Care for Calvin
Donation protected
As family members of sweet little Calvin Monroe, we would like to share his story to raise money to help offset the expenses his parents are facing.
Calvin Monroe, son of Josh and Holly Monroe and younger brother to 22 month old Abe, was born with a birth defect called Ebstein Anomaly, a defect of the tricuspid valve in his heart. Normally if you are born with this, it doesn't show up until you are older. Through some unusual circumstances, it was discovered shortly after he was born on October 1st 2014. He was put under the care of a pediatric cardiologist and everything seemed to be going well (he was nursing well, growing and gaining weight and the tests on his heart looked good.)
On December 31st Calvin took a turn for the worst and had to be taken to the emergency room. They found that he was in SVT (supra ventricular tachycardia, an incredibly fast heart rate). While there, they tried to convert his fast heart rate (SVT) into a normal heart rate and were unsuccessful and had to resuscitate him and put him on a ventilator to help him breath. He was then admitted to the PICU where he was quickly attended to by cardiologists and other specialists.
Because of his extremely enlarged and overworked heart, he underwent a procedure where he was put on ECMO, a huge machine which circulates his blood for him. This was to help rest his stretched and tired heart. Prior to being put on the ECMO machine (which is like bypass), his heart was functioning at approximately 25% of what it should be. The Cardiologist would like to see his heart respond (swelling to go down, etc.) so that they can wean him off the ECMO machine to be able to do the open heart surgery needed to repair his anomaly. (He has to be on blood thinners while on the ECMO machine and they are unable to do the surgery until he is off the blood thinners.)
At this time he is fully dependant on the machines that are regulating his heart rate and breathing. He also has a feeding tube in where they are adminisering breast milk for him. Only one of the doctors has ever heard or seen this happen before. It's extremely rare.
As a family, we are praying for a miracle for Calvin. In the meantime, his parents need help with all the expenses involved with this whole very difficult situation.
Calvin Monroe, son of Josh and Holly Monroe and younger brother to 22 month old Abe, was born with a birth defect called Ebstein Anomaly, a defect of the tricuspid valve in his heart. Normally if you are born with this, it doesn't show up until you are older. Through some unusual circumstances, it was discovered shortly after he was born on October 1st 2014. He was put under the care of a pediatric cardiologist and everything seemed to be going well (he was nursing well, growing and gaining weight and the tests on his heart looked good.)
On December 31st Calvin took a turn for the worst and had to be taken to the emergency room. They found that he was in SVT (supra ventricular tachycardia, an incredibly fast heart rate). While there, they tried to convert his fast heart rate (SVT) into a normal heart rate and were unsuccessful and had to resuscitate him and put him on a ventilator to help him breath. He was then admitted to the PICU where he was quickly attended to by cardiologists and other specialists.
Because of his extremely enlarged and overworked heart, he underwent a procedure where he was put on ECMO, a huge machine which circulates his blood for him. This was to help rest his stretched and tired heart. Prior to being put on the ECMO machine (which is like bypass), his heart was functioning at approximately 25% of what it should be. The Cardiologist would like to see his heart respond (swelling to go down, etc.) so that they can wean him off the ECMO machine to be able to do the open heart surgery needed to repair his anomaly. (He has to be on blood thinners while on the ECMO machine and they are unable to do the surgery until he is off the blood thinners.)
At this time he is fully dependant on the machines that are regulating his heart rate and breathing. He also has a feeding tube in where they are adminisering breast milk for him. Only one of the doctors has ever heard or seen this happen before. It's extremely rare.
As a family, we are praying for a miracle for Calvin. In the meantime, his parents need help with all the expenses involved with this whole very difficult situation.
Organizer
Calvin's Family
Organizer
Grand Rapids, MI
