Apollo's Recovery & Celebration
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What is this fundraiser for?
Mostly, to get a little more organised.
This is our second fundraiser - the first one reached almost £2,500 for Apollo on Facebook. We have been advised repeatedly to set up a GoFundMe as it's much more accessible. If you have already donated, either directly to me and Kate for food or to the Facebook fundraiser, please do not do any more. You have helped so so much. This is for accessibility of others to also donate as everyone is asking how they can help.
All money from the Facebook Fundraiser will be added to this and the goal is to get him anything he needs. He is likely going to have learning disabilities at best, and significant paralysis at worst.
I am hoping to raise money first to get him any disability/learning equipment he will need.
Apollo's Story
Below is a picture of my son, Apollo. He's 11 months old and will turn 1 on his birthday - Christmas Eve.
He is the happiest, easiest and loveliest baby you can imagine. He loves life more than anyone I know and he lights up the day of anyone who sees him.
On Tuesday, December 8th, Apollo had a normal morning, he had breakfast, played with his best friend Max (our dog) and threw around all of his toys in his playpen before he went down for his typical daily 3 hour nap.
After he woke up and played with his toys for around 10 minutes, he started screaming out in pain before vomiting and falling asleep at around 14:30. We had no idea what was wrong so we called an Ambulance as it was so out of character.
After 5 hours in the hospital with what we thought was a tummy bug, he passed his fluids test and was due to be discharged. Seconds before leaving at 19:30, he vomited again and had a series of 3 seizures before being placed into a medically induced coma.
A CT scan revealed that he had a brain bleed and he was moved from Royal Berkshire Hospital to John Radcliffe Hospital's PICU at 03:00.
A second scan at 9am on the 9th December it was revealed that Apollo had a ruptured brain aneurysm. This is seen once or twice a year in a child of Apollo's age. It is extremely extremely rare. After deliberation on the swiftest and best course of action, Apollo went into an indescribably dangerous surgery at 14:00 that day and didn't come out until 02:00 on the 10th.
This picture when it was taken, my wife and I believed could be the last picture of us as a family we would ever have.
I received a call from his surgeon telling us that his pupils were not responsive and that he needs to go in for another surgery to fit another drain for the fluid in his head. At just before 06:00 he came out of his second surgery and was in a stable condition.
Here he is the morning following his surgery.
On the 12th December at 09:00 we met with his doctor who explained to us that as he has been stable for 2 days, they are going to start the extremely slow process of bringing him out of sedation. There's a lot to this and it takes a long time (we were aiming for a week), but just being in this position felt like a miracle from where we were just 2 days before.
Unfortunately, on the evening of the 12th Apollo woke up a little bit too fast and his brain was extremely unhappy. When we came in to see him, his eyes were wide open and terrified, looking around. I sat with him and settled him down, stroking his face and holding his hand until his muscle relaxers kicked back in and he drifted off back to a peaceful sleep.
In the days following, Apollo has given us so many small signs to be terrified and to be hopeful. We were in limbo; calm because he was sedated and asleep, but terrified because of what we had seen. On the 15th in the evening and 16th in the morning, Apollo's blood pressure took a very rapid dive which worried his neurosurgeon. As a response, he went in for another CT scan.
This CT scan revealed that Apollo's brain swelling has gone down to a much more appropriate level and that he has had no less than 3 strokes to different places throughout his brain due to the initial bleed. We suspect that the drop in blood pressure may have been irritation to his Brain Stem, but until he is well enough for an MRI we just don't know what caused it.
On the 17th December, Apollo's neurosurgeon decided the timing was right to bring him out of sedation again, hoping that the reduced swelling will lead to a much calmer response. At around 10am we walked in and saw our little monkey's eyes open calmly for the first time in 9 days.
Today on the 18th, Apollo is still stable. His left lung had deflated as a result of being on the ventilator for so long a few days ago and this morning it came up again. He is coughing, which is a sign his brain stem is in a good place and he is moving his right hand, clinging onto our fingers, as well we wriggling his right foot/leg.
Unfortunately, the movement we have seen on his left hand/foot has been extremely minimal and we are looking at potential paralysis, as this correlates with here he has had his biggest stroke. However, it is extremely early days and there is simply no way to know what will happen.
He has time on his side - at 11 months, the brain is incredibly versatile and even if it looks like he may never walk again now, we just don't know what recovery he is capable of.
If he stays stable for a few more days, my little man can go in for an MRI and we can begin to get a much clearer idea of the damage caused and what his very long road for recovery may look like.
We are still in a very dangerous position, but we are getting closer every hour to being at least out of the life threatening phase.
When I first posted Apollo's story, it was on Facebook. Here is what I said:
"It's Apollo's first Birthday on December 24th (and my wife's birthday December 26th). I want this to be the best Christmas ever. So I'm asking, please share this story far and wide - I'm going to be asking for people to send Apollo cards - they can be get well soon, Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas - whatever you want.
I want my little boy to grow up knowing how much he is loved, how great people are and how much his smile can light up the entire world. Because I know it can.
Please share this post and keep him in your thoughts - your thoughts so far I think have helped him through the worst of it."
I did originally post our address. However, as it has gotten quite public, I have been contacted by a local pub who have offered to receive any post for him without us needing to share our address:
Apollo Woodfield
The Farriers Arms
Spencers Wood
Reading
RG7 1AE
Mostly, to get a little more organised.
