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On
August 28, 2011, Brayton Lester went home to Heaven at the age of 3.
This little boy fought hard for three years, overcoming the odds over
and over until his little body couldn't fight anymore. We are
heartbroken for his mother, Aimee, and their family. We can and should
keep them in our prayers. There is another way to help this family in
crisis. They can not afford a proper funeral for Brayton. Aimee is an
unemployed single mother and needs our help. If you could please spare
even just a few dollars - if everyone who saw this donated a buck it
would go a very long way to helping Aimee and her family get through
this and give Brayton a proper memorial. Thank you. Note: All proceeds
go directly to Aimee, minus the small fee charged by paypal. Every
penny helps, and is greatly appreciated!
Brayton
Lester was born on June 30, 2008 with a birth defect called
Tracheoesophageal Fistula and Esophogeal Atresia. It is a defect where
the esophagus is not properly connected, and the trachea & esophagus
are abnormally connected. Brayton spent the first 10 months of his
life in the NICU/PICU and returned for numerous hospitalizations
throughout his too-short 3 year life. The Lesters endured incredible
challenges as a result of traveling 5-6 hours each way to the closest
hospital equipped to treat Brayton and when Brayton was home he required
around the clock care. Despite these challenges, Brayton brought great
joy to their lives and his absence will be felt forever. iCare was founded because of Brayton in 2008. Without him, iCare would have not been created, therefore unable to help it's many wonderful families over the past 3 years. So I thank you Brayton! You helped so many people in your short lifetime~ More than most adults who live to be 100 years old. You were an angel sent to earth! I love you sweet angel. I will carry you inside my heart forever. Now fly amongst the stars! With much sadness, Diana Hartley Founder of iCare Aimee is a newly single mom raising 4 children. She is also unemployed, since Brayton has been admitted into the hospital. She still resides 5 hours away from UCSF, which puts a huge financial strain on her family. As always, all proceeds go directly to Aimee, minus the 2% fee charged by paypal. Every penny helps, and is greatly appreciated! On December 3rd, 2010 Brayton was diagnosed with pneumonia again but this time it was so severe that the local hospital transported him by a medical medi-flight to San Francisco where he remained in critical condition until December 24th. His oxygen level was down in the 50s (normal is high 90s) and his fever went from 100 to 105 in just a few hours time. It is believed that a portion of his lung tissue has died and he will likely require surgery to attempt some kind of repair if he can get strong enough to do it. He is on a ventilator with high pressure to keep him alive and is heavily sedated and paralyzed (induced) to keep him from experiencing anxiety and distress that might interfere with his serious treatment. The Lester family lives in Eureka, CA and the closest hospital to them is not equipped to care for Brayton so each time he has spent time in the hospital he must do so in San Francisco which is a 5-6 hour drive from home. Aimee and Rick, Brayton's parents, have struggled to keep their family afloat as the time and expenses involved in traveling to and from San Francisco to be by Brayton's side are enormous and have interfered with their ability to hold stable jobs to support their family (they have two other children who are in elementary school). They are trying so hard to make a good life for their children and keep experiencing setbacks. Please pray for Brayton and his family. If you would like to help them with expenses so that Brayton can have his parents by his side, please click the donate button. Thank you! Donation update as of December 30th, 2010. Since December 5th, 2010, a miraculous $2,920.00 has been donated to the Lester's! A big thank you to everyone that has made it possible for Rick and Aimee to be by their baby's side during this. With that said, the Lester's could still use more. During the past few weeks, Rick has not been working while they have been in San Fransisco. They still have rent, car payments, and other bills to pay, beyond the expenses of being so far from home. Even a dollar or two makes a big difference! Like always, 100% of the donations go directly to the family. Keep praying! Brayton is a real life Christmas miracle! Update Decemeber 28, 2010-Being transferred out of the PICU and onto the regular floor at 4:30! :) Update December 26, 2010- UPDATE from Aimee: "1 chest tube out, other one will come out in a few days. Today the methadone and all pain meds were stopped. Down from 8 liters to 2 liters of oxygen in 2 days. Doing great!" keep those prayers coming! :) Update December 22, 2010- Another great update: "He is extubated! It happened about 1/2 hour ago, and so far, so good. They will be checking his blood gasses soon to see how his C02 is looking." Christmas miracles abound! :) Update December 21st, 2010- Brayton update from Aimee an hour ago: "They are doing a spontaneous breathing trial with B tomorrow. (turning the vent settings all the way down and seeing how he does on his own-but not removing the vent yet) If he does well, he will be extubated! If not, well we will just wait til he's ready. The fact they are tryin...g this, is amazing!!! :)" Praise God! Keep those prayers coming! Thank you! Update December 17th, 2010-Praying for Brayton Lester UPDATE from Aimee just now: "Just got a call from the Drs at almost 1am. Thats how you know its bad news. They may put Brayton on ECMO tonight due to some things that have happened tonight. 1 step forward, 3 steps back I swear." Activate that prayer army -- let's lift this precious child up in a swelling of prayer. URGENT PRAYERS NEEDED! Aimee just called and said
that she has been told things are bad. He was put on dialysis last
night because his kidneys are not removing the fluid from this body.
