Baby Ed Buffington ❤️❤️ (Hypoplastic left heart)

Hello everyone. This year has been a difficult one. We have never asked for help like this but we are really needing it, prayers as well. 

Our baby boy, Edward Glenn Buffington has Left Hypo-plastic Heart Syndrome. We had to temporarily move our family to Colorado so we could deliver him at the Children’s Hospital. We left our home state (Alaska), in April. I flew with three of our kids while my husband drove our vehicle down the ALCAN hwy with our now 6 year old.

 Our baby boy was born on May 02, 2022. ❤️

Our sweet Baby Edward had his first heart surgery when he was barely a week old. His heart had a little leak so they had to re-stitch a few areas. There is still a tiny leak but barely enough for concern we were told. 

In July, he had to have an emergency procedure to put a stent in his heart. They inserted the stent through his groin, poor baby. :( 

 Right before he got the stent, he was having issues breathing and with circulation and his coloring was a grayish blue. Was a big scare but he pulled through quick. 

He still uses a home oxygen tank at nights on the lowest setting, and occasionally during the day when needed.

His left vocal chord was paralyzed due to the heart surgery so he wasn’t able to feed by mouth. He needed G-tube feeding, (through his belly) for the first two months. Eventually he was able to slowly increase to thickened oral feeds using Gelmix (not covered by insurance). 

 It took some time but his vocal chord is all better now, and he is able to take normal oral feeds! 

We use still the G-tube to administer his 6 different medications.

Our insurance covers a lot but we still have a huge portion of medical bills to pay off, including paying for medications and his formula. He needs special formula due to his heart condition. It’s painful for his chest when he spits up or has heart burn.

We have had a few scares but God has been good. We tried to manage in Grand Junction but it was too far from the hospital. Driving a 4 and a half hour drive back and forth for his appts and heart echos was straining financially. 

My husband has been back home in Alaska trying to manage work and our other three kids. I am only able to keep two with me where I am staying in Denver; The Ronald McDonald house. (Highly recommend looking up if you haven’t heard if it.)

 Two of our kids are starting school soon and I am unable to be there to help my husband. He has to constantly worry about child care with our kiddos just so he can go to work to maintain our mortgage, keep our insurance, and support our family. 

Side note we closed on a house in april before we made the journey, but have yet to live in it as a family.

Our sweet baby Boy has another surgery coming up, during the first week of September. The Norwood Glenn Procedure. (Glenn just happens to be his middle name.)❤️

Baby Edward won’t be able to come home for about 3 weeks to a Month after this next surgery. Unsure of when we will be back in Alaska. When we do make the transition home, my husband will have to fly to Denver then drive our vehicle up the ALCAN hwy back to Alaska. 

When home in Kenai, we will need to make drives to Anchorage for his future appts. If anything serious happens he will need to go back to the Children’s Hosptial in Denver, Colorado. He will have another surgery when he is around 3 years old, then more as he gets older. 

We have a long journey ahead however we know God is with us.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Baby’s story.

Any help, even prayers or shares of this Go fund me would be deeply appreciated. ❤️❤️❤️

No donation is too small! Every penny adds up.