Help Sophie Walk
Sophie Elizabeth is an 19 month old girl who suffered from a brain injury due to her very premature birth. At only 2lbs., Sophie risked her own life to give her twin sister a chance at life when she was no longer thriving in the womb and mommmy was suffering from preeclampsia. At 27 weeks of pregnancy a medical team of 11 doctors and nurses got together to make a decision in an attempt to save the life of Grace Katherine (Sophie's twin sister). They explained that there were no gurantees that either baby would live if they were delivered and in order for Grace to be delivered, Sophie must be delivered too. The medical team advised that the best course of action would be to let Grace die in the womb and let Sophie make it further into the pregnancy for as long as mommy's preeclamsia allowed to lessen any complications of a premature birth. It was a very hard decision but we chose to do an early delivery in order to give them both, not just one, a chance at life. The twins were delivered at 27 weeks and 2 days. Sophie and Grace were carried straight into the NICU right after an emergency C-Section. Grace's weight: under 1lb, Sophie was 2 lbs. Everything seemed to be going well as both babies were still alive and following the typical course of a premmie. Our hearts were broken when at 5 days old our dear baby Grace died. Sophie continued to fight for her life and honor of her twin sister. After 70 long days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Sophie came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving 2011 on a heart monitor. She was diagnosed with an Atrial Septal Defect, a non threatening heart condition. Sophie did not meet any of the typical milestones of a baby. Although she is a super smart, outgoing social butterfly. Sophie cannot rollover, crawl, sit, stand or walk. Her hands also tend to fist, especially her left hand. She struggles to gain weight. Sophie was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. While most toddlers are walking, running, opening cupboards, and climbing furniture, Sophie spends her day lying down, propped sitting and with no mobility of her own. Sophie has made great progress in the use of her hands and head control, but minimal progress with mobility. Conventional therapies have not helped much . There are so many proven alternative therapies that would help Sophie learn to walk such as hippotherapy, dolphin therapy and the Anat Baniel Method. All are very expensive and none are covered by either insurance or Medicaid. Although Sophie has been deemed disabled by Social Security Agency, we have been denied benefits that would cover medical co payments and are on a 10 year wait list for disability assistance. We need you. Please help Sophie so that she might never need a wheelchair to get around. Please help us so that Sophie can receive the therapy that she needs to become the independent adult that we all want our kids to be. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. ALL FUNDS raised will go toward medical expenses. Follow our blog at: www.iloveyoutoeternity.blogspot.com
Why is it ALL or NOTHING?
The total amount in this campaign represents the total amount needed to travel to California in order for Sophie for receive therapies at the Anat Baniel Method center. If we cannot meet our goal , the trip cannot be completed. Since most of Sophie's local therapies are covered by our insurance, we are asking for help to cover the out of town therapies.
