On July 30th, 2015, Parker was born. He weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces and measured 18 inches long. While he seemed like a normal healthy baby, Parker has had some unexpected challenges.
At birth he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and a heart defect called AV Canal (a large hole in the center of the heart). When he was a few hours old, he was put on oxygen because of his heart defect. He required more support than expected and he could receive it only at another hospital. The day we should have been discharged, he was transferred to Children's Hospital to get more specialized care.
Parker was admitted and stayed at the NICU in Children's Hospital for 30 days. Within those 30 days he has had 24 hour oxygen, multiple tests on his lungs, heart, bilirubin, etc, and multiple visits from pediatric cardiologists.
Parker has overcome so much already, but this journey is far from over.
He is home with 24 hour oxygen and a heart monitor.
A message from Dempsey and Josh:
While we are so grateful for the nurses and doctors who took care of him, this experience has been tiring and expensive experience for our family. We have a very high amount of medical bills from Parker's extended stay at the hospital. His insurance refuses to cover the first month of his life. Just the stay alone for 30 days was $173,000. Along with the medical bills, we also have many other expenses and debt that have accumulated from the time he was there.
Even the little things like food, gas, utilities are hard to catch up on right now as Josh is the only one working.
Along with our bills, he needs special formula and medicine for his condition. Parker will require open heart surgery in the next few months. This will require us to travel to a hospital and stay for 1 week to be with him as he recovers.
We're not usually ones to ask for help, especially like this and we have been blown away by all of the help we have received thus far, even when we haven't asked for it. This process has left us humbled and broken. We have some big financial needs right now and we are asking for help. We cannot get through this process alone. Anything can help us. Thank you!
At birth he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and a heart defect called AV Canal (a large hole in the center of the heart). When he was a few hours old, he was put on oxygen because of his heart defect. He required more support than expected and he could receive it only at another hospital. The day we should have been discharged, he was transferred to Children's Hospital to get more specialized care.
Parker was admitted and stayed at the NICU in Children's Hospital for 30 days. Within those 30 days he has had 24 hour oxygen, multiple tests on his lungs, heart, bilirubin, etc, and multiple visits from pediatric cardiologists.
Parker has overcome so much already, but this journey is far from over.
He is home with 24 hour oxygen and a heart monitor.
A message from Dempsey and Josh:
While we are so grateful for the nurses and doctors who took care of him, this experience has been tiring and expensive experience for our family. We have a very high amount of medical bills from Parker's extended stay at the hospital. His insurance refuses to cover the first month of his life. Just the stay alone for 30 days was $173,000. Along with the medical bills, we also have many other expenses and debt that have accumulated from the time he was there.
Even the little things like food, gas, utilities are hard to catch up on right now as Josh is the only one working.
Along with our bills, he needs special formula and medicine for his condition. Parker will require open heart surgery in the next few months. This will require us to travel to a hospital and stay for 1 week to be with him as he recovers.
We're not usually ones to ask for help, especially like this and we have been blown away by all of the help we have received thus far, even when we haven't asked for it. This process has left us humbled and broken. We have some big financial needs right now and we are asking for help. We cannot get through this process alone. Anything can help us. Thank you!