Barrett & Courtney Elliott's Medical Bills

Hello, My name is Kim and I'm creating this fundraising for the Elliotts. Their family means so much to my family and I could not ask for a better best friend (Best Man of Honor). The Elliotts have been through so much in the last couple of years. Matt and Courtney are not the type of people to ask for help, even though they are the first to help anyone! I will do my best to tell their story. However, since there is so many details, I will be using their updates in one of our Group chats and Courtney's Facebook posts.

Their journey started at the worst time...The start of Covid..

-January 2020: I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and there began our journey of trying to have children.

-July 15th, 2020: We found out I was pregnant and were super excited! However, I started experiencing complications from that day forward.

-July 23rd, 2020: I went to my first doctor’s appointment. Matt wasn’t allowed to go with me because of COVID protocols. I was 5 weeks and 6 days along. I was able to hear the heartbeat through the ultrasound. At that appointment, alone in the room, my doctor told me I was having an ectopic pregnancy. The baby was stuck inside my right Fallopian tube which means the pregnancy wasn’t viable. I had to call Matt and tell him the news. He was on speakerphone while the doctor was talking with us.

-July 24th, 2020: Matt dropped me off at the front door and I walked into the hospital alone, tearful, afraid and grieving. I had surgery to have my right Fallopian tube removed and we lost our baby.

Since then there was 1 more loss, injections, medications, multiple testings, ultrasounds, doctors appointments, 3 IUI’s, and IVF.

December 3, 2023 Barrett William Elliott was born at 11:36 am weighing 6lbs 2oz and 19 1/4" long.

Barrett came into the world wanting to show everyone instantly how strong he is and wanted to let his parents know, they were always going to be on their toes with him.

12/3/23, 12:06 PM

Before either of us could hold him, he was pulled away to be resuscitated. They took him over to NICU where had 2 seizures, turned blue and quit breathing. He was immediately intubated. Overall, all of his tests came back looking good!

1:29 PM

The NICU doc came in and said baby is very active and breathing and doing good. The vent is helping but he doesn’t think he will need it for long (he is very active and already messing with it, awake and looking around). Ran some blood tests and waiting on results. X-ray was normal. They did a head ultrasound and radiologist will look at that in a few hours. The plan right now is to take it day by dad and watch him to see what happens. Sounds like he is doing good and Courtney will be with him shortly.

3:02 PM

So far all the tests that have come back look good. They took out the intubation he moved to a nose cannula and is alert for mom right now. They want to get more pictures for the head ultrasound

8:40 PM

Still waiting on some test results which won’t be back until tomorrow. They took him off the oxygen with the cannula and he is tolerating it well so far. They also want to make sure his breaths are under 60 per minute. Then they will be able to feed him. If he does well through the night and his test results come back normal tomorrow, he should be released back to us!

12/4/23, 7:34 AM

Well if sounds like we ALL will be breaking loose today and going home!

10:16 AM

No more IV for Barrett! The only thing they believed could explain the scary situation was that he had a blood clot in his head that happened late in 3rd trimester or during labor. They don’t think he will have any long term effects from the seizures. Courtney started developing abdominal and back pain that only continued to worsen. She is going to have an ultrasound. They can’t do it until 3pm though.

4:10 PM

Issue with Courtney’s gallbladder. Waiting for general surgery and GI to talk.

4:50 PM

Have to do some more scans. Got pain meds to help with the intensity of pain. Must remove the gallbladder. It has multiple stones. Not sure when scans or surgery will happen. Nobody is going home tonight. Going for an MRI now to assess her gallbladder. Then they will determine what needs to happen

7:09 PM

Back from MRI. Waiting to hear back from surgery. Pain is through the roof. Managing with meds as best we can. Barrett got his EEG done. Haven't gotten the results yet. He is eating and sleeping well. Courtney is finally getting some zzzzz's. Still no word on when surgery will happen to remove her gallbladder.

10:33 PM

Surgery will be sometime in the late morning tomorrow for Courtney. Approximately a 2 hour surgery to remove her gallbladder.

12/5/23, 7:00 AM

Update! Pain was finally very well managed through the night. I was able to get some sleep. Surgery is set for 10am. They want me to stay here until at least tomorrow. Since I’m feeling much better, I was able to go over to the NICU and see Barrett this morning! It was my first time feeding him. My heart is full and there was a lot of happy tears! They are doing an EEC and a brain MRI today. Overall, he’s doing good! If the above 2 tests get passed and he continues to do well, he might be able to come home with us when I am cleared!