Because of the dialysis, it is cooling his temperature....
This is causing problems w/ his heart rate and breathing. They have put
him on an osilator (the machine that shakes the preemies). The last
trick they have is to put him on an ecmo (?) machine. It basically takes
all of the blood from the body, oxygenates it, and returns it to the
body. So please pray. And tell others to pray. And pray hard. UPDATE (Dec. 7th 11am PST): Brayton's surgery is postponed until Thursday. The reason is good - he is stabilized and they want him to have a couple days of stability before subjecting him to another surgery. His kidneys are struggling (acidosis) so he's receiving medication to help boost kidney function. They took him off the paralytic meds but he is still heavily sedated so he's not moving much. Still a very dangerous situation. Prayers are helping. Aimee and Rick are SO GRATEFUL for the prayers, support and generosity. Keep those prayers coming! Thank you!
New pic attached...of Brayton taken by Aimee at 12:30am Tuesday 12/7/10.
Brayton UPDATE (Dec.6th 6:30pm): Amy had a call from the dr. who said he's not out of the woods yet but he's looking better than he was. His vent settings are still high but that it seems as if the air stoppd leaking out of his lung. He said the next surgery will be of the esophagus. Most likely a spit fistula. Aimee and Rick are on their way to the hospital - about 2 hours away now. It's raining so the drive is slower than usual. Keep those prayers coming!
Brayton UPDATE (Dec.5th 9:35pm) Brayton made it out of surgery. The surgeon said the infection is bad. Apparently the stent had entered the chest/lungs (probably a while ago). There are abscesses in his lungs and chest. He also has a hole in one lung, causing the O2 from the vent to leak out. He also has 2 chest tubes, and they will be doing a spit fistula out of his neck (basically bringing his esophagus out through his neck to drain anything that he swallows). He is still VERY sick, and it is touch and go. His settings are on high for the vent. He will need many more surgeries (another if he is stable in the next 24 hrs). Regardless, Aimee is happy and grateful that Brayton made it out of surgery, and thanks everyone for the wonderful support - the prayers and the financial assistance that is enabling them to prepare now to drive to San Francisco to be there for Brayton tonight.
Brayton Brayton was born 5 weeks premature,on June 30th, 2008, to Aimee & Rick Lester of California. Brayton was born with a birth defect called Tracheoesophageal Fistula and Esophogeal Atresia. It is a defect where his esophagus is not properly connected, and his trachea & esophagus are abnormally connected. When he would swallow anything, it would go directly into his lungs, which required him to have a tube down his throat for his first 7 months of life to suction all of his secretions.
Brayton spent the first 9 months of his life in the hospital NICU at a hospital that is more than 5 hours away from home. He has had surgeries to repair the defect but there were complications, and the repairs have not been totally successful. The final repair left him with leaks at the repair site, causing fluid to repeatedly enter his lungs or chest cavity and have prevented him from being able to eat anything by mouth. He has never had anything orally, and he required a GJ feeding tube placed from very early on. Because of the leak and his severe reflux from the surgeries, he is at a much higher risk for aspiration pneumonia which he has had several times now requiring hospitalization and oxygen.
For a brief time, Brayton was stable enough to finally go home to be with his parents who would have the daunting challenge of caring for him with a special feeding tube that requires him to be continuously fed for 18 hours a day and watching for signs of complications and the stress of being over 5 hours away from the specialists that can best help him if he's in dire need. Shortly thereafter, Brayton began showing signs of complications and he was admitted to their local hospital where he began treatment for a new case of pneumonia. Unfortunately, he worsened and had to be airlifted back to the hospital that he spent his first 9 months of life at and so Brayton's fight continues.
Brayton's parents have endured tremendous financial hardships since Brayton's birth, due to the need to travel frequently back and forth between home and the hospital to ensure Brayton could receive the benefits of his mom's pumped breast milk and of course bonding with his parents while he spends most of his time being cared for by doctors and nurses in the hospital. Brayton's dad's job depends on the weather which causes a lot of time off with no pay and his mom can't work since she needs the flexibility to go be with Brayton and they can't afford childcare for their two daughters who must remain in school and who are not permitted entry into the ICU where Brayton is. Every day is a struggle for them - to do what's best for Brayton, to put food on the table and shelter over their heads while they also manage the stress and worry that goes with not knowing if your son will survive and thrive.
To help this struggling family, Diana Hartley started a fundraiser in July of 2008 to raise money from friends, family and online contributors. Without these contributions, Aimee and Rick would likely have become homeless and destitute. They are not out of the woods yet. Brayton is still 5 hours from home and needs his parents by his side. He has frequent check ups, appointments, and studies at the hospital he spent his first 9 months of life at. The family still struggles daily as Brayton's dad's job is dependent upon the weather. Please consider helping this family during their time of great need. If you are not able to donate, please pass the word along, and/or send them your prayers!
You may donate to this family using the link below. All donated monies go directly to the family. The donation account is carefully and responsibly managed and thoroughly documented. If you have any questions or concerns about it, please contact Diana at: icare4causes@gmail.com .
Thank you for your compassion for this family. They are incredibly grateful for any and all support they receive. |
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