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.