9:24 AM

Another update and change of plans. They are pretty sure I have a gallstone stuck in the duct. I will have surgery today and another one tomorrow. Surgery #1: today at 1pm. Go in and remove gallstones that are stuck. Surgery #2: tomorrow late morning/early afternoon remove my gallbladder. EEG came back good by the sounds of it

1:30 PM

Getting ready to go back soon. Doing an ultrasound procedure first to see if surgery is needed to remove stones from the duct. If there is nothing there, we will proceed to gallbladder removal tomorrow. If something is going in the duct, they will do surgery to remove it.

3:39 PM

Barrett Passed his hearing test!

7:46 PM

Everything went well. They did not find stones blocking the ducts, but I did have puss in there. Because of the puss they still made the incision to cut it to remove the puss from the gallbladder duct because the duct will not be taken out, only the gallbladder will be removed. After surgery my oxygen level went down, and they put me on oxygen and cannula for my lungs. Currently on a cannula level 5 and my oxygen levels are great. I had a chest x-ray and I’m just waiting for the results. Will be on a liquid diet until tomorrow. Doctor just came back in and wants to a CT scan make sure we didn’t miss anything. Just as a precaution.

Surgery tomorrow morning to remove the gallbladder.

11:08 PM

CT showed no blood clots which is what they were worried about. Surgery for gallbladder removal is 8:30am!

12/6/23, 2:12 PM

Quick update on my surgery. It went well. Surgeon just came to talk to me and said it was a disintegrating ball of puss so it was good we got it out when we did. Because of all the puss/infection it puts me at first to an infection internally and get an abscess there. Told me to watch for increased pain and/or fever. Barrett graduated the NICU. It’ll be the first time he’ll be in our room with no cords/IV’s and we’re all together as a family.

7:43 PM

Well, there’s another unfortunate turn of events. Starting around 4ish the swelling moved up to my legs and into my thighs. I have not been able to catch my breath, and my heart rate has been hanging around 120. The dr. Came in to look at me and ordered another chest X-ray which indicated more fluid on my lungs. They have given me lasix in my IV to help me pee out all of the excess fluid in my body. They are also going to give me a magnesium drip for 24 hours. This is officially turned into pre-eclampsia with severe features. They are doing everything possible to prevent this from turning into eclampsia which would cause seizures. They feel confident they can treat this and prevent it because we caught it early and this is in their OB wheelhouse, so they know what to do.

12/7/23, 8:10 PM

I’m (Courtney) still on the magnesium iv drip until 10pm (24 hours). I’m having pain, bloating mainly the Right side of my belly. It is hard and dissenting. They think I’m just full of poop lol. I haven’t had a bowel movement since Saturday morning. So, after the magnesium drip and I poop tonight, the doctor will talk with me in the morning about what’s next. If the bowel movement improves my belly issues, we should be able to go home!!

12/8/23, 6:04 AM

Just spoke with the doctor. She could even tell I am feeling much better! She examined my belly and still doesn’t like how distended it is and that I still haven’t had a bowel movement. She’s going to talk to the team at 7 and get back with me. I told her I’m ready to go home!

2:03 PM

My doctor just cleared me!

4:41 PM

They ran a jaundice test on Barrett today because of how he looked. The pediatrician called stating that they mixed up the results somehow? We have to go to children’s hospital now to get it checked again.

12/9/23, 6:24 PM

Last update! Jaundice levels came back normal!

We will jump to Courtney's post on 2/4/24!

Baby bear is 2 months old! I love baths and car rides! I took my 2nd road trip- we went to a place called Missouri. I have officially peed, puked, and pooped on mommy. Swaddles and binkies soothe me. A week ago I weighed 11 lbs 2 oz. I’ve almost doubled my weight since birth. I love to eat! I start daycare on 2/12 when mommy goes back to work. I sleep for 3 hours through the night.

Remember how at the beginning I said Barrett wants to keep his parent's on their toes. Well the journey unfortunately changed again. Unexpectedly we received a message in our group chat on 3/3/24.

3/3/24 3:10 PM

Barrett is 3 months today and we never imagined we’d be spending it in the PICU. So yesterday we noticed Barrett was sleeping a lot and not eating as much. Didn’t think too much about it. Then around 4-5pm he kept holding his breath quite a bit. His oxygen and heart rate kept dropping. We put the owlet on him. It alerted 4 times! It alerts when his oxygen gets in the 70’s. The last time it happened I called 911. They got there really fast. I rode with Barrett in the ambulance, and we got a police escort from Plattsmouth police department to the county line. They rode with the lights on. They did blood tests, urine tests, X-rays, and a CT. He was on oxygen. He’s still having some dips on his oxygen and heart rate but not many. This morning around 6 am they intubated him because his oxygen and heart rate was dropping lower than they liked. They sedated him because when he moves around or they mess with him, he bears down and his oxygen level and heart rate drop. When he’s sedated, his levels stay good. They did a lung culture and some sort of bacteria were growing- pneumonia. They started him on steroids and antibiotics through his IV. He’s on a feeding tube and will feed him every 3 hours. Now we just wait and pray things stay stable.

