Saving Kaiden
Donation protected
-- UPDATE: Our Christmas Miracle --
Just this morning with BC Children’s referral to Toronto Sick Kids and Boston's blessing, we have reserved Jan 22nd for Kaiden’s brain surgery. THIS IS THE BEST NEWS WE HAVE HEARD OUR ENTIRE LIVES!
Due to this recent and exciting news we have decided to stop our fundraising efforts and focus on having a normal Christmas and New Years with our son and family. This blessing couldn’t have come sooner for Kaiden.
All of the donations given to us far exceeds what we need, we will return every donation given to us as it is no longer needed. We are in contact with gofundme on how to return all of the funds to each person especially those that we do not know personally. What we ask for now are prayers and positive energy for a safe and complication free surgery for our little boy.
This is truly a Christmas miracle to have three hospitals (BC Children’s, Boston Children’s and Toronto Sick Kids) come together.
For the full update and more of this story go to the Saving Kaiden Facebook Page.
Our Original Story
Six months ago, our 2-year-old son Kaiden was diagnosed with Moyamoya Disease which makes him susceptible to seizure and stroke and without surgical intervention, even death. We are fundraising to give him the best chance possible for a normal life. Help us get him to Boston and give us hope, we have very little time to act and spread word.
1) Donations via this GoFundMe page
2) Likes / shares of the Saving Kaiden Facebook Page
More about Kaiden's story below. Please help Kaiden and champion his cause.
How we found out about Moyamoya
Soon after Kaiden's first birthday, we took him to his doctor to have his lazy eye checked out. This doctor then referred us to a paediatric ophthalmologist and found that Kaiden has what is known as "morning glory anomaly". We were told that this could be a marker of more serious health concerns and that more tests would be needed.
In the next six months we did various tests to rule out all other health complications, but the most serious of them all and what we feared the most, is what it turned out to be.
What is Moyamoya?
The condition Kaiden has is known as Moyamoya Disease, which causes progressive narrowing of the internal carotid arteries in the brain. This increases Kaiden's risk for stroke, seizures and TIAs (mini-strokes) to 80%.
With that we did a ton of research about Moyamoya, connected with support groups on Facebook and contacted several healthcare professionals to really understand the disease Kaiden has and to explore what our options were moving forward.
Urgent surgery needed, now in January
With the first battery of tests, we sent the results to Stanford University, which has the Moyamoya Centre and to Boston Children's Hospital, which is the top pediatric hospital in North America. Stanford right away told us that Kaiden does need to have surgery, while Boston suggested that we have more tests done before making any conclusions.
We had this testing done early October at BC Children's Hospital, and from what they could see they told us that Kaiden wasn't in immediate need of surgery. Yes, Kaiden indeed has Moyamoya disease; yes, he has stenosis of his carotid arteries but we are not yet at the point of immediate surgery.
The plan moving forward was to have another angiogram in a year's time, using this most current test as a baseline to see how fast Kaiden's Moyamoya was progressing.
On the morning of December 3rd, however, Boston emailed us back asking us to make arrangements for operation within the next few months. This was a shock to us as, we went from having some time to plan and organize, to having very little at all.
Struggling with costs and time
Our original quote for the operation, was $300,000 USD (roughly $400,000 CAD). Fortunately, today we heard back from the finance department and they have cut the price in half. The only issue is that after speaking with the medical team this morning, the timeline has gone from having a few months to gather our monies, to us now having to schedule surgery as early as mid-January. So now we have 1/3 the time to come up with 1/2 of the original cost.
Praying for your help
We are now at a point where urgency to act and public outreach is key. In some ways our prayers have been answered, but now we are pressed for time. Without emergency surgery we can lose Kaiden, we may lose our little boy.
1) Please donate what you can. Amounts of $100, $200, $500, $1000, $2000 will best help reach our fundraising goal for Kaiden before the surgery date.
2) Please Like and share the Saving Kaiden Facebook Page, share this GoFundMe page, and otherwise help us spread word of Kaiden's fight against Moyamoya. We hope to reach 10,000 people with your help.
Thank you for you time, thank you for your prayers and thank you for your continued help.
Kyle, Aiza, and Kaiden
#savingkaiden
Just this morning with BC Children’s referral to Toronto Sick Kids and Boston's blessing, we have reserved Jan 22nd for Kaiden’s brain surgery. THIS IS THE BEST NEWS WE HAVE HEARD OUR ENTIRE LIVES!
