new pictures of abe

hello, things are going good. abe is adjusting just fine and falling right back into his routine. he's cooing, smiling, and kicking his legs when he gets excited! again, thank you for all of your prayers and concerns. specials thank you's to all of the grandparents and kloudi for helping with ayden and amelia during these days. we couldn't do it without you all. and thank you to jo and stacey for setting this site up for us. they have been awesome friends and we love you. so, here are some more pictures to look at.

Dressing removal

Hello everyone, Abe had his dressings removed this morning. The resident Dr. said everthing looks great. It's very hard for Missy right now (very emotional) his head seems very fragile, although the nurses say to treat him normally with a little TLC. Thanks to everyone for your thougths and prayers. Dr. said we should be able to come home Sat. or Sun.
Thanks,
Rod, Missy and Abe

update of abe

hi everyone, abe is hanging in there. he is starting to swell on his face, especially around his eyes. his eyes are becoming bruised, too. the nurses are keeping him comfortable with plenty of pain meds. i finally got to nurse him and he ate a little bit! Daddy held him too and you could tell he was relaxed with us holding him. here are some pictures that we have been taking as time goes by. thank you for thinking of us.

missy

Recovering from surgery

Hi this is Rod. Just an Update Abe came out of surgery a little before 1:00 this afternoon. Everything went well. Dr. Boaz was very happy with the way things went during surgery. He is in a recovery room now. We will try to post pictures soon. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.
Rod Salway

Surgery update

Hello everyone, we are preparing for surgery on Wed. July 8th at 9:00 am. Melissa, Abe and I will be leaving Tuesday evening. The surgery will take approximately 5 hours. We have tried to prepare ourselves by looking at pictures of other children who have been through the same procedure. Melissa has been in contact with some friends of ours from Decatur (Scott and Abbey Harvey) whose son had surgery the last week of June. That has been very good for Melissa and I to have a someone who's already been through it. We have a great support team in our family and friends. Ayden and Amelia will be staying with Grandparents and aunt Kloudi. Our church (Blackhawk Ministries) has also been a great to us.
We will try to keep this page updated throughout the week. Thanks to everyone for your prayers.
Rod Salway

hello there

hi this is melissa, i have put some pictures of our family on here, so enjoy looking at them! we went to Riley Hospital on tues. june 2. we met with a neuro surgeon and plastic surgeon, boy was it an in depth meeting. we talked with them for at least 2 hours. during our meeting we planned when our surgery is for abe. it is going to be wed. july 8. the surgery the dr. wants to do is the more invasive one, which intales cutting from ear to ear and removing a piece of skull bone. he should not have to wear a helmet, pray he doesnt. the stay in the hospital will be one night in intensive care and up to 3-5 days in the hospital. we appreciate all the prayers and support from you. we definitely need it!

Hello!

I just wanted to inform everyone that we will be posting pictures soon. Melissa tried to send some, but had difficulties. Also, they have decided that they will be having the surgery performed at Riley as they have recently met a couple that is about to go through the same thing. This couple is going to Riley as well. 

We will soon be posting a link in which you may purchase beadie buddies and all proceeds will go to the Baby Abe fund. More to come in the near future!

The Beginning of the Story

Hello,

This is Stacey. I am starting this blog in honor of our great friends, Rod, Melissa, Ayden, Amelia, and Baby Abraham, also known as the Salway family. This family has been through a lot in this past year, and I feel it is time to begin a blog in order get as much prayer and support as possible. 

Rod and Melissa are the parents and Ayden is a 4 year old boy, Amelia is a 2 1/2 year old girl and Baby Abraham is a little over a month old. Let's meet the kids:

Ayden absolutely LOVES John Deere tractors, hockey and many other manly things :-) Anyway, He was born with a defect in his heart. I do not remember the exact name of his diagnosis but  at some point in this past year, his parents were informed that as Ayden grows older, he will have to be more cautious of the activities he participates in. He will not be able to play any contact sports, including hockey. At some point after Ayden turns 30, he will more than likely require an open heart surgery. On top of the heart news, Ayden was bit by a dog and required stitches in his ear several months ago.

Amelia is a little girl who really has her head on straight---she absolutely loves shoes. She has had an obsession for shoes since I can remember. She also thoroughly loves her baby dolls. In fact, all of her baby dolls are named after our daughter, Kendel. I can't blame her for naming her dollies after such a cute baby :-)Anyway,in the past year, she had to get glasses and she broke her leg last summer while playing on a slide at her grandparents house. She was such a trooper as she hobbled along in her littler cast and looks oh so adorable in her glasses! Then, a few months ago, Amelia fell at her other grandparents house and cut her head open. She had to go to the ER to get stitches. 

Needless to say, this family is purchasing Aflac insurance to help cover accidental injuries. 

Melissa and Rod decided a third child would complete the family. They found out they were pregnant when they were on a family vacation last August.  Everything was going great until Melissa was told that she would have to give herself shots in the stomach twice a day, every day.  This was supposed to help keep her fluid levels stable enough for the baby. When Melissa was 7 months along, the doctors told her she would have to be on bed rest due to low fluid levels. She remained on bed rest until she gave birth to a beautiful little boy named Abraham Salway. Upon Abe's birth, Melissa sensed that Abe's head was large and oblong. She did not bring this to anyones attention right away as she felt she may be over analyzing things. On Abe's 4 week check up, Melissa mentioned her concerns and the Dr. pursued with some necessary tests. The results came back positive for a condition in which the baby's sutures in his skull enclosed before they were supposed to (called sagital craniosynosis, it occurs in 1 of 4500 baby's).  We all have sutures in our head. Well, the sagital sutures (one on each side of the skull) had formed together. They are not supposed to form until the baby is one to two years old. Because his sutures solidified, the brain has no room to grow. Therefore, the brain is being pushed back and forming a football shaped head. In order to create room for the brain to grow  one of two surgeries will need to be performed. The first option is where the surgeons will actually cut open the skull and remove parts of the skull and take 2 inches of skull out. This option will require a blood transfusion. The second surgery is less invasive as it is an endoscopic procedure in which strips of bone are cut out of the skull. He will have to wear a helmet for up to 18 months. He will have to wear the helmet intermittently in order to reshape the head.

So, as you can see, this family has been through more families than I know in their lifetime. My daughter was screaming and crying because she hit her head on a corner. My heart ached for her. I wanted to make her all better and was sad to see her in pain. I cannot imagine anything even close to what Rod and Melissa are feeling right now. They are worried about Baby Abe's health, safety and well-being. They are also concerned about their other two children who are struggling to understand what is going on. I know these parents would do anything to take the surgery for Baby Abe.  However, they cannot. So I ask that you please pray for this family.

Obviously finances are a big concern for this family as they are having difficulty with insurance.  They will have  either go to  Riley Hospital in Indianapolis or a Cincinatti Children's Hospital.  Evidently, they will be considered out of network and have to pay up to 40%. They will also be paying for gas for the trips and hotel stays. Therefore, we are looking for some fundraising ideas for this family. If you have any ideas please send them our way. No matter what, please just pray. They are putting their faith in God, which is so good to know because I have seen great changes through God in this family. They are great people. Anyway, we will keep you updated and will soon post pictures. We do have one idea for a fundraiser, so we will be organizing that and informing you all on our ideas. Please just pray, pray, pray for this whole family!

One more thing....if you could please leave comments for the family to read. Any words of encouragement would be great.