Support Imani, Caleb & Baby Ezra's Journey

Ezra’s Hope - Support for Imani & Caleb Miller

Imani has a heart condition. Caleb has a neurological condition. Baby Ezra is the miracle life that came from their love. I’m Grammy, & these are my Loves. They are facing ongoing struggles & I’m asking that anyone else who loves them would spread the word to help bring them support. If we all do a little, it could come to a LOT & finances would be one less thing for them to worry about. This is their story:

Ezra was born at 8:04am on June 4th 2024. But his story actually began on Valentine’s Day 2023, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH). His mother, Imani, came into the ER with chest pain; Caleb, his daddy, was working at the hospital that night. Caleb met Imani that evening & encouraged her with his own story of hope & overcoming. He’s had 15 neuro & cardiothoracic surgeries, lives with hydrocephalus, has a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt, & struggled through epilepsy as a child. Imani understood Caleb in a way few could: she has genetic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), had a pacemaker implanted at age 22, & has been living with heart failure flare-ups for several years. Their love story is like a rom-com of sweet friendship, hours on the phone, equal parts movie dates & church dates, then a whirlwind romance, proposal & marriage.

Two months after they were married, Imani was in the ER with another episode of heart-failure symptoms. After routine labs to check her heart numbers, the doc came in & announced offhandedly that while her troponin levels were elevated, her pregnancy was just fine. Caleb & Imani’s chins dropped in shock!

Imani’s pregnancy required extra care, so she was transferred to a special cardiac-OB group at Tampa General Hospital (TGH). At 5-months pregnant she required more bed rest & had to quit her job as a Unit Coordinator in the OB critical care unit at SMH. To make up the difference, Caleb, a CNA multi-skilled technician in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) at SMH, got an additional job as a valet driver at the hospital. The 12-hr work days & trips back & forth to Tampa for Imani’s specialists were a challenge, but they were happy newlyweds.

Imani was induced at TGH on June 3rd, & after a very carefully monitored & managed 17-hour labor all thru the night, baby Ezra arrived in perfect health! The long labor, sleepless night, & trial of childbirth took a toll on Imani, & she spent most of the next day sleeping & recovering. Caleb was in awe of his wife & new baby, caring for them 43 hours straight with no sleep. And that began to take a toll on Caleb. As expected, Imani’s heart needed extra recovery time, & they finally went home with baby Ezra on Sat June 7th.

On Sun June 8th Caleb took Imani to the ER with chest pain & shortness of breath. She was admitted to the cardiac unit with heart-failure: pleural effusion, rapid heart rate, dangerously elevated blood pressure, fluid in her lungs, & edema in her legs/feet. A few hours later, after IV Lasix, she was improving. She & Caleb finally tried to get some sleep in her hospital room on the 8th floor of SMH at about 3am.

At 4:15am Imani was awaked by the horrifying sounds & sight of Caleb having a grand mal seizure. She screamed & screamed for help. Within a minute or so, medical staff was there, & she had me (Ezra’s Grammy & Caleb’s mom) on the phone. Caleb has no memory of that next day, when he was taken to the ER, underwent a battery of tests, & was admitted to the neuro 5th floor of SMH. He’s doing a little better every day; his brain is gradually recovering from having a major seizure. No shunt failure, thank God. But an epilepsy diagnosis again, after 17 years without seizures. Started on Keppra for the seizures, which make him groggy & affect his memory. Imani had to be on IV Lasix for several days & will remain on oral Lasix for several weeks, which means she can’t breastfeed baby Ezra. But she’s determined to keep up her milk supply, so is pumping (& dumping, so sad!) round the clock.

They are home now. Sleep is vital for the healing process. They are coordinating schedules & help to take of themselves & each other. Planning doctor appointments. Working with HR for Caleb’s job at SMH. According to FL law he’s not supposed to drive for 6 months after having a seizure. He's unable to return to work as soon as they planned because of this. Imani can drive back & forth but is also healing & not supposed to do much activity for the next 6 weeks. That’s not really functional! While Caleb is doing better physically every day, he’s understandably really down. Asking God, “why? why now? why this? when I need to be taking care of my wife & baby?” And Imani is feeling much the same; frustrated with her limitations & struggling with PTSD levels of fear that Caleb will have another seizure. Watching someone you love have a seizure is hellish, the stuff of nightmares. She’s crying out, “why God? why now? what can I do to protect him? how can I care for him?”

So they pray together. Cry together. Look for moments of joy. Laugh together. And love baby Ezra.

I’m so proud of them. Managing such a challenging situation with grace & love.

Please do what you can. Every little bit helps. If you can't help financially, please be praying for their healing & strength to manage everything. We're trusting that God holds all of this in the palm of His hand!

Thank you!