Ivy’s JDM Journey

Hi, my name is Nanette and I am raising funds for Shandra and Mikey their daughter Nia and sweet Ivy. We are trying to raise funds to help mom and dad out as they are in hospital in Saskatoon with Ivy and have been for 10 days now and a week previous in Regina. We want them to be able to focus on family and getting Ivy better, not to have to worry about financial expenses due to neither of them being able to work for the unforeseen future. Ivy is my grand daughter she is 4 years old and is the sunshine on a cloudy day she went from being a crazy wild little girl who enjoyed jumping running gymnastics and pre k to a little girl with no energy to do anything but lay in bed. On Easter weekend Ivy started to complain of some leg pain and was shuffling when she tried to walk. Mom and dad thought maybe she got hurt while playing with her sister and cousins. However over the next few days she stopped being herself. She had no interest in doing the many things she enjoyed as a 4 year old little girl, all she wanted to do was lay in bed and she was very very tired. Mom and dad thought maybe she was coming down with some kind of virus or something. Moving forward a couple of days it became very apparent there was something more going on with our Miss Ivy as we were not even able to touch her and she would scream out in pain. We took her to the emergency department in Regina which is where they are from and they admitted her. Everyday got worse, not better.. they were calling her a zebra as they could not figure out what was going on with her. After a few days of being in hospital in Regina she could no longer stand or put any weight on her limbs, she was in severe pain, she was so swollen that she gained 5 lbs. of fluid in that time. She was transferred to the children’s hospital in Saskatoon via ambulance after a week of being in Regina hospital, at this point she was having trouble with her speech and could not swallow any liquids without choking. Since being in Saskatoon every day brings new challenges! This little sweetheart has been through so much, she has had a full body MRI, muscle biopsy, CT scan, multiple x rays and ultra sounds, multiple infusions, feeding tube, and a central line. We have been given a diagnosis of JDM juvenile dermatomyositis it’s a rare disease that effects the muscles, blood vessels and the skin. This disease only affects approximately 3 kids per million. It can affect the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, liver and eyes. She has many of these complications. Please consider donating so mom and dad can focus on Ivy’s health and not have to worry about anything else. Thank you all!