Baby Jonathan's Medical Expenses

Hello Facebook Family meet Baby Jonathan. Baby Jonathan's Dad Brad is one of my co-workers. He and his wife Jessica are a beautiful couple that love the Lord. Baby Jonathan is their only child. They found out they were expecting Jonathan while trying to diagnose a thyroid mass that Jessica has. This mass makes her feel tired and cold the majority of the time. She has had 2 biopsies that have come back inconclusive and is waiting on the results of a third biopsy. She will likely need surgery sometime this fall. During her pregnancy, Brad and Jessica learned that Jonathan has Down Syndrome. To everyone's joy Jonathan was born June 19, 2017! Our team was so excited to meet him. Sadly, after he was born, the doctors discovered Jonathan has a severe heart defect. Because of his heart defect, any illness Jonathan catches will make him more sick than a typical child. In an effort to keep him healthy Jonathan's mom and dad didn't bring him to meet us (or anyone else). Despite their best efforts Jonathan caught Rhinovirus, a common cold virus in children. Here is a timeline of that story:

July 22: Twice, early in the morning, Jonathan turned blue and had trouble breathing. Brad and Jessica called the pediatrician who sent them to the Emergency Room. Jonathan was admitted to the hospital. Because of his heart defect the doctors were hesitant to put Jonathan on oxygen since it could actually be detrimental. Brad and Jessica spent a sleepless night watching their baby struggle to breath. He has huge amounts of mucus, that he can't clear out on his own, that keeps blocking his nose and airway.

July 23: Jonathan is placed on oxygen and forced air (called high flow) to support his breathing. He continues to have lots of mucus that makes breathing very difficult. Special tests are done to assess Jonathan's swallowing and to look for reflux. Changes were made to his food, and eating became much easier.

July 24-25: Jonathan still has large amounts of mucus, but it is decreasing. His oxygen and breathing support are gradually weaned until he is no longer on any support.

July 26: Jonathan goes home. Brad and Jessica are nervous because Jonathan still has so much mucus. However, they understand that Rhinovirus and the mucus can last several weeks, and they should be able to manage at home.

July 31: Jonathan's congestion worsened over the course of the weekend making breathing and eating spiral down. Brad and Jessica spent hours with Jonathan in a steamy bathroom and under a vaporizer trying to get the mucus thin enough to come out with their Nose Frida. They took Jonathan to his pediatrician hoping he would have some suggestions that would help. The doctor didn't like how Jonathan looked and sent him to the Emergency Room again. Jonathan was readmitted to the hospital and still had Rhinovirus.

August 7: Since Baby Jonathan was still in the hospital Brad and Jessica decided that Brad should return to work and Jessica should continue to stay at the hospital with the baby.

August 8: While at work Brad received a call that Jonathan's breathing had suddenly gotten much worse and the doctors were considering putting a breathing tube down Jonathan's throat to help him breathe. Jonathan was moved to ICU. Thankfully, Jonathan's breathing improved with just increased forced air and they did not have to put in a breathing tube. There was concern that Jonathan was getting his food in his lungs. After lots of tears, Brad and Jessica agreed to allow a feeding tube to be inserted into Jonathan's nose and down to his tummy.

August 10: After 3 nights in ICU Jonathan was stable enough to go back to the cardiac floor.

August 13: Jonathan is still in the hospital. He is getting stronger every day. He continues to be fed through the tube in his nose, and he still needs the high flow air but no oxygen. Brad and Jessica are hopeful Jonathan will get to go home this week. If he does get to go he will have a slew of medical equipment with him.

There is some good that has come out of this ordeal. Originally the doctors thought Jonathan's heart defect was so severe he would have to be 6 months old before he could have surgery to repair it. Instead they have found that, while still severe, his defect can be repaired as soon as he has recovered from this illness. At the end of August or early September Jonathan can have his heart repaired. He will have to test negative for a number of viruses before the surgeon is willing to take him to the OR. (If a virus is present in his body it could flood his system while he is under anesthesia and it could take 2 weeks or more to get him off the ventilator.)

Brad and Jessica are both working parents. Brad is going to return to work again soon and go back on FMLA for Jonathan's sugary. Jessica is staying home to care for Jonathan. She is on FMLA and is using PTO to supplement their income. Her PTO will run out. In the meantime, Jonathan's medical bills are stacking up. They have paid several co-pays, as well as expenses their insurance does not cover. They have no idea when they will cap out their coverage.

Facebook Family, please assist in anyway that you can to help with Baby Jonathan's medical expenses. There is no amount too small.