Autumn's Cerebral Palsy Journey

My beautiful niece, Autumn, has been a fighter her entire life. She was born prematurely after a complicated pregnancy. Immediately after she was born, she was admitted to the NICU and her mom was admitted to the ICU after preeclampsia evolved into pulmonary edema and heart failure. She battled severe jaundice as a newborn and as her life has progressed she has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, hypotonia and thyroid disease along with concerns that she is having seizures that are affecting the speech center of her brain and keep her from getting restful sleep. Due to her medical conditions, Autumn has limited speech abilities as well as the inability to swallow solid foods and is unable to feed herself. Considering the odds against her, it is amazing that she is able to walk and even run, although she does fall more than most kids. By the end of the day, she struggles to climb stairs and even walk - especially after intense occupational and physical therapy appointments. Through all of this, she never gives up! I would love to see her get the help she needs so she can do more of the things kids her age do.

Autumn and her hard-working, single mom need your help. In spite of my sister working full time, they've spent so much of Autumn's four years of life going to countless doctor visits, specialist appointments, surgeries, physical therapy, speech therapy, chiropractic adjustments, feeding therapy and traveling to meet the best doctors in hopes of finding answers. After a recent MRI/brain scan, they lived several days with the nightmare possibility that she may have a brain tumor. After even more testing, they thankfully were able to rule out a brain tumor and cerebral palsy was confirmed. Hearing that about your baby is so painfully hard, but at least now Autumn and her momma have a path and treatment options to pursue.  

Because many of the specialists and procedures that Autumn needs are not covered by insurance, are out of network, or do not accept insurance at all, Autumn's family has exhausted all of their resources.  Autumn's mom is struggling to gather funds for an upcoming surgery to reconstruct her palate, jaw and open her airway to allow more oxygen to get to her brain. We're hoping this surgery will help this baby to get some rest so she can simply feel just a little bit better, and possibly even allow her to communicate with those around her just a little bit better. After this upcoming surgery, Autumn will continue to need therapies, surgical procedures, lab work, imaging, as well as assistive devices like a walker, leg braces and a tablet to communicate her needs just to name a few, so the costs are never ending. But with these funds, Autumn would be in a better place to live her life a little bit more normally, and would be able to engage with the world around her just a little bit more.  Every little bit makes a big difference! We are hopeful that eventually there will be a cure for cerebral palsy, but in the meantime we have to make sure that Autumn gets the care that she deserves!