Hayleigh - What You Can Do

What You Can Do To Help

So many people over the last few days have reached out asking how they can help.  Some have offered to make dinners, others have sent flowers, gifts, or cards to the hospital.  Thank you for your generosity and giving spirit.

Rachel and I spoke about this today as items are starting to fill her hospital room.   We both agreed Hayleigh would want you to do one of two things on her behalf in lieu of sending flowers, gifts etc...

IDEA #1  Giving to Sole to Soul

Hayleigh has a heart for the disadvantaged.  We served in the slums of Nairobi as part of our mission trip this year with an amazing organization called Missions of Hope.  If you ask Hayleigh what her favorite part of the trip was, she will list off all the places where we served....but she especially talks of Kenya.

Last year around this time the girls were in full fundraising mode on a project for Kenya.  Here is the video they put together with the help of some church friends: (link if embedded video doesn't work  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8kRsrZot1A )



Hayleigh's 'big part' in the video starts at 1:17 and then again at the 2:30 mark (and what she said there is exactly what they ended up doing).  Be sure to watch all the way to the end because Hayleigh's little brother does something in the video that just made her laugh and laugh that infectious laugh of hers.

You can read about the final outcome of this campaign at the following link (please read!):

http://tsfga.blogspot.com/2013/05/kenya-shoes.html  (Link opens in a separate window)

You might be asking "Why give to something that has already been completed?"   The answer to that question is what happened the day after the girls gave all the shoes.  An arsonist again attacked the school and 100 of the kids who had just gotten brand new shoes lost their shoes in the fire.

I remember Hayleigh feeling so bad for those kids.  She became friends with a girl named Gloria and spoke with her over the course of their 2+ weeks together about living in the slums (see Gloria's picture in the blog post link above).  Gloria invited us to her shanty to meet her family and have tea.  I remember Hayleigh saying something like "Daddy you saw Gloria's home.  I bet those kids have never had anything new in their entire lives."

More than any other member of our family, this injustice really bothered her.  So, if she learns after leaving the hospital that her time of trial generated donations to buy those kids new shoes, she would be thrilled.  It would give real, tangible meaning to what she is going through right now.

I just tried the donation link the girls set up last year and it still works.  For those in the USA, it is a tax deductible donation to CMF International, and you get an immediate email receipt for tax purposes.  A $100 donation would buy 4 pairs of shoes and socks, but you can give any amount.  100% of donations to this shoe campaign go toward buying shoes.  (Update: I talked with CMF since posting this and they confirmed 100% of the donations will go to buying shoes for the kids)

Giving to this cause would bring Hayleigh much joy.

Click now on this link to donate:
https://give.cmfi.org/p-52-sole-to-soul-shoes-for-joska-students.aspx

Or go to www.cmfi.org/shoes and click on the 'Give' buttons for the campaign.


IDEA #2  Bone Marrow Registration

One of our dear friends needs a bone marrow transplant but has not found a match.  Hayleigh loves this person and this person's family SO much and would do just about anything to see this person back to health.

So, registering to be a bone marrow donor would be another way to bring joy to Hayleigh.  If you are between the age of 18 and 44, it is free to give as 90% of bone marrow matches come from that age group.  If you are older than 44, then this non-profit requires you to cover the cost of getting registered.

You can find out where registration drives are going on in your area of the country by clicking on this link and inputting your zip code:

http://www.bethematch.com/Support-the-Cause/Donate-bone-marrow/Join-the-marrow-registry/

Don't worry about needles....its just a swab of cheek cells to get registered.  You could save someone's life.  Be the hero....



There is seriously nothing that would make Hayleigh happier than you sitting with our friend making a video like what is above all because you registered to be a bone marrow donor.

If you are a part of an organization / church who would be willing to put on a registration drive click here:

http://www.bethematch.com/Support-the-Cause/Participate/Host-a-donor-drive/


UPDATE on Hayleigh's Medical Condition

On Thursday Hayleigh continued to make progress.  At one point during the early afternoon, the medical team clamped off the ECMO machine to see how Hayleigh would respond to breathing with only ventilator assistance.  She did well for about 4 hours but the team decided it would be better to wait a little longer.  So she is still on ECMO, but to me this was a huge step toward full recovery.

The nurse showed me the chest X-ray from this morning and there is obvious improvement compared to the one taken late Saturday night when she arrived at Boston Childrens.  All the cultures, however, have come back negative for viral infections and bacterial infections.  So, it is a bit of a mystery to the doctors as to what exactly happened.  Their best guess is that she aspirated on something as the kind of reaction she has had can be caused by aspirating something into the lungs that shouldn't be there.

It's actually a relief to me to hear that this didn't happen because she has pulmonary hypertension.  Her cardiologist said you can get pneumonia with her lung condition and get along just fine.  Her cardiologist flatly said "what has happened here is very unusual."  I'm thankful we don't have to walk on eggshells every time we hear a cough going forward!

I felt her awareness was much higher today.  When she would open her eyes, it wasn't the distant gaze of yesterday.  She seemed to be focusing in and listening better.  She DEFINITELY doesn't like the mouth piece in her mouth.  Rachel told me tonight she managed to use her tongue to work it out of her mouth.  Sarah will probably laugh when she reads that.  Sarah laughed and laughed when she read the part the other day about Hayleigh kicking the doctor.  ;)

The girls are processing all this as well as can be expected.  I'm thankful they have counselors at school who are able to get them to open up and let some things out.  I'm thankful as well they each have good friends they can lean on.  These things are theraputic as are our prayers each night.

AJ and Rachel needed some therapy too.  Here is it....

They haven't seen each other since about 815am last Friday morning.  Mommies and little boys need each other.

Not sure which one is more excited....

In case you are wondering, my therapy is writing this blog.

She is coming back to us slowly but surely.  Thank you so much for all your prayers and support.

Please pray for continued healing, protection of vital organs and hearing, protection for baby, rest for Rachel, and finalizing plans on where baby will be born.  

Links mentioned in this post:

Donate to Sole to Soul...shoes for Kenya kids:

https://give.cmfi.org/p-52-sole-to-soul-shoes-for-joska-students.aspx

or

www.cmfi.org/shoes

Bone Marrow Donor Link

http://www.bethematch.com/Support-the-Cause/Donate-bone-marrow/Join-the-marrow-registry/

God bless,

Andrew
Next Post:  http://tsfga.blogspot.com/2013/10/hayleigh-and-baby-big-news.html