Help the Campbell Family

Kallie Campbell, my cousin Carla's beautiful 3-month-old is currently fighting for her life in the ICU at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh and I'm starting this fundraiser to help the family get through this difficult time.

Carla was just starting back to work after a 3-month unpaid maternity leave when she noticed her daughter wasn't quite acting like herself. She wasn't nursing or taking her bottle. She was weak and lethargic and lost muscle tone. Worried, Carla took her to the doctors, where they immediately sent her to Children's Hospital, where she was admitted on Thursday, November 16th, 2023.

After testing negative for COVID-19, the Flu, and RSV, Kallie did test positive for Rhinovirus or Enterovirus, but the doctors couldn't decipher which one. After rounds of treatment, 4 days later, Kallie still wasn't showing signs of improvement, so they are running more tests- including testing for meningitis and infant botulism. The test for botulism takes 4-7 days to get results and the medication to treat it is over $400,000 and had to be shipped from California. The medication, an antitoxin called botulism immune globulin intravenous arrived today at 3 pm and they started her on the treatment. If they had to wait for the results, Kallie could become septic, so they decided to move forward with the treatment while waiting for the results.

Kallie is currently in the ICU, on a feeding tube that goes directly to her intestines so that she doesn't aspirate and they are closely monitoring her breathing.

They're waiting to see if the medication helps, but it's going to be a long, healing road for both Kallie and the family, and things are said to get worse before they get better. Even with medication, there will still be tons of additional testing, doctor appointments, and physical therapy.

Carla is a hairdresser and Kiel is a carpenter, so they are both in careers where there are no PTO Days or short-term or long-term leave options. So income is very limited while they're caring for their baby girl. They also have a 5-year-old son, Cade, who is in Kindergarten. This fundraiser will help the family remain on their feet while they take care of their daughter. Any little bit helps and is greatly appreciated!

***UPDATE*** 11/20/2023

From Carla:

Today, Kallie woke up and was able to do slight head movements. We had physical therapy and occupational therapy and they were impressed with how far she had come. We were taken out of the ICU unit tonight.

Tomorrow we will meet up with speech specialist which will then determine how well her sucking and swelling is. This will determine when her feeding tube can be removed.

We have a long road of recovery ahead of us alot of PT and OT but it's safe to say the worst of it is over and now it's time for her little body to heal. The power of all your prayers love and light are helping us get through this troubled time.

So we thank you, so much for all your love and support. We thank the specialist that came together and worked as a team and acted fast. I have no doubt in my mind that the power of our community and prayers worked. Our baby is in recovery ❤️

I'm here to say that words can not even express how grateful we are for all the kind words, notes and donations that were given on the go fund me. We are surrounded by so much love and support it's truly incredible. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Here's to brighter days ahead of us. I'm now going to be that helicopter mom and putting her in a bubble.