Support Gavin Schulte's Summer of Surgery and Recovery

Have you heard of the Butterfly effect?

The Coppages' relationship with the Schultes is definitely one of those life changing things that happened because of something small. What if Andrea or I hadn't decided to do curriculum writing? What if the Vipers had enough players for another year? What if Olivia didn't have camp so both kids came with me? What if Cole hadn't been wearing his Vipers hat? What if Caeden hadn't played for the Vipers many years before? The Butterfly effect is the belief that one tiny event can have a larger impact on life as a whole. Our Butterfly effect is how that one little baseball conversation turned into many years of laughs, memories, and love...so, of course we want to help the Schultes in any way we can.

Many people in Queen Anne's County, and beyond, know either Andrea (a former QACPS Teacher of the Year), Brendan (the former KIHS Varsity Baseball Coach), Caeden or Gavin Schulte. You may have seen them laying wreaths, organizing collections for children in foster care, as coaches and members of the unified weightlifting team... but did you know that Gavin has been suffering a silent health battle for many years?

Gavin's Silent Battle

Gavin has a severe case of Pectus Excavatum (also known as funnel chest) which is a malformation of the chest wall that causes the sternum and rib cage to sink in. Gavin's heart has become displaced because of his condition and his quality of life has begun to decline over the last 18 months. The family has done a ton of research to find the best solution, since Gavin will be attending Virginia Tech in the fall, and won't be close to home. Everything seemed to lined up and set to happen this summer...but the insurance company has denied them (after many appeals), because they say Gavin's condition isn't life threatening.

Technically, right now it isn't...unless something happens where he might need CPR. Gavin's heart is wedged into his left lung since his sternum has become so close to his spine. So, CPR may be ineffective on him, since compressions wouldn't actually be on his heart. He's been an athlete since age 4 and goes to the gym every day, but his cardiovascular stamina is so diminished now that his body startles awake numerous times a night because his brain panics. He even struggled to finish his senior baseball season this year because just a single sprint for a fly ball would double him over, since it was difficult to breathe.

The Journey

The Schultes have seen 7 specialists who all deem this surgery necessary, and the lawyer thought their appeal was a slam dunk because an insurance company had never actually said no to someone with data like Gavin's. His Haller index, which is the measurement used to assess a chest wall deformity is 5.7, and anything over 3.5 is considered severe. Currently the Schultes have a top surgeon who studied under Dr. Nuss (the inventor of the procedure Gavin needs), who is confident he can help Gavin and is determined to do so. He's been amazingly supportive, flexible and kind. He's simply a passionate master of this specialty and he makes Gavin comfortable like no one else has. He has invented a far less invasive pain management protocol with outstanding success rates, far exceeding the norm, which regional hospitals still have not yet adopted due to the surgical time investment. The "norm" is full chest cryo which comes with a host of complications (including damaging nearby healthy organs) that the Schultes just are not comfortable with.

The Procedure

Gavin's sternum will be lifted by a crane and two titanium bars will be inserted and flipped to lift his chest. This will relieve the pressure on his organs and allow them to move back to where they belong. The bars will remain for about 4 years before they are removed. Gavin's surgery remains scheduled for July 10th in Paramus, NJ because the amazing surgeon is working with the Schultes financially to make sure Gavin makes it to college on time. He will be in the ICU for 4-5 days after the procedure, and then steps down to recovery for about a week, before being released to come home.

The Humble Request

Since these surgeries happen inches above Gavin's beating heart, he deserves a surgeon who's done it before. Andrea and Brendan's unwillingness to compromise the best care and outcome for their son has placed them in a financially difficult situation. They have to pay the entire $20,000 of his surgery, since the insurance will not budge at all. Since the procedure in is New Jersey, there is also hotel, food, and travel expenses for the weeks Gavin is in the hospital and recovering there. This doesn't even include the over $1000 that they have already spent on hotels, gas, copays, and post surgery furniture that Gavin will need during his recovery at home. Plus Gavin will spend the majority of his last summer as a "kid" in recovery. Until the surgery he has to keep up his cardiovascular health with daily workouts at the gym too. This makes it difficult for him to make money for himself before attending college.

ANY donation is EXTREMELY appreciated.

Use of Funds

-Medical expenses

-Hotel, food, and travel expenses

-Recovery needs for Gavin