Giving Well - Spring 2013 - (Page 4)

Ashley snider MACKenzie snyder Ashley was born with a visual impairment that went undiagnosed by her pediatrician until her family moved to Chattanooga two years ago. Ashley’s mother, Kim, knew something wasn’t right. Ashley’s speech and fine motor skills were noticeably delayed. Fortunately, her new physician was able to determine the cause: esotropia, a form of strabismus, which caused her eye to turn in and therefore both eyes could not focus on the same object. Ashley was sent immediately to speech and occupational therapy. When she began speech therapy, Ashley was almost nonverbal. Now, after undergoing two years of therapy and surgery on her eye, Ashley has made tremendous progress. She is now able to go to prekindergarten at Brown Academy. Karlie and Matthew couldn’t wait to meet their daughter. At Karlie’s 38-week appointment, their doctor decided to do a planned induction because the baby was getting big. But a day after Karlie was induced, she still wasn’t dilating, and it was clear a C-section would be necessary. That’s when Karlie suddenly went into cardiac arrest. Fourteen minutes passed before her heart started beating again. Less than five minutes after that Mackenzie was born and placed in Erlanger’s neonatal intensive care unit. Karlie was put into an induced coma. Both mother and daughter received cooling therapy to help them heal. Ten days after her birth, Mackenzie was able to go home with her parents. And now Karlie and Matthew are enjoying all the firsts that come with parenting their little miracle. Age: 4 diagnosis: Visual impairment, and speech and motor delays Parents: Jay and Kim snider hometown: Chattanooga, Tenn. Greer Cofield Age: diagnosis: Parents: hometown: 5 Traumatic brain injury Gregg and shannon Cofield Cartersville, Ga. Greer had been taking horseback riding lessons for almost three years. But on Oct. 8, 2012, the lesson didn’t go as planned. While walking with her mother, Shannon, in search of her favorite horse, they were charged by a different horse. The next thing Shannon knew, she and Greer were on the ground, and Greer had taken the brunt of the blow. She had a laceration from the right side of her forehead to her ear, the right side of her face was crushed and she was unconscious. LifeForce, Erlanger’s air transport service, landed in an adjacent field and brought Greer to T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, where she had reconstructive surgery on her face. After only 11 days in the hospital, Greer was released to go home. Today she is back to enjoying life as a 5-year-old. 4 erlangerfoundations.org Age: diagnosis: Parents: hometown: 10 months old oxygen deprived at birth Matthew snyder and Karlie zimmerman Chattanooga, Tenn. Wynn eAdy Age: diagnosis: Parents: hometown: 1 oxygen deprived at birth Wells and Anna eady Chattanooga, Tenn. Wynn, or “Wonder Wynn,” was born with the umbilical cord around her neck, depriving her and her organs of much-needed oxygen. Her Apgar scores, on a 0 to 10 scale, were 1 at 1 minute of life, 3 at 5 minutes of life and 5 at 10 minutes of life. The prognosis was grim. As days passed her head became swollen with blood, and she required daily blood transfusions. But after a couple of weeks, she needed fewer and fewer transfusions, and she was taken off the ventilator. Still, there were major concerns with her liver, kidneys and the hematoma on her head that resulted from the vacuum extraction at birth. Plus, Wynn’s potassium level had spiked, raising fears about serious brain damage— even death. But after two months of dialysis, Wynn was able to go home. http://www.erlangerfoundations.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Giving Well - Spring 2013

Giving Well - Spring 2013
Little Miracles
Former Children’s Hospital Patient Meets the President
Find Out How You Can Help Local Kids in Need

Giving Well - Spring 2013