Sarah K Anderson -Fighting to be with baby Delilah

On Thursday, May 21, Sarah and Isaac Anderson went from being a married young couple to being a beautiful family of 3 – and welcomed their precious 8 lb 4 oz baby girl, Delilah Joann Anderson into the world.  And what started out as one of the happiest days of their lives quickly changed course --- from elation at the birth of their daughter to terrifying life-threatening complications for Sarah following Lilahs’ delivery.
 
Sarah immediately was whisked away from her loving husband and new daughter and was rushed to emergency surgery for extreme and uncontrollable bleeding.  That was nearly two weeks ago (as of the date of this writing) – and since then, Sarah has had to bravely battle so many times to stay alive that it is a miracle (doctors words!)  she is still with us.  Sarah’s body was, and still is, not producing blood clotting factor like it should.  She has undergone several  very precarious procedures that caused the bleeding to start anew and she came very close to bleeding out twice.  As of this writing, she has received over 100 units of blood product in about a week.  She has endured two more emergency surgeries (one resulting in her nearly losing a kidney ,but thankfully a skilled physician was able to save at least a portion of it).  She was placed on a ventilator on two separate occasions.  She has endured excruciating pain.   She was air lifted from the Mosaic Medical Center in St. Joseph, Missouri to Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City ---- and as of this writing, the specialists there are working very hard on her behalf.  In the doctor’s own words, “Sarah’s condition is very complex”. 

And as horrific as all of this has been,  it pales in comparison to the pain she endures knowing she is not there being the mother to her newborn Delilah, something she had so happily anticipated just a couple weeks before.  And Isaac is having to navigate through more stress and emotions than one person should have to handle  --- being suddenly faced with the possibility of losing the love of his life, and somehow finding  the strength to stand beside Sarah with rock-solid love and support, while also taking care of and rejoicing in Lilah --- quickly discovering the immediate and unconditional love a parent has for their child.

 After lots of tests and consultations by a staff of medical professionals, Sarah has been diagnosed with Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS).  This is an extremely serious and rare condition in which her red blood cells and platlets are basically destroying themselves.  It also results in the inability of her kidneys to function correctly.  No doctors know for certain why this happened, although some research shows it can be triggered by pregnancy as well as traumatic blood loss.  There is a drug that has shown promise --- Eculizumab (common name Soliris) and as of this writing Sarah received her first infusion of it today.  Unfortunately, it has many negative side effects similar to chemotherapy (nausea, severe headache, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle pain – and the list goes on and on.  It appears at this time that Sarah will have to receive Soliris treatments on a regular basis for a minimum of two years, and very possibly longer.  Due to the rareness of aHUS this drug is not at all common, with a yearly cost of approximately $500,000.

The above story just begins to scratch the surface of the unfathomable sequence of terrifying events this young family found themselves thrust into.  And through it all – Isaac and Sarah have fervently kept their Faith and Trust in Jesus --- the foremost reason why we still have Sarah with us now.  Through everything thus far, they have been OVERWHELMED in so many ways.

OVERWHELMED with love for their beautiful new daughter.

OVERWHELMED with challenges and grief as Sarah fights like a warrior for her life and to remain in this world for her daughter and husband

OVERWHELMED by the power of prayer – their own and the hundreds of people praying for Sarah’s recovery and Isaac to be able to remain strong and faithful

OVERWHELMED by the kindness of so many family members and friends who immediately came to their aid to help meet their daily needs

 We do not know what the future holds for them, but one thing is certain --- another OVERWHELMING time is coming  --  the exorbitant medical bills that will soon start showing up --- and most likely keep coming.   Many people have reached out asking how to help this much loved family.  So we, her aunts and uncles, have created this Go Fund Me in an effort to provide an easy platform for those wishing to help, and hopefully help offset some of the expenses they will be facing.  Any gift to these very special young people is appreciated.

Sarah’s road to recovery remains uncertain and quite rocky.  Your prayers for her and Isaac are so greatly appreciated -- as is your gift / contribution, if you wish to do so.  If you wish to know the full, detailed story of what has transpired since sweet Delilah Joann Anderson was born, please visit Sarah and Isaac’s site on Caringbridge:

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sarahanderson3 

Thank You!