This is our second fundraiser - the first one reached almost £2,500 for Apollo on Facebook. We have been advised repeatedly to set up a GoFundMe as it's much more accessible. If you have already donated, either directly to me and Kate for food or to the Facebook fundraiser, please do not do any more. You have helped so so much. This is for accessibility of others to also donate as everyone is asking how they can help.
All money from the Facebook Fundraiser will be added to this and the goal is to get him anything he needs. He is likely going to have learning disabilities at best, and significant paralysis at worst.
I am hoping to raise money first to get him any disability/learning equipment he will need.
Apollo's Story
Below is a picture of my son, Apollo. He's 11 months old and will turn 1 on his birthday - Christmas Eve.
He is the happiest, easiest and loveliest baby you can imagine. He loves life more than anyone I know and he lights up the day of anyone who sees him.
On Tuesday, December 8th, Apollo had a normal morning, he had breakfast, played with his best friend Max (our dog) and threw around all of his toys in his playpen before he went down for his typical daily 3 hour nap.
After he woke up and played with his toys for around 10 minutes, he started screaming out in pain before vomiting and falling asleep at around 14:30. We had no idea what was wrong so we called an Ambulance as it was so out of character.
After 5 hours in the hospital with what we thought was a tummy bug, he passed his fluids test and was due to be discharged. Seconds before leaving at 19:30, he vomited again and had a series of 3 seizures before being placed into a medically induced coma.
A CT scan revealed that he had a brain bleed and he was moved from Royal Berkshire Hospital to John Radcliffe Hospital's PICU at 03:00.
A second scan at 9am on the 9th December it was revealed that Apollo had a ruptured brain aneurysm. This is seen once or twice a year in a child of Apollo's age. It is extremely extremely rare. After deliberation on the swiftest and best course of action, Apollo went into an indescribably dangerous surgery at 14:00 that day and didn't come out until 02:00 on the 10th.
This picture when it was taken, my wife and I believed could be the last picture of us as a family we would ever have.
I received a call from his surgeon telling us that his pupils were not responsive and that he needs to go in for another surgery to fit another drain for the fluid in his head. At just before 06:00 he came out of his second surgery and was in a stable condition.
Here he is the morning following his surgery.
On the 12th December at 09:00 we met with his doctor who explained to us that as he has been stable for 2 days, they are going to start the extremely slow process of bringing him out of sedation. There's a lot to this and it takes a long time (we were aiming for a week), but just being in this position felt like a miracle from where we were just 2 days before.
Unfortunately, on the evening of the 12th Apollo woke up a little bit too fast and his brain was extremely unhappy. When we came in to see him, his eyes were wide open and terrified, looking around. I sat with him and settled him down, stroking his face and holding his hand until his muscle relaxers kicked back in and he drifted off back to a peaceful sleep.
In the days following, Apollo has given us so many small signs to be terrified and to be hopeful. We were in limbo; calm because he was sedated and asleep, but terrified because of what we had seen. On the 15th in the evening and 16th in the morning, Apollo's blood pressure took a very rapid dive which worried his neurosurgeon. As a response, he went in for another CT scan.
This CT scan revealed that Apollo's brain swelling has gone down to a much more appropriate level and that he has had no less than 3 strokes to different places throughout his brain due to the initial bleed. We suspect that the drop in blood pressure may have been irritation to his Brain Stem, but until he is well enough for an MRI we just don't know what caused it.
On the 17th December, Apollo's neurosurgeon decided the timing was right to bring him out of sedation again, hoping that the reduced swelling will lead to a much calmer response. At around 10am we walked in and saw our little monkey's eyes open calmly for the first time in 9 days.
Today on the 18th, Apollo is still stable. His left lung had deflated as a result of being on the ventilator for so long a few days ago and this morning it came up again. He is coughing, which is a sign his brain stem is in a good place and he is moving his right hand, clinging onto our fingers, as well we wriggling his right foot/leg.
Unfortunately, the movement we have seen on his left hand/foot has been extremely minimal and we are looking at potential paralysis, as this correlates with here he has had his biggest stroke. However, it is extremely early days and there is simply no way to know what will happen.
He has time on his side - at 11 months, the brain is incredibly versatile and even if it looks like he may never walk again now, we just don't know what recovery he is capable of.
If he stays stable for a few more days, my little man can go in for an MRI and we can begin to get a much clearer idea of the damage caused and what his very long road for recovery may look like.
We are still in a very dangerous position, but we are getting closer every hour to being at least out of the life threatening phase.
When I first posted Apollo's story, it was on Facebook. Here is what I said:
"It's Apollo's first Birthday on December 24th (and my wife's birthday December 26th). I want this to be the best Christmas ever. So I'm asking, please share this story far and wide - I'm going to be asking for people to send Apollo cards - they can be get well soon, Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas - whatever you want.
I want my little boy to grow up knowing how much he is loved, how great people are and how much his smile can light up the entire world. Because I know it can.
Please share this post and keep him in your thoughts - your thoughts so far I think have helped him through the worst of it."
I did originally post our address. However, as it has gotten quite public, I have been contacted by a local pub who have offered to receive any post for him without us needing to share our address:
Apollo Woodfield
The Farriers Arms
Spencers Wood
Reading
RG7 1AE
Organizer
Jacob Woodfield
Organizer
England
