Wishes for Winter

Hi, this is Ken and Erin, the proud Uncle and Aunt of Winter (almost 7). On April 4th, we were shocked to hear that Winter's health required dire care. Earlier that day, Amber (her mother) took her to her pediatrician who sent her to the ER. The ER ran a bunch of tests, but couldn't figure out what was behind it. Their best guess was Kawasaki's disease. The Dr ordered her a helicopter and flew her to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. They immediately went to work on her.

From the initial cultures, they determined the strep bacteria had gotten into her blood. From what the infectious disease team tells us, they've been seeing a huge uptick in severe cases this year. It looks like a particularly aggressive and fast variety. They worked all that night and the next day to stabilize her blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen. They think the antibiotics the Erie hospital administered might have killed the bacteria, but she was septic by the time she arrived at UPMC Children's. They put her on ECMO, a heart and lung bypass, to give her organs a chance to recover, then did a plasma exchange to get rid of the toxins.

In the three weeks that have followed, she has progressed off the ECMO but continues to face challenges from the damage the toxins did to her skin. She's already had several surgeries to remove necrotic tissue, with many more ahead of her. Both of her arms require extensive skin grafting, repair, and rehabilitation.

As you can imagine, Winter is miserable; stuck between being alert and medicated enough to block the pain. Using her eyes to blink is the only way she can communicate her wants and needs while she still has the vent in. Chris (Dad) told Amber, we had a couple of weeks to get used to the situation, she's had a couple of lucid hours across a couple of days. On top of that, we've seen progress. We've watched her get better over time. From her perspective, she woke up stuck in bed, and nothing has changed or improved. In fact, things might have gotten worse. They're dragging her to surgery and painfully moving her arms around.

Chris reminds us of Tolkien's words. "It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing."

Strep, of all things.

Chris and Amber are incredible and proud parents who could use help with the expense of what could be mounting medical bills. They have great insurance but even great coverage does not cover the entirety of weeks in the hospital. We ask that you give only what you can comfortably and for those that can't right now; please continue to share your thoughts and prayers. They have been blessed with kindness and support including housing from the Ronald McDonald House. Any funds raised in excess of what it cost to cover Winter's expenses will be pledged to the charities that have assisted them.