Fund the Fight for Toby
Donation protected
On January 14, 2014 my sister Elizabeth, pregnant with their third child, and her husband Josh, went to a regularly scheduled 20 week anatomy ultrasound and got some devastating news. Their son, Toby was measuring an average of 3 weeks smaller than he should be, and the placenta which nourishes a developing baby in the womb, was around half the size it should be.
Initially they were told Toby would likely not survive, but wisely decided to get a second opinion. Part of that was made difficult by the fact that they had to fly halfway around the world to get it. Elizabeth is a member of the Wyoming Air National Guard who has in addition to her service, worked for N.A.T.O. out of Papa, Hungary since 2012.
Elizabeth immediately found a great perinatologist, as close to home as possible, in Denver, Colorado and flew home alone, with her husband and children only a few days behind. The perinatologist discovered that her placenta has large portions that have died off and more sections are continuing to die, causing Baby Toby's growth to be extremely restricted and meaning he will need to be delivered very early in order to survive. They've ruled out genetic issues, but still don't know what exactly caused this to happen. The only thing they can do is wait and watch and get Toby the best medical care possible. The doctors are monitoring Elizabeth and Toby very closely, and will wait as long as possible to deliver him to give him the best chance possible, but Toby will still be born somewhere between 25 and 32 weeks of gestation.
Toby will be what is called a micro-preemie, and as such will be in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for a very long time. Even a few days in a NICU can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs, but Toby will probably be there for months, not days. Elizabeth and Josh do have insurance but 10% of every bill will fall to them to pay, with no limit for a catastrophic incident like this. Their portion of the bills could well be over $100,000.00.
On top of all of this, when my sister and her family were forced to return to the U.S. so abruptly they were forced to leave behind two of their beloved family members, Kyah and Zeke. Kyah is an 11 year old Siberian Husky and Zeke is a 9 month old Great Dane.
They always knew Zeke would need special care to be moved back to the U.S. when it was time, but they were not planning on the extensive medical costs they are about to incur.
For the time being they have someone watching over Kyah and Zeke but this is not a permanent solution and they need to come home. Unfortunately because of Zeke's size, they have to come as cargo and it is looking more and more like it is going to cost around $5000.00 just to get them home. Before this, my sister and her family would have been able to make this work but with the upcoming medical bills they don't know how to make this happen, and they are worried about the safety of their furry family members. Anyone who knows Elizabeth will tell you she is extremely dedicated to her animals; I don't know anyone who loves her pets as fiercely as she does. I'd like to help bring them home, and I'm hoping you can help.
Elizabeth, Josh, Baby Toby and his big brother Oliver and sister Sarah are in for the fight of their lives, and Toby for his life. I'd like to make it a little easier and a little less stressful by helping raise as much money as we can to help get them through this time. The medical bills, bringing home Kyah and Zeke, transportation and living costs for possibly 5 or more months is an almost unimaginable amount of money, but I am hoping the generosity of friends, family and even just a few caring strangers will help to make things a little better for them.
Any amount you can give is appreciated from the bottom of our hearts, and we hope you are rooting for baby Toby as much as we are. He has a long way to go, but we believe he will fight as hard as his family is for him.
Initially they were told Toby would likely not survive, but wisely decided to get a second opinion. Part of that was made difficult by the fact that they had to fly halfway around the world to get it. Elizabeth is a member of the Wyoming Air National Guard who has in addition to her service, worked for N.A.T.O. out of Papa, Hungary since 2012.
Elizabeth immediately found a great perinatologist, as close to home as possible, in Denver, Colorado and flew home alone, with her husband and children only a few days behind. The perinatologist discovered that her placenta has large portions that have died off and more sections are continuing to die, causing Baby Toby's growth to be extremely restricted and meaning he will need to be delivered very early in order to survive. They've ruled out genetic issues, but still don't know what exactly caused this to happen. The only thing they can do is wait and watch and get Toby the best medical care possible. The doctors are monitoring Elizabeth and Toby very closely, and will wait as long as possible to deliver him to give him the best chance possible, but Toby will still be born somewhere between 25 and 32 weeks of gestation.
Toby will be what is called a micro-preemie, and as such will be in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for a very long time. Even a few days in a NICU can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs, but Toby will probably be there for months, not days. Elizabeth and Josh do have insurance but 10% of every bill will fall to them to pay, with no limit for a catastrophic incident like this. Their portion of the bills could well be over $100,000.00.
On top of all of this, when my sister and her family were forced to return to the U.S. so abruptly they were forced to leave behind two of their beloved family members, Kyah and Zeke. Kyah is an 11 year old Siberian Husky and Zeke is a 9 month old Great Dane.
They always knew Zeke would need special care to be moved back to the U.S. when it was time, but they were not planning on the extensive medical costs they are about to incur.
For the time being they have someone watching over Kyah and Zeke but this is not a permanent solution and they need to come home. Unfortunately because of Zeke's size, they have to come as cargo and it is looking more and more like it is going to cost around $5000.00 just to get them home. Before this, my sister and her family would have been able to make this work but with the upcoming medical bills they don't know how to make this happen, and they are worried about the safety of their furry family members. Anyone who knows Elizabeth will tell you she is extremely dedicated to her animals; I don't know anyone who loves her pets as fiercely as she does. I'd like to help bring them home, and I'm hoping you can help.
Elizabeth, Josh, Baby Toby and his big brother Oliver and sister Sarah are in for the fight of their lives, and Toby for his life. I'd like to make it a little easier and a little less stressful by helping raise as much money as we can to help get them through this time. The medical bills, bringing home Kyah and Zeke, transportation and living costs for possibly 5 or more months is an almost unimaginable amount of money, but I am hoping the generosity of friends, family and even just a few caring strangers will help to make things a little better for them.
Any amount you can give is appreciated from the bottom of our hearts, and we hope you are rooting for baby Toby as much as we are. He has a long way to go, but we believe he will fight as hard as his family is for him.
Organizer
Emma C. Hubbard
Organizer
San Antonio, TX
