Smithson Family Support Fund

To understand the full extent as to why this family is deserving of your support you may need a little bit of a back story first..... After struggling through fertility treatments, Mike and Jamaica Smithson were blessed with their oldest son, Jared, and later triplets, Jaylee, John, and Jacob.Despite being the smallest, Jaylee progressed the fastest and got to come home first. Now, her parents are clinging to the memories of those extra days they were able to enjoy with her on earth. They had to face the experience of burring their only daughter to rest at just 5 months old due to SIDS. Being born prematurely can cause immediate complications, Jacob was the triplet to have one of the biggest fears for a parent. He was born with a level 4 brain bleed. He has undergone 3 brain surgeries and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in April. He has continued doctor visits and physical therapy on this very long journey of life of his. John was considered the "healthiest" of the triplets born. Other than needing antibiotics, intubation several times, and having MRSA he has been overall a happy healthy baby considering being born 3 months early. Fast forward...May 3, 2017John had throat procedure and his throat swelled up which caused him to have trouble breathing. He's in PICU at Women's and Children's hospital just for needed oxygen until swelling goes down. May 4, 2017John is intubated, sedated and paralyzed for 48 hours. His parents are hopeful that he will completely heal in that time and come home shortly after. May 6, 2017John is to have a procedure tomorrow to dilate his esophagus again. He is not getting any better. His stats have dropped numerous times today. The swelling in his airway has not gone down and continues to stay swollen around the vent tube. We have also found that he has a virus which they are stating is a very bad upper respiratory infection. May 7, 2017John was diagnosed today with Strep A and Pneumonia. They have stopped the paralysis and are increasing the sedation. We stopped the procedure this morning so that no more irritation would be done to the esophagus. Tomorrow he will be transported to Cincinnati Childrens Hospital for more in depth review. May 8, 2017 They moved him to the best children's hospital for a reason. Today they just wanted him to relax and not be under any stressful situations. "Chill John". Tomorrow they are going to probe him in every hole known to man, to find out what's wrong with him. Needs to be done, sometime by tomorrow evening, we will have a grasp on what's going on and what's going to happen.May 10, 2017 Update on John - A team of ENT's and Pulmonologist consulted with his procedure today. His airway is still very narrow and his bronchial ventricles are very swollen. With the narrowing that he has due to being a preemie, the swelling is causing serious problems with his vocal chords, esophagus and his entire airway. Everything is massively swollen. The tube he has been intubated with was too large, so while doing the procedure, they replaced it with a smaller tube through the nose. Their plan is to keep him sedated until Monday to see if the swelling can decrease on its own. After that, the plans are up in the air as far as if he should get a tracheotomy or not. This sweet boy and his family have been through so much more than one family should have to bare. John come into this world as a triplet which makes him a natural born fighter and that's exactly what he is doing right now! These fund are being raised to help with lost wages, travel expenses, medical bills, and much more as they are in a different state tending to Johns beside.