Asher Benjamin Daigle Family Fund

Hi, my name is Asher Benjamin Daigle! I’m a 3 month old patient currently at Barbara Bush in Portland Maine, but will soon be taking a trip down to Boston Children’s Hospital for what I hope is going to be the care that I need to get big and strong and home with my mom, dad and big sister.

I was born on Halloween 5 weeks premature with a condition called Gastroschisis. In this case this meant that my small intestines developed outside of my abdomen. As scary as this sounded and looked, it went pretty well! I was fully closed up and healed perfectly with zero surgery or complications! I was growing nice and big with the help from my PICC line. Complications came and went, but they were just minor setbacks and my mom and dad continued to stay positive. Slowly, doctors and nurses were able to work me into feedings of moms milk!! I know mom worked so hard to help me get as much as I could! Sadly, in a short amount of time, these feedings became less and less, as the “minor” complications began to stack up. I began to bounce in and out of anemia with 2 blood transfusions. My Thrush really started to hurt my mouth, and my bottle and pacifier became less and less enjoyable. My Jaundice really started to make me look yellow and scary. I was clinically dehydrated 3 separate times with all occurrences lasting far too long. Through all of this, it was decided that they would remove my PICC line and ramp up my feedings. My feedings began to change drastically from here. Different milks and formulas, different volumes and timeframes. Some days I didn’t eat at all, some days I just drank pedialyte. This continued until I was moved over to Barbara Bush at 10:00 at night without my mom or dad really even knowing. 7 hours into the next day my parents finally got the information they needed to find me. But don’t worry! My Memere was able to get to me in the meantime and cuddle me while we waited. It was shortly after this transfer that my parents were told that I was now clinically malnourished on top of everything else. I was still anemic, dehydrated, jaundice, and still had my thrush. The decision was then made to reinsert my PICC in a more direct location. I now have a Broviac line in my chest and have been moved over to the PICU while the Drs work to adjust my TPN feedings, and to help keep me at a safe and stable baseline until my friends at Boston can come get me and my parents.

From the very beginning of this adventure my parents have been so strong. They have kept things more personal and closer to their direct circle and have asked for very little. But I know that they feel like this has gone too far. We are here now to share our story and allow help to come in whatever form that may be. From kind words, to prayers, to donations, to home cooked meals. We have been so lucky already to have the family and friends that we do, who have done what they have. We are just so unsure of what’s to come. We don’t know how long we will be in Boston, or how long mom and dad will be out of work. We are at a point of having more questions than answers and that’s what scares my parents the most.

The goal of this is in no way meant to bring sadness to those who read it, but rather allow them the opportunity of bringing the opposite feeling to a family in a scary time of need and uncertainty.

Thank you to all my friends and family! Please Lord allow our group of support to reach points beyond our furthest imaginations and touch all those in its path.