Asher's Journey

My name is Gail Chase and I started this Go Fund Me Page for my Niece Nicki, her husband Andy and their son Asher.  The money received will give Asher the care that he will need in the future.

On April 14, 2019 at 8:25 P.M., Asher John was born weighing 4 lbs 3 oz and 17 inches long. Asher was diagnosed with a heart defect prenatally at his 20 week ultrasound and also growth restricted meaning he was not growing at the rate at which he should have been. Nicki and Andy had to go to doctor’s appointments 2 times a week for monitoring until Asher was born, including several ultrasounds. Nicki also had week long hospital stays at 28 weeks and 35 weeks of pregnancy. Asher was born shortly after that at 36 weeks 4 days.

After Asher was born, doctors diagnosed his heart defect as a complete AV Canal Heart Defect, which is a large hole in the upper chambers of his heart. He also has a VSD in the lower chambers of his heart, which is a smaller hole. Asher was also diagnosed with Esophageal Atresia (EA) and Tracheoesophageal Fistula (TEF). This means that his esophagus was not formed properly and is not connected to his stomach. The upper part of the esophagus is a pouch and the lower esophagus was connected to the trachea.  Asher had surgery on his 2nd day of life hoping to repair his esophagus. Unfortunately surgery was unsuccessful and it was unable to be connected. Asher was diagnosed with what is called “Long Gap EA” and had a G-Tube placed in his stomach so that he could begin feeding. Shortly after this, Asher’s esophageal pouch was perforated, which led to some issues, including air in his chest, making it difficult to breathe and his journey in the NICU even longer. He had 2 chest tubes in and was intubated through a breathing tube in his mouth for 2 months.

At approximately 5 weeks of age, Asher had unexpected issues with his intestinal tract and needed to have another surgery to fix an obstruction and perforation in his bowel and a mal-rotation. Surgery was successful and his intestines were fixed.

At 2 months of age, Asher was still intubated through a breathing tube. Several attempts were made to extubate to him, but all failed. A bronchoscopy was performed and it showed that he had what is called a “Floppy Airway” or TracheoMalacia. Due to this diagnosis, it was decided that a Tracheostomy tube would be the best option to help his breathing and better his development since Asher had been heavily sedated for most of his life up to this point.

Tracheostomy surgery was successful and Asher is doing well with it. He is 15 lbs and 24 inches long now. Asher has occupational therapy and physical therapy daily. The doctors are amazed by his development, but still make it clear that he has a long road ahead of him.

Asher’s next surgery is planned for the end of October or early November to repair his esophagus so that it can be connected and to repair part of his trachea.

The doctors say that best case scenario, Asher can come home in late winter but more realistic is in March or April. Asher also will have his open heart surgery during that time. All in all, Asher will have spent almost his entire 1 year of life in the NICU.

Asher enjoys playing with his toys and his mobile, listening to music, reading books, watching the Vikings game on Sundays with a smuggled in TV from the house, and smiling at everyone he sees, including flirting with all the nurses.

Please take a few minutes to donate to help Nicki , Andy and Asher. Forward this to all your friends.

Thank you so much.  Your support is appreciated.