Billings Family Medical & Travel
Donation protected
If you cannot help financially, prayers are appreciated! Gift cards for gas or food would be wonderful as well.
I am a friend of Chris & Allison that has been helping them for the past several months and she finally agreed to let me reach out for help. She looked over & approved this before I published it.
He is an e7 stationed at Fort Rucker and she is a disabled veteran. They have a 6 year old son, a 17 month old daughter (who was also a preemie) and their 4 month old daughter, Luna. She was born at 34 weeks and spent a couple weeks in the Dothan NICU. One week after they got home, Luna quit breathing. She was lifelined to Birmingham and admitted to UAB.
UAB had no clue what was wrong and had ruled basically everything out. They called in specialists and thought they figured it out - they thought it was an extremely rare genetic disorder. Nothing to do with being preemie. So they ran the tests and it took 6 weeks to come back. The doctors said there was nothing they were doing for her at the hospital that Chris & Allison could not do at home, so they discharged her. Doctor said whenever Luna had an episode, they had to let her code for exactly 30 seconds before intervening. Then they had to just simulate her for 30 seconds and give her the chance to pull herself out of it. If she still wasn't responding, they had to begin CPR and call 911.
The episodes were happening all day, every day; many times. They usually occurred while she was sleeping or nursing, but once it happened while she was awake, she was readmitted to UAB while they waited on the test results, which came back negative and put them back at square one. They are now doing in depth genetic testing and literally breaking her DNA down to every little chromosome and trying to find out where in her genetic makeup something went wrong. A sleep test showed that she does have two types of apnea, but that is not the root of these episodes. Her current diagnosis is Congenital Central Hypo-Ventilation Syndrom.
On February 6th, Luna came home again. She has still been having her episodes, but has always pulled out of them without any issues. Today, February 22, I was talking to Allison when Luna's monitor went off and she put me on hold. She came back and told me she was calling 911. I called her husband to notify him. Luna was taken by ambulance to the emergency room and is being lifelined back to UAB. Her doctor will make the final call once Luna arrives, but they are talking about flying her up to Chicago Children's Hospital because there isn't anything more UAB can do for her right now, unless the Billings let them do exploratory brain surgery.
The family has financially been doing this on their own for four months - making the 3 hour drive ONE WAY, every day for as long as they could. The 6 year old is in school, so they were having to come home each day and make sure he got to/from school. Chris went back to work and Allison was making the drive almost everyday. Then it had to become less frequent, like once a week, due to finances. I have been helping with the older children anytime they've needed it, They have taken this all on themselves for almost five months now and have finally agreed to reach out for help.
Parents are not allowed to ride in the transport due to liability, so they have to drive to UAB today. If Luna is transported to Chicago, Allison is going to have to get a last minute plane ticket.
I will have the older two anytime Chris is at work, but the oldest goes to school in Enterprise and I cannot transport him every day. I also have appointments I cannot take Lilja to, so additional people to help with childcare would be amazing.
Gift cards for gas, food, hotels, etc would be greatly appreciated. Medical expenses have been piling up, due to Tricare not covering everything Luna has needed. Monetary donations will go towards the cost of travel and medical bills. Allison is the only one who has the ability to withdraw money from this GoFundMe.
Please let us know if there is any way you would like to help. As of now, I will be the Point of Contact and providing updates.
I am a friend of Chris & Allison that has been helping them for the past several months and she finally agreed to let me reach out for help. She looked over & approved this before I published it.
He is an e7 stationed at Fort Rucker and she is a disabled veteran. They have a 6 year old son, a 17 month old daughter (who was also a preemie) and their 4 month old daughter, Luna. She was born at 34 weeks and spent a couple weeks in the Dothan NICU. One week after they got home, Luna quit breathing. She was lifelined to Birmingham and admitted to UAB.
UAB had no clue what was wrong and had ruled basically everything out. They called in specialists and thought they figured it out - they thought it was an extremely rare genetic disorder. Nothing to do with being preemie. So they ran the tests and it took 6 weeks to come back. The doctors said there was nothing they were doing for her at the hospital that Chris & Allison could not do at home, so they discharged her. Doctor said whenever Luna had an episode, they had to let her code for exactly 30 seconds before intervening. Then they had to just simulate her for 30 seconds and give her the chance to pull herself out of it. If she still wasn't responding, they had to begin CPR and call 911.
The episodes were happening all day, every day; many times. They usually occurred while she was sleeping or nursing, but once it happened while she was awake, she was readmitted to UAB while they waited on the test results, which came back negative and put them back at square one. They are now doing in depth genetic testing and literally breaking her DNA down to every little chromosome and trying to find out where in her genetic makeup something went wrong. A sleep test showed that she does have two types of apnea, but that is not the root of these episodes. Her current diagnosis is Congenital Central Hypo-Ventilation Syndrom.
On February 6th, Luna came home again. She has still been having her episodes, but has always pulled out of them without any issues. Today, February 22, I was talking to Allison when Luna's monitor went off and she put me on hold. She came back and told me she was calling 911. I called her husband to notify him. Luna was taken by ambulance to the emergency room and is being lifelined back to UAB. Her doctor will make the final call once Luna arrives, but they are talking about flying her up to Chicago Children's Hospital because there isn't anything more UAB can do for her right now, unless the Billings let them do exploratory brain surgery.
The family has financially been doing this on their own for four months - making the 3 hour drive ONE WAY, every day for as long as they could. The 6 year old is in school, so they were having to come home each day and make sure he got to/from school. Chris went back to work and Allison was making the drive almost everyday. Then it had to become less frequent, like once a week, due to finances. I have been helping with the older children anytime they've needed it, They have taken this all on themselves for almost five months now and have finally agreed to reach out for help.
Parents are not allowed to ride in the transport due to liability, so they have to drive to UAB today. If Luna is transported to Chicago, Allison is going to have to get a last minute plane ticket.
I will have the older two anytime Chris is at work, but the oldest goes to school in Enterprise and I cannot transport him every day. I also have appointments I cannot take Lilja to, so additional people to help with childcare would be amazing.
Gift cards for gas, food, hotels, etc would be greatly appreciated. Medical expenses have been piling up, due to Tricare not covering everything Luna has needed. Monetary donations will go towards the cost of travel and medical bills. Allison is the only one who has the ability to withdraw money from this GoFundMe.
Please let us know if there is any way you would like to help. As of now, I will be the Point of Contact and providing updates.
Organizer and beneficiary
LaShanda Moon
Organizer
Fort Rucker, AL
Allison Billings
Beneficiary