Due to this recent and exciting news we have decided to stop our fundraising efforts and focus on having a normal Christmas and New Years with our son and family. This blessing couldn’t have come sooner for Kaiden.
All of the donations given to us far exceeds what we need, we will return every donation given to us as it is no longer needed. We are in contact with gofundme on how to return all of the funds to each person especially those that we do not know personally. What we ask for now are prayers and positive energy for a safe and complication free surgery for our little boy.
This is truly a Christmas miracle to have three hospitals (BC Children’s, Boston Children’s and Toronto Sick Kids) come together.
For the full update and more of this story go to the Saving Kaiden Facebook Page.
Our Original Story
Six months ago, our 2-year-old son Kaiden was diagnosed with Moyamoya Disease which makes him susceptible to seizure and stroke and without surgical intervention, even death. We are fundraising to give him the best chance possible for a normal life. Help us get him to Boston and give us hope, we have very little time to act and spread word.
1) Donations via this GoFundMe page
2) Likes / shares of the Saving Kaiden Facebook Page
More about Kaiden's story below. Please help Kaiden and champion his cause.
How we found out about Moyamoya
Soon after Kaiden's first birthday, we took him to his doctor to have his lazy eye checked out. This doctor then referred us to a paediatric ophthalmologist and found that Kaiden has what is known as "morning glory anomaly". We were told that this could be a marker of more serious health concerns and that more tests would be needed.
In the next six months we did various tests to rule out all other health complications, but the most serious of them all and what we feared the most, is what it turned out to be.
What is Moyamoya?
The condition Kaiden has is known as Moyamoya Disease, which causes progressive narrowing of the internal carotid arteries in the brain. This increases Kaiden's risk for stroke, seizures and TIAs (mini-strokes) to 80%.
With that we did a ton of research about Moyamoya, connected with support groups on Facebook and contacted several healthcare professionals to really understand the disease Kaiden has and to explore what our options were moving forward.
Urgent surgery needed, now in January
With the first battery of tests, we sent the results to Stanford University, which has the Moyamoya Centre and to Boston Children's Hospital, which is the top pediatric hospital in North America. Stanford right away told us that Kaiden does need to have surgery, while Boston suggested that we have more tests done before making any conclusions.
We had this testing done early October at BC Children's Hospital, and from what they could see they told us that Kaiden wasn't in immediate need of surgery. Yes, Kaiden indeed has Moyamoya disease; yes, he has stenosis of his carotid arteries but we are not yet at the point of immediate surgery.
The plan moving forward was to have another angiogram in a year's time, using this most current test as a baseline to see how fast Kaiden's Moyamoya was progressing.
On the morning of December 3rd, however, Boston emailed us back asking us to make arrangements for operation within the next few months. This was a shock to us as, we went from having some time to plan and organize, to having very little at all.
Struggling with costs and time
Our original quote for the operation, was $300,000 USD (roughly $400,000 CAD). Fortunately, today we heard back from the finance department and they have cut the price in half. The only issue is that after speaking with the medical team this morning, the timeline has gone from having a few months to gather our monies, to us now having to schedule surgery as early as mid-January. So now we have 1/3 the time to come up with 1/2 of the original cost.
Praying for your help
We are now at a point where urgency to act and public outreach is key. In some ways our prayers have been answered, but now we are pressed for time. Without emergency surgery we can lose Kaiden, we may lose our little boy.
1) Please donate what you can. Amounts of $100, $200, $500, $1000, $2000 will best help reach our fundraising goal for Kaiden before the surgery date.
2) Please Like and share the Saving Kaiden Facebook Page, share this GoFundMe page, and otherwise help us spread word of Kaiden's fight against Moyamoya. We hope to reach 10,000 people with your help.
Thank you for you time, thank you for your prayers and thank you for your continued help.
Kyle, Aiza, and Kaiden
#savingkaiden
Fundraising team (5)
Kyle and Aiza Clement
Organizer
Raised $72,000 from 25 donations
Vancouver, BC
Karen Hamilton
Team member
Raised $10,000 from 1 donation
Melissa Babia
Team member
Raised $300 from 1 donation
Mrcss Margiela
Team member
Raised $50 from 1 donation
Kyle Clement
Team member
This team raised $4,627 from 21 other donations.
