#KANNANSTRONG Support Baby Kannan

Sweet Kannan is a one month old baby boy born November 21, 2014. While in utero, ultrasounds had shown some abnormalities of Kannan's brain in which further testing took place. Kannan was then diagnosed with Dandy-Walker Syndrome.  DWS is a congenital brain malformation involving the cerebellum and the fluid filled spaces around it. A key feature of this syndrome is the complete absence of the part of the brain located between the two cerebellar hemispheres called the cerebellar vermis. The Dandy–Walker complex is a genetically sporadic disorder that occurs one in every 30,000 live births. After Kannan was born, he spent four weeks in the NICU at Vanderbuilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, two hours from home.  After birth, Kannan underwent an MRI, which showed that he had half of a vermis, no fluid on the brain nor with-in the spaces, and that he was missing his Corpus Callosum.  While in the NICU, Kannan began having some breathing difficulties. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with Apnea. Though it took time, Baby Kannan pulled thru, began breathing on his own, and was able to spend his first Christmas at home with his family (with an apnea monitor).  On January 5, 2015, Kannan was taken to the ER due to a high fever. After results came in, they showed that Kannan had a slight case of Pneumonia. Shortly after he was transferred to Vanderbuilt Children's for further evaluation. In route, Kannan's blood pressure dropped but was able to be stabilized. Today he is still in the NICU at Children's Hospital in Nashville. He is on a Ventilator with hopes that he will begin breathing on his own again very soon. It is not known at this time what is causing the breathing difficulties or the fever spike and drops. Whether they are related to the Dandy-Walker or not hasn't been confirmed. With all of the medical bills and transport fees accrued during this time, a fund has been set up to help support Kannan. Lets pull together and help baby Kannan and his family. #KANNANSTRONG