Drake Family Medical Fund

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
― Charles Dickens

The Drake Family needs our help. Both Melissa Bowen-Drake and baby Nolan are hospitalized and receiving treatment as I type. Let’s surround them with love and support to get them through this time of hardship.

Joe, an Active Duty member of our US Air Force, and his beautiful wife, Melissa, had been trying to conceive for some time. After eight rounds of fertility treatments and a very painful miscarriage earlier this year, they were blessed to find out that they were once again pregnant. They were ecstatic to deliver the news to Riley, Joe’s son and the light of both Joe and Melissa’s lives, who had been asking for a baby brother for every birthday and every holiday; he was finally going to get his wish! His baby brother, Nolan Joseph Drake, would join the family on January 31, 2017, if everything went as planned.

Melissa, a very active person (a fitness enthusiast), had an incredibly difficult pregnancy. Experiencing illness, gestational diabetes, and a condition known as Intrauterine Growth Restriction, she did everything she could to continue teaching fitness classes, walking her dogs, and living an active lifestyle. However, she had to have stress tests twice weekly and ultrasounds every week to monitor Nolan. She had to restrict her activity and reduce her workload to make sure the baby was receiving ample oxygen.

On Monday, November 21st, during one of her regularly-scheduled visits, doctors had some concerns. She was swollen, her blood pressure was off the charts, and blood flow to the baby was abnormal. She was diagnosed with a condition called Preeclampsia, but doctors were hopeful that they could, under strict monitoring, keep the baby in place until the pregnancy reached 34 weeks, at which point, they would deliver. Melissa was now admitted to the hospital and was part of a waiting game. On Thursday, November 24th, though, Melissa began struggling to breathe. Concerned that she may have a blood clot or pneumonia, doctors performed necessary tests and found that she had fluid in and around her lungs. She would need surgery to stabilize her, but as her condition worsened, she lost the ability to breathe on her own; her heart and her lungs were failing. The baby’s heart rate was falling, and they needed to deliver right away. She was in emergency surgery within minutes.

On November 25th at 1:58 pm, after 20 minutes of emergency surgery, Nolan was brought into the world, at 2 pounds and 3 ounces. Melissa, though, was not strong enough to breathe on her own and had to be kept in sedation and on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit for an additional six hours. It was after that that she was finally able to meet her beautiful son.

How is everyone now? Nolan is amazing and is continuing to make progress each and every day. The Drakes are in awe of him and are anxiously awaiting the day that doctors approve his release from the hospital so that he can go home.

Melissa, however, will have a longer recovery. After Nolan’s birth, she was diagnosed with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy, which is pregnancy-induced heart failure. She is under constant supervision and monitoring and, with treatment, should start to see some improvements in the coming 8-12 months. She will be medicated for the duration of her life and have regular visits with Cardiologists who monitor her heart, now at high risk for failure. She will need, at minimum, one year of cardiac rehabilitation, which is not covered under her medical insurance plan, and it will be at least this long before she is able to return to work or any semblance of a normal life.

This campaign is to raise funds to help the Drakes get through this incredibly difficult time. I thank you all, in advance, for your generosity and your willingness to lift up this family as they navigate the unfamiliar world they suddenly find themselves in. God bless.