My name is Cyndi and I figured I'd share a little bit about what's going on with our family. On 08/31/24, I became extremely short of breath and my husband, Austin, took me to the emergency room. I was told I had severe pre-eclampsia and would need to stay in the hospital until after our son was born. I was able to work for a couple of weeks from the hospital, but then I got too swollen and was having trouble speaking, so I was unable to continue working. On 09/26/2024 at 26 weeks, our son Maximus Gary Macias was born. He weighed 2 lbs, 0.8 oz and was 13 inches long. Max was placed on a ventilator and oxygen to help him breathe. He was not so good at doing this on his own. The nurses of the NICU underestimated Max's strength and he sneakily pulled out his breathing tube for the ventilator. Unfortunately, that caused him to develope pneumonia. He was on a 10 day course of antibiotics and later they also started him on steroids to help him out. Just when he was starting to get better, I developed an infection in my C-section scar and ended up having to have 2 more surgeries to clean the infection out. After this, I was on a wound vac to help prevent infection and encourage healing. As a type one diabetic, my body sure doesn't want to fight things off. Now today, we found out Max is really struggling. His oxygen needs are up and they believe this is caused by stopping the steroid. They have started him on a very low dose of hydrocortisone for a couple of weeks to try and get it to calm down a bit.

All this being said, I have not been able to work for quite some time. Austin is working, but it's not enough income to cover all our bills plus buy groceries and food for our animals. I am humbly asking for help during this incredibly difficult time. Any small amount would be greatly appreciated. This has been so difficult for poor Austin who has had to navigate work, visiting his son, and also visiting his wife. We also live 50 miles round trip to and from the NICU. It's expensive to even go see our son. Any money you donate will go to paying our bills, being able to afford food, and being able to go see our son over in the NICU. You would also be helping me be able to afford going to my wound care appointments on Mondays and Thursdays. Thank you so much for thinking of us.