pax was growing a tumor from his tailbone. This type of tumor is called a Sacrococcygeal Teratoma (SCT). SCT is very rare, only seen in about every 1 of 40,000 live births.

Skye and the twins received intensive care for the remainder of the pregnancy attending 2 hour ultrasounds twice a week. Paxon's heart was closely monitored due to the high risk of heart failure associated with this type of tumor. At 31 weeks gestation the cardiologist gave a good report on Paxon with no current sign of heart failure, but noticed Skye was not doing well. After rushing to Masonic Children's emergency, it was discovered that Skye had zero function in her kidneys and was experiencing a phenomena called "mirror syndrome." Her body took on the symptoms they had been watching for in Paxon as her body worked to preserve the twins' health. She was admitted and the decision to deliver early was made.

The twins were born on October 23, 2021. Skye received life saving care at a separate hospital from the twins. Parker weighed in at 2 pounds, Pax weighed in at 5 pounds, but 1.5 of that was a tumor. He underwent surgery to remove the tumor a few days after he arrived. The twins finally came home to join their brother Peyton after 41 days in the NICU, just in time for Christmas.

Since then Pax has battled to strengthen his lungs. In October he was admitted to Children’s Hospital with RSV. In February he had surgery to get ear tubes. In May he was again admitted to Children’s Hospital with Pneumonia. Along the way, he has received monthly blood work to monitor any tumor growth. In April this test unfortunately showed tumor markers. In May an MRI confirmed that he has a mass protruding from his lower spine. Pax’s care team have made a plan to remove the mass on June 7th at the U of M. They will then biopsy to confirm if it is a recurrence or a new type of tumor.

Pax, and all of the Hoekstra’s, have had to demonstrate over and over how strong and resilient they are, but all of this takes a toll. There is a mental, physical and emotional toll, as well as a financial toll. The cost of past and future hospital stays, loss of work days, and the potential for ongoing care after the upcoming surgery can all create a financial strain.

We can not carry the load they must feel as parents, but we can hopefully help to offset some of the financial stress. Please feel free to share.