Meshelle Puckett

Meshelle's Go Fund Me account will be used to help her parents, Ryan and Kristi Puckett, with the various expenses related to caring for a terminally ill child. This includes gas to and from the hospital (the Pucketts easily drive over 1,000 miles a month to and from the hospital), meals while at the many extended stays at Kaiser Roseville, co-pays, and accrued debt related to Meshelle's care.  

Kristi and Ryan Puckett

The Pucketts are a wonderful christian couple that have endured much heartache in the 6 years that they have been married. Their first child, James, died suddenly at the age of 10 months. The doctors had no answers as to what had been ailing baby James. The Pucketts saught the advice of geneticists to see if what was ailing James could be an inherited trait. The doctors agreed that this was a one in million situation and said that it was probably a random mutation...like a lightning strike....surely it was safe to have more children.  

James Puckett

Kristi soon found out that she was expecting another child. The family was so happy that a child was on the way. Although another baby could never replace their first child, James....the thought of having a child to hold in her arms brought some joy into her heart. Shortly after that, Kristi was experiencing intense pain. They discovered that it was an eptopic pregnancy and rushed Kristi into surgery. Not only did she lose the baby...but she also lost a fallopian tube. Kristi was crushed that her chances of getting to hold another baby in her arms would now be cut in half.... so when they found out that Kristi was expecting a third time the family was elated!!! They were expecting a baby girl. 

Kristi and Meshelle (1 day old)

When Meshelle was a few months old she started displaying symptoms that were similar to her brother's. The family was trying to put on a brave front with positive hopes and by not verbalizing their fears.  Unfortunatly their fears were confirmed when the doctors actively started searching for an official diagnoses. They ran many tests and slowly started to rule out genetic diseases one at a time. At this time Kristi decided that working was no longer an option for her. So she quit her job as a Christian School teacher and started caring for Meshelle full time. 

Meshelle had a feeding tube at just a few months old

In addition to Meshelle's health problems, Kristi is an epileptic (in no way related to the condition that her children were diagnosed with). Her seizures are stress-induced.  As you can imagine, caring for a sick child is incredibly stressful...therefore Krisi's seizures were out of control.  Kristi and Ryan decided that it was best for Kristi to temporarily move in with her family in order to have help with Meshelle's care, so Kristi moved to Red Bluff to be with her family while Ryan stayed in Fairfield.

The Puckets had a baby boy after Meshelle.  His name is Levi and praise the Lord he is a healthy and thriving 1 year old that gets into everything and is full of energy and curiousty.

Slowly the costs of having a sick child became too much for the Pucketts to handle.  Ryan gave up their apartment and moved to Sacramento to live with extended family in order to save money on apartment costs and be closer to the hospital and Meshelle's specialists. This was a major inconvenience to Ryan because he works in San Francisco. His daily commute is now a total of 4 hours!!! On his days off he drives straight from work in San Francisco to Red Bluff so that he can spend time with his wife and children. 

A year and a half after Meshelle started displaying symptoms the doctors finally gave an officail diagnosis. Meshelle has Pontocerebellar hypoplasia (PCH1) 

Kristi preparing to give Meshelle her medicine

All forms of this condition are characterized by impaired brain development, delayed development overall, problems with movement, and intellectual disability. Many children with pontocerebellar hypoplasia live only into infancy or childhood, although some affected individuals have lived into adulthood. PCH1 causes problems with muscle movement resulting from a loss of specialized nerve cells called motor neurons in the spinal cord, similar to another genetic disorder known as spinal muscular atrophy. Individuals with PCH1 also have very weak muscle tone (hypotonia), joint deformities called contractures, vision impairment, and breathing and feeding problems that are evident from early infancy.

Meshelle (Two and a half years old) listening to Kristi sing a lullaby. 

What you can do to help

1. Pray for strength for the Puckett family.

2. Pray for wisdom for the doctors as they treat Meshelle.

3. Donate to Meshelle's Go Fund Me account.

4. Share this post. Statistics show that the most successful Go Fund Me campaigns are shared numerous times so that it reaches many people as fast as possible.