Bryce Swearengin
Donation protected
On December 18th, 2012 my grandson Bryce was born. It was a day filled with such joy and love and I was so excited to have such a beautiful grandchild. But sadly, my grandson was born with spinal bifida and hydrocephalus. Just 5 hours old, he was in surgery. His first surgery was to correct the spinal bifida, where you are born with your nerves on the outside of your body.
Just two weeks later, he had to have a shunt inserted into his skull which helps drain the spinal fluid into his stomach. If he is without this, the pressure from all the fluid builds up and he starts to throw up and cannot function like normal. Just the two surgeries alone, have set my daughter back several thousand dollars.
Just a couple of months ago, Bryce had to undergo emergency surgery. The scar over the protruding shunt became infected and peeled off. This left the shunt tubing in his skull completely exposed. This posed even more health concerns as he was at a higher risk of infection. He was rushed into surgery to remove the existing shunt. The surgery was successful and the doctors were hopeful that he would be able to go without a shunt now. Unfortunately, his brain was unable to drain all the fluid by itself, and just days later he was rushed into surgery again. This time, a shunt was placed on the other side of his head.
Now, almost a year, old he has undergone five surgeries. They have poked and prodded him, but he has stayed strong. He doesn't fuss much, and always has a smile on his face, mostly because he wants to stay strong his mom. My daughter works so hard to keep up with his medical expenses, but each surgery costing several thousand dollars; it has become impossible to keep up with. She is $90,000 in debt due to medical expenses, and they keep increasing. The insurance max has already been reached and she is now waiting until next year just to be able to get her son into physical therapy sessions. These sessions are detrimental to the future for my grandson. He needs physical therapy sessions twice a week, and the insurance company will only approve 60 sessions per year. We are at a point where we need help. My grandson needs these physical therapy sessions just to have a chance to walk later in life. He can sit up, but isn't able to pull himself up or crawl like children his age can. He tries so hard to get up and walk, but he struggles because of the numbness in his feet due to the spinal bifida. We are asking for help to not only pay the medical expenses that have already been incurred, but to the future ones. He will need braces to be able to walk, and the insurance company will only provide one pair. He will also need a walker and constant occupational therapy because he is behind on his gross motor skills due to his condition.
Throughout this whole ordeal, my daughter has managed to stay incredibly strong. She works as much as she can at a bank, but this doesn't pay nearly enough to cover the debt she has. She does not qualify for government assistance. Even though she does work, with all the bills and normal household expenses there is still no money. She is currently living in a one bedroom apartment and not enough room for baby Bryce to live in. She stays with me sometimes so that I can help take care of Bryce and so that he also has plenty of space for when he does start walking.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Just two weeks later, he had to have a shunt inserted into his skull which helps drain the spinal fluid into his stomach. If he is without this, the pressure from all the fluid builds up and he starts to throw up and cannot function like normal. Just the two surgeries alone, have set my daughter back several thousand dollars.
Just a couple of months ago, Bryce had to undergo emergency surgery. The scar over the protruding shunt became infected and peeled off. This left the shunt tubing in his skull completely exposed. This posed even more health concerns as he was at a higher risk of infection. He was rushed into surgery to remove the existing shunt. The surgery was successful and the doctors were hopeful that he would be able to go without a shunt now. Unfortunately, his brain was unable to drain all the fluid by itself, and just days later he was rushed into surgery again. This time, a shunt was placed on the other side of his head.
Now, almost a year, old he has undergone five surgeries. They have poked and prodded him, but he has stayed strong. He doesn't fuss much, and always has a smile on his face, mostly because he wants to stay strong his mom. My daughter works so hard to keep up with his medical expenses, but each surgery costing several thousand dollars; it has become impossible to keep up with. She is $90,000 in debt due to medical expenses, and they keep increasing. The insurance max has already been reached and she is now waiting until next year just to be able to get her son into physical therapy sessions. These sessions are detrimental to the future for my grandson. He needs physical therapy sessions twice a week, and the insurance company will only approve 60 sessions per year. We are at a point where we need help. My grandson needs these physical therapy sessions just to have a chance to walk later in life. He can sit up, but isn't able to pull himself up or crawl like children his age can. He tries so hard to get up and walk, but he struggles because of the numbness in his feet due to the spinal bifida. We are asking for help to not only pay the medical expenses that have already been incurred, but to the future ones. He will need braces to be able to walk, and the insurance company will only provide one pair. He will also need a walker and constant occupational therapy because he is behind on his gross motor skills due to his condition.
Throughout this whole ordeal, my daughter has managed to stay incredibly strong. She works as much as she can at a bank, but this doesn't pay nearly enough to cover the debt she has. She does not qualify for government assistance. Even though she does work, with all the bills and normal household expenses there is still no money. She is currently living in a one bedroom apartment and not enough room for baby Bryce to live in. She stays with me sometimes so that I can help take care of Bryce and so that he also has plenty of space for when he does start walking.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Organizer
Leda Bell
Organizer
Spring, TX
