A parent’s worst nightmare is learning something is seriously wrong with their child. It is traumatic at any age in that child’s life, but far worse in the case of an infant.
Being told your 2 month old son has a huge hole in his heart, an enlarged heart from it working overtime to compensate for that hole, as well as having fluid in his lungs which is affecting his heart function even more, is devastating.
Ashley B and Coleman are fighting for their son Cash. Their family, extended family, and friends have rallied to their side, and we are all supporting them as much as possible as they begin this long and unbelievably frightening journey.
Even after having his surgery to repair the hole, Cash will still have to remain in the hospital for several weeks while being closely monitored by a group of extremely dedicated and highly professional doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughter’s (CHKD) in Norfolk.
We now have a surgery date for this little guy. It’s Tuesday! Tomorrow!
“Ashley and I can’t even begin to express how grateful we are for all the love and support you all have sent our way. Helen and Julie [friends of theirs] starting a GoFundMe site all on their own was an incredible and gracious surprise. What a huge heap of help this will be to offset medical costs. We truly feel like we don’t deserve all of this. Honestly with all the hate in this world, and never seeing anything good on the news anymore, it is so incredibly uplifting to receive all the kind words and prayers from so many people.
After the surprise of the GoFundMe site I was blown away by the support and the insane amounts people donated; people we don’t even know. We are literally awestuck. From people we haven’t seen in years to close friends and even complete strangers to actually take the time to donate their hard-earned money for our son, it just blows me away. And it makes you realize just how awesome people are! I truly can’t express the gratitude we have for each and every one of you and how much your words are motivating us.
As for Cash, he is like an entirely new baby today, his liver swelling has gone down, not completely, but it’s headed in the right direction. The bilirubin count which was also very high has improved. His heart is still working extremely hard, but has also improved due to the medical care here. He is much healthier and prepared for surgery.
The doctors stated the half pound to a pound he could gain by waiting to the end of month isn’t a huge difference in the surgeon’s eyes, so an extremely qualified doctor from UVA Medical, the doctor that we really wanted from our research, a doctor who specializes in severely complicated VSD surgeries, drove down here yesterday. He will be meeting with us Today and performing Cash’s surgery on Tuesday. Keep the prayers coming! They are working!
Ashley and my two year wedding anniversary is the day after the surgery, so we are counting on Cash to give us the best anniversary gift of our lifetime!
Thank you so much again all of you!!!!”
Coleman
October 8, 2016
Previous posts in this series can be found in the “Healing a Tiny Heart” Category on this blog.