The McCaslin Family Party of 4

On November 8th, 2023, My sister Genna and brother in law Adam took my nephew to a friends house as they were on their way to the hospital, exactly one month before her expected due date and one emergency c-setion later my niece Miss Madison Lynn had made her appearance. She weighed 4lbs 13oz ! At just four hours old, she was transferred to another hospital an hour away for NICU care. The next day, she was tested for Cytomegalovirus (or CMV for short). The test came back positive. Babies who are born symptomatic face the chance of hearing and vision impairment as well as other potentially serious health issues such as developmental delays, jaundice, brain bleeds, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy. The liver and spleen function can also be impacted.

Her liver and spleen were both swollen, and it was discovered that she has multiple brain bleeds. (Thankfully that did not require immediate intervention, she was referred to a neurosurgeon in St. Louis to monitor that.) While in the NICU, Madison had to do 4 days of light therapy, multiple platelet transfusions and began the necessary antiviral medication. (She will have to take the antiviral medication for at least six months. This medication weakens her immune system and kidney functions.)

While Madison was under the watchful eyes of the Doctors and Nurses in the NICU, Genna was admitted into the hospital where they found she had blood clots that had traveled to her lungs just a week after the emergency c-section. The scan done to locate the clots also showed an aneurysm very close to her kidney. Because of the location of the aneurysm, she has been referred to a kidney specialist in St. Louis to see what their options are for that. She will also have follow up appointments with hematology for anemia and the clotting issue.

After 27 days in the NICU, Madison came home. She has multiple follow up appointments over the next months to cities at least an hour to two and a half hours away. She’ll have weekly labs drawn to watch her counts. As well as having hearing exams done every three months until the age of two.

It has been a very unexpected month for the family. A month filled with hospital stays, multiple appointments and hard conversations.

With all that has transpired and the navigation of multiple appointments for both Madison and Genna, Genna will not be able to return to work until Madison is healthy enough to attend child care and Genna herself is back up to par. This undoubtedly puts financial strain on the family. The McCalslin family is very appreciative of the prayers and anything you’d be able to contribute to help them get through this chapter.