Baby E is a little fighter!
Hello, my name is Shawna Gordon. My siblings are Georgia Beebe, Sara Hays, Zane Gossard and Ryan Gossard. This fundraiser is for Elias, who is the youngest child of our brother Ryan and wife Katrina, and most likely the last grandchild/nephew for our family. Elias has a big family: Two older brothers and three older sisters! Plus a boatload of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who adore him.
Elias or Baby E is just shy of 3 months old. Currently Baby E is at UNMC in Omaha, NE. He was taken by ambulance late last night at the request of the Infectious Disease doctors after approximately 5 days in one of our local hospitals being treated for Bacterial Meningitis. His symptoms came on very quickly and included (among others) a fever, lethargy, decreased appetite, inconsolable crankiness, and a bulging soft spot. It has been an up and down battle as they learn more about what his diagnosis is and what other symptoms have until now, remain hidden. An MRI on July 14 that he does have a 3 mm abscess on his brain. They believe that the common test taken later in the mothers pregnancy, the Group B Strep test (GBS) unfortunately was a false positive and that he was in fact born with strep, which led to the bacteria taking hold.
Right now, being at UNMC in the hands of the best Infectious Disease doctors in our state as well being close to the pediatric neurosurgeons is the best place for Baby E to be. However, this has created some new challenges for both Ryan and Katrina. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, only one parent can be with him at one time, which means at least one trip (often more) between Omaha and Lincoln a day, so that can divide time as best as possible between the other children at home and Baby E.
As of today, he is expected to be in the hospital for at least 21 days. Ryan is off on unpaid FMLA leave for this week but will need to return to work next week to insure that they have at least one income. Katrina will be off from work (no paid time leave built up again since she just had maternity leave and only recently returned to work) for an unforeseen amount of time until Baby E is home and stabilized.We are attempting to raise funds for the Gossard family to help cover the cost of multiple car trips, meals while at the hospital, childcare for the other children as needed, hotel rooms, insurance deductibles, and for any unforeseen costs due to loss of wages while taking time off to care for their sick child. We want to make sure that they do not have the added stress of a missed income and trying to figure out how to make ends meet. The funds will be used immediately and throughout the time Elias is at UNMC, and for any follow up appointments following his dismissal.
Ryan and Katrina did not ask us to create this fundraiser, but we know how devastated and stressed out they are to have a child 50 miles away in a hospital during a pandemic. We are doing our best as a family to meet their needs in anyway possible but would be forever grateful for any additional means to support our sweet nephew and his family during this difficult time. We will also be creating a meal sign up to make sure that they have easy to prepare meals and freezer meals. If you are interested in helping in any way other than mentioned, feel free to reach out to any one of us.
Thank you for helping us help Ryan, Katrina and our sweet Elias!