4:14 PM

He had another episode. He started coughing and kind of came out of his sedation. His oxygen dropped to the 70s/80s and heart rate to 50s. They increased his sedation meds and morphine. Everything went back up after that. Switching sedation to one that’ll keep his heart rate higher. Ordered a shot to have bedside ready to give him if his heart rate drops below 60 again.

3/4/24 7:41 AM

Update: he did really well through the night. He only had one episode where his heart rate and oxygen dipped. He came out of it quick. Unfortunately, Matt and I are sick- vomiting, diarrhea, nausea. We cannot risk giving Barrett any sort of another virus.

8:42 AM

They are going to attempt to stop the paralytic today and wake him up. It’ll be trial and error to see if he’s ready.

1:44 PM

Update: They tried to stop the paralytic but his stats dropped. He’s not ready. There’s more junk in his lungs from the pneumonia, so they are trying to get that sucked out. They had to increase his oxygen levels from 30/40% to 70% because of the pneumonia. They must take his blood every 4 hours and were having trouble getting anything. They put in a pic line on his right arm to be able to draw from moving forward.

2:59 PM

They were able to lower his oxygen levels down to 50%!

7:07 PM

When he came in, he had acute respiratory distress- mild. It has moved to severe. Because of this, they are starting him on a different course. There are 4 options they will work through to see which one will help him the most. 1. Same ventilator while lying on his back 2. Same ventilator lying on his stomach. 3. Different ventilator on his back 4. Different ventilator lying in his stomach. I’ve asked 2 different doctors point blank if he going to make it. They both without hesitation assured me that he will. He’s just really sick right now.

8:51 PM

They just switched him to a different ventilator. He did well and his numbers look great. They also did an ultrasound on his right leg. It’s been cold today, so they want to make sure there aren’t any blood clots.

3/5/24 5:36 AM

He did really well on the new ventilator overnight! The ultrasound showed a blood clot in his leg, and they started him on blood thinners. They lost an IV because his vein blew. They are placing another one in his neck. I feel so much better, Matt does not. Looking back, we think it’s food poisoning. I’m going to call the nurse to ask her if I can come up there.

9:14 AM

Mama is on her way to see her baby boy!!!

11:17 AM

Met with his team this morning. The doctor will be coming in soon to do an ultrasound of his leg to check the blood clot. He’s still on blood thinners. He’s done a lot better with the new ventilator. Realistically we will be in the PICU for another 7 days. Then moved to another floor for another 7 days. Minimum. It’s a marathon not a sprint. He’s doing better today than he was yesterday. Baby steps.

2:13 PM

He’s had a few dips in his stats today, so they don’t plan to do what they call “a holiday” which means lifting the paralytic. They said it is completely expected at this point because of how sick he is and because his body temperature is a little low. They gave him a heating pad under him. Thankfully there is a nurse in here 24/7. He is his nurse’s only patient which means he is getting all the extra attention.

7:55 PM

They were able to get his temperature up! He’s sitting at 100 now. He hasn’t had any drops in his stats since 4!!!!!

I know it’s going to be a long journey but I’m looking forward to him opening his eyes, looking at us, being able to hold him, change his diaper, feed him, and hear him cry. Walking around the hospital there are bears everywhere! It’s a sign that our little bear is right where he needs to be.

3/6/24 7:50 AM

He had a great night!!!! His stats were really good all night. They did another ultrasound on his blood clot, and it looks smaller, but his leg is still cold and a little purple. They are going to address that this morning.

4:07 PM

He’s had a mostly good day! He had 2 rough episodes today but mainly because they were moving him around. He doesn’t like to be disturbed and definitely lets them know. They took the artery line out of right leg and moved it to his arm to help the blood clot heal. He had a fever and they put a cooling blanket, fan, and cool rag on his head. It’s coming back down. His heart rate has been pretty high so they’re watching that. His oxygen levels have been great. The doctors keep reminding us- 2 steps forward, 1 step back is still progress. We are making baby steps in the right direction even if it’s hard for us to see the progress.

Anything you are willing to donate, would help Matt and Courtney out with all their medical bills since December and take away some of that stress in the future. I will continue to update this page every night!! We are all praying for Barrett to continue showing us how strong he is! He is such a sweet little boy!

3/7/23 8:11 AM

Overall good night. His blood pressure was lower than they liked. so he is now on blood pressure meds. Feeds are on hold until he’s weaned off the BP meds. Stats have been good. He fluctuates a lot on the amount of oxygen pressure he needs anywhere between 40-80%. Ultrasound on brain looked great. On a cooling blanket to keep his temperature in normal range. The game plan for today is to leave everything alone. He is at the peak of his viruses and since his levels are good, they want him to rest.

