Help Baby Blake's Blast Through 'Blastoma
Donation protected
My best friend, Jenna, of 18+ years messaged me back in April asking if I can keep a secret; yes of course I can! She proceeds to tell me she and her hubby are expecting a baby!!! I screamed for joy! I was pretty excited for her and her family! This baby will be her 2nd child, but her husband’s first so it was even more exciting for them! Her baby was also due to arrive right around Christmas!
Fast forward to now.
A little background from Jenna on caring bridge:
Blake Charles Bereiter came into the world on Wednesday, December 19th, 2018 at 8:19 pm. He weighed 9 pounds and 2 ounces and was 22.4 inches long! What a blessing! Delivery went smooth and he came out after just a couple pushes! We didn’t expect what happened after.
Blake couldn’t seem to breathe on his own and after non-stop attempts to get him to breathe alone, our amazing OB team got in touch with Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. Blake was transported in one vehicle and I was transported in another. We arrived at the hospital at different times, but once Blake arrived, they had discovered that when they intubated him, the tubes went to the left side, which is not “normal”. Then they discovered a mass inside his neck. Basically, upon several observations and testing it was found that this mass was pushing on his airway and was causing his difficulty with breathing. Once the tube was in and Blake was less stressed out, his vitals improved and he became much more stable.
Then there was the mass in his neck. What is it? Why is it there? On Friday, a CT scan was completed, along with an ultrasound. By Friday night, Blake was in the operating room getting a biopsy scan, a bone marrow test, a throat scan and a team of amazing Drs trying to find answers ASAP. Because there’s nothing worse then not knowing what’s wrong and waiting to find answers or have a direction to go.
Which brings us to now. Sunday, December 23. Just a mere 4 days after the birth of our sweet Blake. Blake’s oncologist gave us the results of the biopsy and bone marrow scan. Biopsy results came back positive for Neuroblastoma; a form of cancer. Our treatment options; chemotherapy to start immediately. The mass that is in his neck is about the size of a lemon and the mass is causing his airway to collapse. It needs to shrink to be able to remove it. The bone marrow results came back negative so this is VERY good news. And the prognosis is good. Blake should tolerate the treatment well and should make a full recovery.
The chemotherapy cycle lasts 21 days, during which, his white blood cells will decline in the middle. This will make him more susceptible to illness, so we won’t allow visitors during that time. We aren’t sure how many cycles of chemo Blake will need yet, as the mass is very large. It could take as little as two cycles, but it could take several more to be able to shrink it down to a size the surgeons can remove successfully. They will reassess in a few weeks to see how much the mass has gone down.
We are unsure of how long we need to be in the hospital with Blake, but we know for sure that we will be here for a minimum of two cycles of chemo, which is approximately 6 weeks. He will need to have his breathing tube in throughout that time and he will have to be hooked up to constant vital monitoring and IVs and conduct daily labs throughout that time.
**As mentioned, Jenna also has another child, who is 4 years old. He is very excited to be a big brother and to have a little brother to play with! Jordan is in Pre-K and Jenna and Blaise are trying to keep his life as normal as possible without shuttling him from place to place. It is a difficult thing for a 4 year old to understand and his life is changing drastically because his mom can’t always be with him now and they have to try to figure out how to balance and take turns getting to and from the hospital and him; which is over an hour each way.
Any and all donations no matter how big or small are appreciated! All proceeds will be directly going to Blaise and Jenna to help them through this. With the loss of work, driving back and forth to children's, the hospital bills along with household bills, they could use some Holiday cheer.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts in helping get this family through a difficult time!
Fast forward to now.
A little background from Jenna on caring bridge:
Blake Charles Bereiter came into the world on Wednesday, December 19th, 2018 at 8:19 pm. He weighed 9 pounds and 2 ounces and was 22.4 inches long! What a blessing! Delivery went smooth and he came out after just a couple pushes! We didn’t expect what happened after.
Blake couldn’t seem to breathe on his own and after non-stop attempts to get him to breathe alone, our amazing OB team got in touch with Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. Blake was transported in one vehicle and I was transported in another. We arrived at the hospital at different times, but once Blake arrived, they had discovered that when they intubated him, the tubes went to the left side, which is not “normal”. Then they discovered a mass inside his neck. Basically, upon several observations and testing it was found that this mass was pushing on his airway and was causing his difficulty with breathing. Once the tube was in and Blake was less stressed out, his vitals improved and he became much more stable.
Then there was the mass in his neck. What is it? Why is it there? On Friday, a CT scan was completed, along with an ultrasound. By Friday night, Blake was in the operating room getting a biopsy scan, a bone marrow test, a throat scan and a team of amazing Drs trying to find answers ASAP. Because there’s nothing worse then not knowing what’s wrong and waiting to find answers or have a direction to go.
Which brings us to now. Sunday, December 23. Just a mere 4 days after the birth of our sweet Blake. Blake’s oncologist gave us the results of the biopsy and bone marrow scan. Biopsy results came back positive for Neuroblastoma; a form of cancer. Our treatment options; chemotherapy to start immediately. The mass that is in his neck is about the size of a lemon and the mass is causing his airway to collapse. It needs to shrink to be able to remove it. The bone marrow results came back negative so this is VERY good news. And the prognosis is good. Blake should tolerate the treatment well and should make a full recovery.
The chemotherapy cycle lasts 21 days, during which, his white blood cells will decline in the middle. This will make him more susceptible to illness, so we won’t allow visitors during that time. We aren’t sure how many cycles of chemo Blake will need yet, as the mass is very large. It could take as little as two cycles, but it could take several more to be able to shrink it down to a size the surgeons can remove successfully. They will reassess in a few weeks to see how much the mass has gone down.
We are unsure of how long we need to be in the hospital with Blake, but we know for sure that we will be here for a minimum of two cycles of chemo, which is approximately 6 weeks. He will need to have his breathing tube in throughout that time and he will have to be hooked up to constant vital monitoring and IVs and conduct daily labs throughout that time.
**As mentioned, Jenna also has another child, who is 4 years old. He is very excited to be a big brother and to have a little brother to play with! Jordan is in Pre-K and Jenna and Blaise are trying to keep his life as normal as possible without shuttling him from place to place. It is a difficult thing for a 4 year old to understand and his life is changing drastically because his mom can’t always be with him now and they have to try to figure out how to balance and take turns getting to and from the hospital and him; which is over an hour each way.
Any and all donations no matter how big or small are appreciated! All proceeds will be directly going to Blaise and Jenna to help them through this. With the loss of work, driving back and forth to children's, the hospital bills along with household bills, they could use some Holiday cheer.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts in helping get this family through a difficult time!
Organizer and beneficiary
Melissa Woods
Organizer
Grantsburg, WI
JennaRae Bereiter
Beneficiary