Harrison and Hudson's Medical Fund

Greg Kemper is and administrator at a local high school and Liz Kemper devotes her time and energy as a stay at home mother to focus on the boys.
Harrison and Hudson Kemper were born 11 weeks premature of their expected Dec 27th due date on October 13th, 2004 via emergency cesarean section. At 22 weeks along, the boys were diagnosed with twin to twin transfusion (one twin receives more blood and nutrients than the other twin) causing Harrison to be born at 1 lb 10 oz and Hudson at 2 lb 1 oz. Harrison’s lungs were not fully formed at birth and he was not breathing when he was born, causing irreparable brain damage. While dealing with Harry, we found out that Hudson had a vein collapse in his right leg which led us to make the very difficult decision of having it amputated below the knee when he was 6 months old. The boys spent the first 2 ½ months of their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Johns Hospital, being nourished to 4 lb and 5 lb upon their arrival home on December 24th, 2004.  Over the course of the past ten years of their lives, the complications associated with their birth have contributed to an exponential increase in continued complications, including enduring nearly 20 surgeries and thousands of doctors appointments. Once they came home, Harrison began having infantile spasms at six months old, and continued to have a variety of seizures until being formally diagnosed with epilepsy at age two.  Since their birth, Harry and Hud have had hernia surgeries, eye surgery, reconstructive leg surgeries, and multiple trips to the ER via ambulance. Roughly three years ago,  Harry was diagnosed with severe celiac disease (intolerance to gluten), intolerance to dairy, soy and casein.  His food allergies require a strict diet that costs nearly three times the amount of a regular diet.  Harry also has dysgraphia (a learning disability that affects writing abilites) and a sensory processing disorder (autism spectrum disorder) which demands numerous costly therapies and dietary needs that are not covered by insurance.

Financial needs for Harrison and Hudson include following a very specific (and expensive) diet, hippo-therapy (horse therapy), integrated listening therapy (minimum 3 days a week), physical therapy, auditory therapy, intensive occupational therapy and prosthetic legs for Hudson. Non-intensive physical therapy and the majority of the cost of Hudson’s legs are covered by insurance.  The needs that are not covered by insurance come directly from our pockets and they add up faster than you could imagine.  Harry’s diet also calls for supplements each time he eats, along with about 15 other supplements to aid with behavioral issues, these supplements can make or break our day depending on if we are able to purchase all of them.  There are MANY travel costs and expenses for doctor appointments, in not only Springfield, but also appointments with specialists in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis several times a year. We also have a major need for a hyperbaric oxygen tank to use with Harry in order to help heal his brain from the complications associated with the lack of oxygen at birth. We want to give our boys every opportunity to have a fulfilling and successful life.

Thanks so much for all of your help!

The Kempers