Help for Paxton's Expenses
Donation protected
In December of 2011 our son Paxton was born. Paxton was born a perfect, healthy, 7 lb baby boy. 24 hours later all that would change. Paxton started refusing food and started vomiting. He was immediately admitted to the NICU and at 3 days old has his first major surgery, and our lives changed. Paxton was diagnosed with a mid-gut volvulos (basically, his intestines were twisted in a knot) and the surgeon, after 3 surgeries, ultimately removed all but 20 cm of his small intestine. He instantly became a "Short Gut" kid (diagnosed with Short Gut Syndrome). This means that his body does not digest and absorb food like our bodies do, and he must rely on tube feeds and IV nutrition to gain weight and grow.
In 3 years, we've made a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go. Paxton spent 5 months in the NICU before coming home to us. He has had several re-hospitalizations since, 22 surgeries, a central line (semi permanent IV) and a feeding tube. He is also hearing impaired and speech/language impaired. He wears hearing aids and sees a speech therapist 3 times a week. Despite all this, he is an amazing, happy little boy.
Unfortunately, all of this takes a financial toll on our family. Mom (Roxanne) had to quit her full time job in order to take over Paxton's medical care. At this time, Paxton has doctor's appointments or therapy appointments 5 days a week. Many of Paxton's medicines are not covered by insurance. Paxton can only drink Pedialyte as his body absorbs it better than water (and we all know how expensive Pedialyte is :)) Our out of pocket and co-pays have gotten too high for our one salary. We had a small savings built up, but between medical bills and expenses and living expenses that is gone. Our one salary is not enough to keep up, and some weeks we have a hard time coming up with the money to buy groceries, let alone pay any medical bills, most of which are in collections. Roxanne can not yet return to work, as Paxton still requires daily interventions and appointments.
And so we turn to you, our family and our friends. We waited this long because we did not want to burden anyone, but we are at a point where we could use the help.
Thank you for reading Paxton's story, and for any little bit you can contribute :)
Roxanne
In 3 years, we've made a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go. Paxton spent 5 months in the NICU before coming home to us. He has had several re-hospitalizations since, 22 surgeries, a central line (semi permanent IV) and a feeding tube. He is also hearing impaired and speech/language impaired. He wears hearing aids and sees a speech therapist 3 times a week. Despite all this, he is an amazing, happy little boy.
Unfortunately, all of this takes a financial toll on our family. Mom (Roxanne) had to quit her full time job in order to take over Paxton's medical care. At this time, Paxton has doctor's appointments or therapy appointments 5 days a week. Many of Paxton's medicines are not covered by insurance. Paxton can only drink Pedialyte as his body absorbs it better than water (and we all know how expensive Pedialyte is :)) Our out of pocket and co-pays have gotten too high for our one salary. We had a small savings built up, but between medical bills and expenses and living expenses that is gone. Our one salary is not enough to keep up, and some weeks we have a hard time coming up with the money to buy groceries, let alone pay any medical bills, most of which are in collections. Roxanne can not yet return to work, as Paxton still requires daily interventions and appointments.
And so we turn to you, our family and our friends. We waited this long because we did not want to burden anyone, but we are at a point where we could use the help.
Thank you for reading Paxton's story, and for any little bit you can contribute :)
Roxanne
Organizer
Roxanne DiNenna Clark
Organizer
Orlando, FL
