Our wonderful Nephew Atticus was born in October 30th 2024 with Type A Esophageal Atresia.

Esophageal atresia is a rare birth defect where the esophagus, the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach, does not develop properly or ends in a blind pouch. This prevents food and liquid from reaching his stomach.

After his birth, he was sent to the children's hospital and has been in the NICU ever since. He will soon have to be transferred to St. Petersburg for his next step in treatment, his surgery to try to connect the esophagus and stomach. Atticus's treatment will be a long and ongoing one where he will be in the NICU for several more months. The hospital in St. Petersburg is over 4 hours away from where they live. After Atticus has his surgery and leaves the NICU, he will have to have lots of physical and speech therapy. Speech therapy will help him practice learning to feed by mouth since he has never had the opportunity.

This is not only emotionally draining on Melanie and Daniel but has and will take its toll financially. Daniel has some flexibility with his work; however, Melanie does not and will miss quite a bit of work, understandably. They are looking into the Ronald McDonald House to see if they have room for them. Any help will go directly to helping Melanie and Daniel and the care of Atticus.