Joseph Gray was born in March, 2015. He seemed to be doing well at birth, other than some trouble eating. As he grew, he continued to struggle with eating and began to make a funny noise, known as stridor. At his one month appointment, the doctor seemed concerned about his stridor and poor weight gain which put him in the 5th percentile. After seeing a pulmonary doctor, Joseph was admitted to the hospital for observation. He was sent home on oxygen and was believed to have a condition called tracheomalicia, but this was not confirmed. One week later, he was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit due to severe chest retractions. During this stay, a bronchoscopy was done and confirmed that he has laryngomalacia, a condition that affects his ability to breathe well. Because he had to work so hard to breathe, his ability to eat well and gain weight was compromised. He was failing to thrive. After altering his feeding regime to reduce aspiration when eating, and increasing oxygen at home, he returned to the hospital one week later for severe chest retractions and loss of color. During his third hospital stay in three weeks, Joseph was finally transferred to UVA hospital to meet with a pediatric ENT specialist. After evaluation, the doctor determined that his laryngomalacia was severe enough that he required surgery to correct his airway. He made it well through surgery and is now breathing better. Currently, he is struggling to swallow and has some aspiration post surgery, which has led to him needing a feeding tube again. Hopefully, this will be temporary. Being the parent of a newborn who is failing to thrive despite all efforts, seeing him struggle to simply breathe, and the numerous hospital stays has been stressful for the DesMarais family to say the least. Helping Joseph to breathe better and grow well was never an option, but it does not come without its financial burden, which has led me to start a GoFundMe fundraiser for the DesMarais family. If you feel led to do so, please donate to help with medical expenses. No amount is too small.

Thank you all for your love, support, and encouragement.