Serenity Rose's Medical Fund
Donation protected
For those of you who do not know Mike and Renee, my brother and sister in law, they are fighters! They have had a long journey together before FINALLY tying the knot this past July after being together for nearly 10 years! When they found out they were going to be having a baby, although it was before they would have planned, they joyfully welcomed this addition to their little family. Not long after they found out, they discovered that their precious child was going to be born with Down Syndrome and several heart complications. Being the strong and faithful people that they are, they did not run from the situation, or try to terminate. Instead, they began to plan and prepare for their perfect gift from God! They welcomed their first child, Serenity Rose only 5 days ago and she is as strong and beautiful as her mamma!
Serenity was born on September 29, 2016, two weeks early, at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, with not only Down Syndrome, but also with three separate heart issues as expected. Each severe in and of themselves, but this perfect girl has to fight against three separate conditions, which means three separate Heart Surgeries.
Her first surgery will be Wednesday, October 5th, Just shy of her turning one week old. This surgery will be to repair her aorta. She has an Interruption of the Aortic Arch, which means a section of her aorta is missing. "The aorta carries oxygen-rich (red) blood from the left ventricle of the heart to all parts of the body. The aorta normally has a candy cane shape with small arteries (blood vessels carrying oxygen-rich blood) branching off, first to the head and arms and then curving down toward the belly to the lower body and legs.
In interrupted aortic arch, the first part of the aorta (which supplies blood to the head and arms) is not connected either to the second or to the third parts of the aorta (which supply blood to the lower body and legs).
This means that oxygen-rich blood pumped out of the heart cannot reach the lower body and legs normally. Instead, the descending aorta is connected to the pulmonary artery by a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus." (seattlechildrens.org)
She will hopefully be able to go home for a few months after a month or so of recovery in the hospital before heading back for her second surgery. Her second surgery will be at a few months old, where they will build a septum for her. Her second Cardiac condition is Endocardial Cushion Defect. With this there "is a hole in the wall (septum) between the right and left atria (atrial septal defect, ASD). There is also a hole in the septum between the right and left ventricles (ventricular septal defect, VSD).
In addition, the two atrioventricular valves are not formed correctly. A baby with AV septal defect may have just one larger valve opening in the middle, instead of one on each side of the heart.
Together, these problems may create a hole in the center of the baby's heart. As a result, blood does not flow the way it should between the chambers. So the heart has to work harder to pump blood to the lungs and the rest of the body." (seattlechildrens.org)
After fighting through both of these surgeries and all of the recovery time, Serenity and her parents will still have a long journey ahead of them. They will have to learn the ins and outs of raising a child with Down Syndrome, all the joys and all the struggles which that will bring. As they go on with raising Serenity, they will also be preparing for a third surgery when Serenity is a few years old. This, hopefully, final surgery will be to fix the left side of her heart, which is smaller in size than the right side.
Mike, Renee and Serenity have already defied so many odds, and now they have a long journey of defying many more together. But they need your help! While Mike and Renee will do everything in their power to provide every necessity for their sweet daughter, no one can deny that the medical bills will be great. We are asking for donations to help take a bit of pressure off of Mike and Renee financially, so they can focus on what is truly important, getting Serenity better and home!
We above all else are asking for your prayers! We truly appreciate every prayer, kind word and donation of any amount. Every little bit helps! Thank you in advance for your prayers, thoughts and donations, you will never know how much it means to Mike, Renee and our family!
Serenity was born on September 29, 2016, two weeks early, at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, with not only Down Syndrome, but also with three separate heart issues as expected. Each severe in and of themselves, but this perfect girl has to fight against three separate conditions, which means three separate Heart Surgeries.
Her first surgery will be Wednesday, October 5th, Just shy of her turning one week old. This surgery will be to repair her aorta. She has an Interruption of the Aortic Arch, which means a section of her aorta is missing. "The aorta carries oxygen-rich (red) blood from the left ventricle of the heart to all parts of the body. The aorta normally has a candy cane shape with small arteries (blood vessels carrying oxygen-rich blood) branching off, first to the head and arms and then curving down toward the belly to the lower body and legs.
In interrupted aortic arch, the first part of the aorta (which supplies blood to the head and arms) is not connected either to the second or to the third parts of the aorta (which supply blood to the lower body and legs).
This means that oxygen-rich blood pumped out of the heart cannot reach the lower body and legs normally. Instead, the descending aorta is connected to the pulmonary artery by a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus." (seattlechildrens.org)
She will hopefully be able to go home for a few months after a month or so of recovery in the hospital before heading back for her second surgery. Her second surgery will be at a few months old, where they will build a septum for her. Her second Cardiac condition is Endocardial Cushion Defect. With this there "is a hole in the wall (septum) between the right and left atria (atrial septal defect, ASD). There is also a hole in the septum between the right and left ventricles (ventricular septal defect, VSD).
In addition, the two atrioventricular valves are not formed correctly. A baby with AV septal defect may have just one larger valve opening in the middle, instead of one on each side of the heart.
Together, these problems may create a hole in the center of the baby's heart. As a result, blood does not flow the way it should between the chambers. So the heart has to work harder to pump blood to the lungs and the rest of the body." (seattlechildrens.org)
After fighting through both of these surgeries and all of the recovery time, Serenity and her parents will still have a long journey ahead of them. They will have to learn the ins and outs of raising a child with Down Syndrome, all the joys and all the struggles which that will bring. As they go on with raising Serenity, they will also be preparing for a third surgery when Serenity is a few years old. This, hopefully, final surgery will be to fix the left side of her heart, which is smaller in size than the right side.
Mike, Renee and Serenity have already defied so many odds, and now they have a long journey of defying many more together. But they need your help! While Mike and Renee will do everything in their power to provide every necessity for their sweet daughter, no one can deny that the medical bills will be great. We are asking for donations to help take a bit of pressure off of Mike and Renee financially, so they can focus on what is truly important, getting Serenity better and home!
We above all else are asking for your prayers! We truly appreciate every prayer, kind word and donation of any amount. Every little bit helps! Thank you in advance for your prayers, thoughts and donations, you will never know how much it means to Mike, Renee and our family!
Organizer and beneficiary
Allison Apuzzo Provinsal
Organizer
Long Hill, NJ
Renee Dronebarger
Beneficiary
