My friend needs your help. Love, prayers, money. See the below email regarding my friend Shannon and her family. I love this family. They have dealt with many trying times throughout their journey, but through each step of the way, the find joy and gratitude, and give glory to our awesome God. I would love for you to join us in helping them!
Below are words from our homeschool Coop's care leader. It has all the pertinent details:
I wanted to send out an update about one of our families that you may know.
Shannon and Dexter Stone's son, Ben, has been in and out of the hospital for the past two weeks with an unknown health complication. He just turned one and started vomiting with what everyone assumed at first was the stomach bug that has been going around. The bug continued past the normal 24 hours though and as the vomiting continued they had to take him to the hospital because he was so dehydrated and hadn't eaten in a few days. When they got to the hospital the doctor who examined him treated him so he could eat something. While examining him the doctor found that both Ben's anterior and posterior fontanelles (soft spots) had not closed. In and of themselves this is a cause for concern but not alarm except Ben is also not crawling or sitting up by himself yet. This led him to think there could possibly be a neurological issue. The doctor suggested that Shannon take him to his regular pediatrician as soon as possible which she did. The pediatrician also was alarmed and ordered several tests on Ben (blood work, CT scan, etc.). They found that Ben was not sick with a virus or bacteria (so this is not what was causing the continued vomiting) and that he also had a fluid build up in his skull. The doctor wanted to do an MRI but the hospital they were at didn't want to schedule one without being assured of payment. They are now at a new hospital that some friends told them about that will preform all the necessary tests and treat Ben as a priority instead of receiving payment as a priority. That is where they are now. Ben was admitted last night and last I heard the doctors were considering putting a feeding tube in him just so that he could get some nourishment.
So, I want to ask all of you to please pray for Ben and his family. Shannon and Dexter as you can imagine are very worried about their son. They also have 6 other children that they are caring for and trying to provide a sense of normalcy to during this time.
Another way you can help if you feel led is to make a donation to the link below to help off set the medical costs they are incurring. Dexter was laid off from his job in early December and just recently started working for another company in February on a contract basis. Since it is a contract position there is no health insurance for their family and now that Ben has been diagnosed as having some issue they will not be able to get private insurance for him. They will be paying for all costs that the hospital doesn't offset out of pocket.
http://fundraisenetwork.com/?p=1122
My (friend's) husband, who is a professional photographer (you can see his work at www.towerphotography.net), has offered to give a 30 minute mini session and digital images on a set day as a gift to anyone who donates $100 or more to this cause.
Thank you all for your prayers! I will keep you updated about Ben's condition when they know more about what is going on.
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