Hello, I am the proud great-aunt of Olivia Skye Leger. Olivia made her debut on 8/6/25 to her parents JP & Jassmine Leger, weighing 5lb 5oz and 19 inches long. Unfortunately, at 2 days old she was diagnosed with NEC, Necrotizing Enterocolitis, which is a gastrointestinal disease that involves inflammation and infection of the intestines and kills intestinal cells in newborns. Thanks to the great L&D nurses, Nursery nurses, and Pediatrician at OALH, they were able to discover the issue quickly and get Olivia transferred to Women's and Children's NICU and set up with a great surgery team who have cared for her as if she were their own.

Your colon has 4 major areas; Ascending, Transverse, Descending, and Sigmoid. In Olivia's X-rays, we were seeing a pretty big spot near the cecum and ascending colon that they were pretty sure they would have to remove. They also seen some spots more on the transverse/descending colon side that were infected/inflamed that they were unsure on if it would need to be removed or not. They were worried about the ileocecal valve, which is the valve that prevents waste leaving the small intestine going into the colon and returning back into the small intestine. Sweet Olivia lost the ascending, transverse, and descending parts of her colon and that did include the ileocecal valve. That is a problem we can address later on, if it becomes one. She does have an ostomy coming from her small intestine which is called an enterostomy. This is her small intestine currently exposed to the outside of her body. It is currently in place so that when she starts to produce stool it can be exposed of without causing any more damage to the sigmoid colon, which is all she has left. This means Olivia will have an ostomy bag once she starts producing stool. The length of how long the ostomy bag will stay is unknown but will be determined with time and healing. Dr Falterman said it will be an adjustment for her as a baby/toddler but as she gets older her body will adjust to only having a small portion to do the job instead of the whole thing. Right now, all we can do is pray she is healing correctly and continue to keep her as strong as possible!

We all can imagine the unforeseen expenses that will arise. Jassmine will not be able to return to work as planned. Funds raised will assist this sweet family to continue to thrive and not be burdened with the stress of financial difficulties.

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and donations.