My son Shannon was born with severe obstructive sleep apnea and as a preemie was in the hospital for quite some time. We have been working with health professionals at Stanford for the past 17 years and Shannon has had at least a dozen diagnostic sleep studies. He has already had two surgical procedures but unfortunately these did not remedy the problem, and were only a temporary solution. His airway is severely restricted and as a result the use of a CPAP machine and orthodontic appliances is not adequate in controlling his sleep apnea. (we tried all of it) He has both a severe nose and airway obstruction and will require entire facial reconstructive surgery, upper and lower jaws, movement of his teeth, Chin rotation and surgery on his nose to clear the blockage. We have tried all other alternatives, but  the only way to increase his airway so that he can breathe as a normal person is to complete the surgery. Many do not know this, but Shannon suffers from migraines, exhaustion, lightheadedness and ADD as a result of his apnea obstruction.

Unfortunately his ADD, focus, exhaustion, migraines etc. are only worsening which is common with airway obstructions. We do have insurance, however it will not cover all of the surgical cost, hospital cost, orthodontic costs to allow the surgery, and anesthesiology,etc, In Addition we are still carrying a balance from the surgery Shannon had last year from his soccer injury.
The current estimates from the hospital, surgeons, anesthesiologist, medical equipment suppliers and orthodontist are over 20,000.
That seems crazy, but even Shannon's recent leg surgery was $174,000; fortunately we will only have to cover about 10% of that with insurance (prayers maybe even less)

I am currently off of work from my own back injury and will be making whatever payment plan I can but , I cannot get all the funds together. As any parent, I do not like the thought that my son Shannon will have to continue to feel poorly because I just don't have the financial resources.
And yet another reason why I am a proponent of universal health coverage for all!

While I believe insurance should cover everything, unfortunately that i not the reality . Shannon's recovery from the surgery will be approximately two months and it involves a lot of adjustment and pain, however we have spoken with many who have had the surgery and they all report feeling better immediately and how much they had taken for granted what it was like to actually feel rested or that you were actually breathing properly.

Any donations will be set aside to cover Shannon's medical bills for the surgery. He is hoping to have it this summer if possible and may even have to put off going to college, but depending on funding it will be sometime in the next calendar year.

Any donations would be appreciated!
please message me or call with any questions