Verhonica's Butterflies Fund
On April 9th, 2012
My daughter Verhonica was born.. shortly after birth she started having stridor. Verhonica was taken to the "special care center" of the hospital she was born at. Verhonica had stopped breathing several times through out her first night of life and the nurses there "fixed" this problem by flicking her feet..Verhonica also had a major stroke at 30 hours of life, that went undetected until moved to a new hospital.
After two days of begging Verhonica was finally moved to a better more experienced hospital - where everyone loved her. Unfortunately Verhonica could not fight any more and doctors were unable to put the pieces of her puzzle together to find out what exactly happened to our baby. Verhonica passed away on April 30th, 2012.
Verhonica had an autopsy shortly after her passing to find out what had caused her to be so sick.
*2 Months after Verhonica's passing we got news from CHOP that Verhonica had a one in a million disease called Neonatal Hemochromatosis. Neonatal Hemochromatosis is where my antibodies attack a babies liver while in the womb. There are no tests or way to detect this on ultrasound. The first case of "NH" was reported in 1970, but the amount of babies and families this rare disease is effecting is on the rise.*
Since we were able to get Verhonica's autopsy slides sent to CHOP and not Texas, Albany Med covered the cost of transporting those slides.
Our gofundme page is now in honor of our nonprofit organization we made for our baby in her memory. (www.facebook.com/VerhonicasButterflies)
Verhonica's Butterflies' goal is to raise money for Neonatal Hemochromatosis research since so little is known about the disease, and ultimately there is no cure - only protocol for now. We also raise money for babies and families who are also fighting battles in the Albany Med. NICU. And last but not least, our over all goal would be to eventually become a big enough organization to help families pay the unexpected cost of gravestones for their babies, no baby should have to go unmarked - and no parents/family should have to handle the unexpected news that they will have to bury a baby.
Even $5 can help our organization :)
Thank you <3!