5:04 PM

He is looking and doing better today. His skin color is better, he is warm to the touch and his stats have been stable all day. Mucus is draining out from nose. We’ve been sucking boogies all day. The nurse said it’s good that it’s coming out instead of settling in his lungs.

3/8/24 6:23 AM

After the last update his temperature dropped to 95. They were able to bring it back up with a lot of blankets, a hat, a heating pad and a bair hugger (heated blanket). His blood pressure was getting low again after weaning down on the BP meds so they gave him the full dose.

His hemoglobin was low so they gave him blood. After giving him the blood, they were able to take him completely off the BP meds.

He has been sitting at the 40% oxygen pressure and his oxygen has been at 100%!!!!!

The nurses and doctors work 7am-7pm and 7am-7pm. So they do what is called “rounds” at the beginning of every shift. It’s where his entire medical team comes to our room and they discuss how he’s doing and the plan moving forward. We are able to be apart of those.

They aren’t certain how long he will be on the oscillator. The doctor said longer than 7 days and less than a month. They will have to transition from the oscillator to the original ventilator he was on before taking him off.

Looking forward They mentioned something about having to work with a physical therapist to teach him how to suck and bottle feed again. We will have to follow up with a doctor to continue to check on the blood clot (that is getting smaller) at 3 months and 6 months. We will have to give him a shot everyday for it for about a month after coming home.

12:32 PM

We just met with a doctor and they hope to get him switched to the other ventilator within 24 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!! This means he doesn’t need the oscillator anymore. Then once he gets switched to the other ventilator, they will attempt to lift his paralytic. Once his paralytic is lifted WE CAN HOLD HIM!!!!!!! The doctors are really happy with his progress!!!

8:53 PM

They lifted the paralytic about 20 minutes ago and he’s tolerating it well so far. He’s starting to make little twitches

10:54 PM

He opened his eyes!!!!!!!!!!! 

12/9/23 8:47 PM

The doctor just came to talk with us and shows us Barrett’s graph of oxygen since he’s been here. It went up up up and now it’s going down down down! 

Normal is under 5. Severe is 15. Barrett’s got up to 32. He said that 1 in 3 children who have his level of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) don’t make it.

He is currently at 13!! They have no doubt that he is going to make it. 

The plan is to get him switched over to the conventional ventilator at 12am. Once his levels get under 5 we can remove the ventilator completely!!!

12/10/23 12:30 AM 

HE OFFICIALLY MADE THE TRANSITION TO THE OTHER VENTILATOR!!!

2:47 PM

Barrett is moving so fast on the weaning down of oxygen! He’s kicking butt!! They are going to stop the heprin for his blood clot because his levels are great. Tonight they will do a “trial run” on the ventilator which will tell them if he is ready to be off the ventilator. They expect that to go well and are looking to remove the ventilator tomorrow. 

He’s been on pretty heavy narcotics- morphine and Ativan. They are going to slowly start weaning him off of those as we get closer to removing the ventilator. To prevent withdrawal they are adding additional medications like methadone. 

They are also going to start a steroid tonight to prevent any swelling once the ventilator is removed. He will remain in the PICU for 24 hours after the ventilator to make sure he is stable. He will then be moved to another floor for roughly 3 more days before he is released!!!! 

They slowly removing machines, ivs, and other items in his room which is amazing!!!!

9:12 PM

The plan is to do a the trial run on his ventilator at 6am. If he does well, they will extubate!

7:34 AM

He did great overnight. Looking like he will be able to get the tube out this morning. Dr just left. They may do it after rounds which will be a little bit yet.

All signs are pointing to go. The only unknown is how his airway will react without the tube. Could be swelling causing it to close or restrict. They have plans for it that happens but they don't think it will. Just can't be sure how he will react. Being so young, the airway is very small. They have given steroids to help it relax

10:53 AM

REMOVING IT NOW!!!!!!

12/11/23 11:26 AM

They are thinking they may even take him off the cannula

3:15 pm

They were thinking that he may need help adjusting back to the bottle. No surprise he didn’t need any help at all. He doesn’t miss a meal!

The cannula is off!!!! 

5:22 PM

They are keeping the ng feeding tube in his nose over the night just to make sure he won’t need it

7:21 PM

We have officially moved out of the PICU!!!!!

12/12/23 6:52 AM

Barrett had a little bit of a rough night. He hasn’t been able to get a good grip on the bottles for the last 3 feedings so he is being fed through the feeding tube until OT works with him. 

He seems to be having a few more signs of withdrawal- repetitive movement of his head, vomiting, fussiness.   

His blood work looks fantastic!!!! His oxygen has been great as well.

11:43 AM

We are staying until Saturday. He is weaning off the methadone and his last dose will be Friday. They want to keep him 24 hours after off all meds.