
Support for Teo & Family
Currently, our family is facing multiple challenges. Last year our baby Teo was born with Down Syndrome & suffers from Epilepsy. We are also undergoing a very costly process of legalization for residency in the US to receive superior support for Teo’s condition.
We are reaching out to our family & friends, and sharing with you these challenges during this vulnerable moment in our lives. We ask for your financial support, prayers, and if you cannot contribute, please share our story with people who may be able to donate to our cause.
Last year was the most important, beautiful, and at the same time - the most difficult time in our life. In December 2017 our first son, Teo Sunny came to this world. He is a special needs baby - he has a genetic disorder (well known as Down Syndrome) and also, since 6 months old - epilepsy (infantile spasms and myoclonic epilepsy), along with other health issues, connected to the trisomy, like low muscles tone, lower immune system, two holes in his heart.
Kids with trisomy 21 usually develop slower than their peers, and their motoric and intellectual development is slow when they are adults. Although the level of delay can vary. Few of them are pretty independent people, go to regular school (even colleges and universities), and work on their own, but most of the DS adult people need help with everyday life, many of them are even non-verbal. It is very important for them to receive therapy and support from the beginning of their life, to help reach their potentials. Trisomy 21 is also connected with the degradation of the nervous system (similar to Alzheimer disease), that develops much earlier than in normal population and needs preventive supplementation since the first months of life.
Since 3 months old, Teo has been enrolled in an early intervention program and has been receiving therapy sessions - physical, speech and occupational therapy. Currently, Teo’s development at 16 months old in some areas is still at the level 7 months old infant. Along with therapy, he needs custom supplementation that can help with all metabolic imbalances caused by Down Syndrome and protect his brain and nervous system. He is currently taking epileptic medication as well as about 15 other specific supplements and vitamins. He also needs special therapy tools to help him grow. Neither supplementation, some laboratory tests, nor therapy tools are covered by the insurance company. Because of some external causes, connected with our immigration status, Teo did not receive any state financial support, we applied for him.
Along with challenges with Teo’s health, we are confronting now the legalization process of our residency in the US. Although these seem like two separate issues, they come hand in hand. The salary of a legal employee in the US will give us the financial support to take care of our son’s health in the long term. It was a struggle for us to reach to our friends and community but we find ourselves in a moment of real need.
That all causes a lot of costs that, along with our immigration status here, are very difficult for us to manage. Some of them are:
- the monthly cost of Teo's supplements: ~$200
- the monthly cost of transportation do doctors/hospital: ~$100
- the monthly cost of therapeutic tools: ~$50-100
- costs of DS specialist naturopath consultations: $200 (not regular)
- cost of laboratory tests, suggested by DS specialists (allergy tests, toxicity test, genetic panel) that are not covered by the insurance company: ~$900 so far.
The procedure of getting the green card, which will let us legally stay in the US and permit us to work costs ~$13.000 (updated 05/15/2019) (this includes: job permission procedure/labor department fees, immigration department fees, fingerprints, photographs, doctor's appointments and obligatory laboratory tests, translation of Polish documents, and the immigration lawyer assistance).
This is the cost that is much too high for us to manage by ourselves at this point in our life. We ask for your support & prayers. If you cannot contribute, please share our story with friend’s & family who may be able to donate to our cause.
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(PLEASE do not be confused by Dagmara Hubert-Brown's name in the campaign. Dagmara is a friend of us who is kindly helping us with money withdrawal process).