Support Penny, Shannon & Chris Reid

Penelope Isabella Gabrielle Reid decided to come charging into the world 6 weeks early, at 5:48 am, August 15, 2018.  She was born with several abnormalities in her throat which inhibited her ability to breathe on her own once born, called Pierre Robin Sequence. She has been in the NICU at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver since August 15th. Penny has an underdeveloped jaw which causes her tongue to lay back blocking her airway, and so she has a tracheostomy to allow her to breathe through a tube in her throat instead of through her mouth.  Penny also has a cleft palate, so she cannot suck hard enough to breast or bottle feed. She has a gastrostomy tube that provides her nutrition (Shannon’s breast milk) through a tube into her stomach. Aside from these abnormalities, Penny is 100% healthy and strong, and she has been growing steadily while showing her spunk and character! She is expected to make a full recovery and grow and develop normally after her many required surgeries…but there is a tough year ahead.


Penny had two surgeries within her first month of life (for the trach and the G-tube), and another surgery was just completed on October 3rd (jaw distraction).  She will be needing about four more surgeries over the next 9-14 months to correct the structural abnormalities and enable her to breathe and eat on her own. The most recent surgery was the big one – the jaw distraction surgery.  They broke her jaw and will gradually extend it over the course of 7-10 days. Then, they leave some hardware in place for a few months while the jaw heals. After that, another two surgeries to take out the hardware, then remove the trach after she proves she can breathe on her own.  Later, she will have cleft palate fixed, and then a final surgery to remove the G-tube when she is eating on her own. Whew!


Chris and Shannon are taking it one day at a time in the NICU at Children's Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. They celebrate each tiny milestone and greet every day with positivity and gratitude, however sleep deprived!


The Reid family is going to be faced with many expenses during the next several months as well as a reduction in income, as Penny will go home with 24-hour nursing care needed until she is through all her surgeries.  We would like to surround them with our love and support to help ease as much stress as possible.