Hello! Can you believe that in a week & half Blake will begin a new milestone as he walks across the stage to receive his High School diploma from Willis High School!! This is such a huge accomplishment for any young adult, let alone one who is blind with special needs. Blake has struggled with many serious medical conditions that have made it difficult for him to even do simple things like walking. He has a rare condition called Septo-Optic Dysplasia & Diabetes Insipidus (SOD-DI) which is caused by a malformation of the brain during eutero. In Blake's case it's basically a Lg hole in the central/occipital region where crucial hormones are made & the camera for the eyes is located which Blake does not have so that's why he is blind. Because of the area of the malformation, Blake's brain does not produce some critical hormones needed to survive & very low production of others necessary for growth & development. He does not produce ADH-antidiuretic hormone which is vital for kidneys to retain fluids so they can process & filter out elements to other organs like sodium. Without ADH, harmful elements build up in the system & fluids run straight through without proper filtering which means you must ALWAYS be very close to a restroom!! We didn't find out about this until Blake was in 5th grade, his body was tingling, swollen, & he was on the verge of having a stroke. Thankfully his thirst mechanism works which is why he was always SO THIRSTY & constantly drinking water! He would need to pee probably every 10-15 min & had LOTS of accidents!! He is also Cortisol insufficient & Growth Hormone deficient. All of which he must take synthetic replacements everyday for the rest of his life. Due to fact that Blake didn't learn how to walk until he was 5 years old, because he's blind, his bones in his feet didn't grow properly. It's very painful for him to walk long distances. He needs reconstructive surgery on both of his feet. First he must get gastric bypass surgery to loose weight before the surgeon will even consider doing his feet surgery. We could not be more proud of Blake & how hard he's worked to achieve this great honor! Regardless of the challenges he faced, including the struggles from the pandemic which he overcame like a champ! Now he begins his next journey of life! To show Blake just how proud we are of him, I thought of a way we could do that & also, to help those who would like to get him a graduation gift, but don't have a clue what to get him! Although, a graduation gift is not necessary. Adam & I want to take Blake on a super cool vacation someplace with a Waterpark & obviously stay at a HOTEL!! His little brother AJ will be going on vacation with his girlfriend & her family to Canada this summer so Adam & I would like to take Blake on his own special vacation just for him somewhere like a Jellystone Park Resort, Schlitterbahn Waterpark & Resort, Great Wolf Lodge, or Kalahari Resort & Waterpark. These are very pricey destinations, but they are packed full with so many fun things to do for kids of all ages including a hotel & Waterpark!! So this is probably the best gift we could possibly give to Blake that he would genuinely LOVE, appreciate, remember for the rest of his life!!! So we are accepting a collection of monetary gift donations to send Blake on a much needed vacation in July to commemorate his huge accomplishment in achieving his High School diploma!!

You can simply make your donation here through GoFundMe or via Jennifer's cash.app, or Venmo. I just ask if you do send your monetary gift to any of the other 2 methods of payment to please include a note saying - 4BCVacay. Thank you! I will make sure Blake knows every single person who sends him $ for his vacation! Feel free to call, text or email me (Jennifer) if you have any questions or concerns. My email address is: [email redacted]

Thank you all in advance for your love & support you all show our family!! We can't thank you enough for always being so supportive of Blake & his needs! He is truly a special young man with a great big heart of gold!! I hope we can honor him by sending him on a wonderful & relaxing vacation he will love & enjoy! Congratulations to all of the WHS class of 2023 graduates!! Best of luck to all of you in your future endeavors!

Stressed But Blessed,

Jennifer Edwards & family

JenniferCashapp

JenniferVenmo