I honestly don't know how to seek help about problems like this. But in a time where life is at stake, I could humbly say ''there's no shame in asking for it''.
As I was scrolling down on my facebook feed last day, I came across on a post from a known friend and a mother. Her name is Jemae Tañola(not a steemian) and I have known her since high school and been reading some of her updates about her baby's condition recently. On her last post/update, she further elaborated her baby's current condition and some bits of her pregnancy history and post-labor.
I grabbed the whole text of the post:
My son was born on February 2, 2018 via cesarean section secondary to breech presentation at 38-39 weeks AOG. I am diagnosed with hypothyroidism however, I had regular prenatal check-ups. I was apparently well during the scheduled day but a few hours after I gave birth, my son had series of episodes / seizures. They ran blood tests and figured out that his sugar decreased to below normal levels. Doctors were telling me that their first diagnosis was hypoglycemia which caused the seizures. They also found out that because of the seizures, my son has developed a hemorrhage on his brain.
They said that this often happens to preterm babies but Shawn isn't and given the fact that I was nonhypertensive and nondiabetic. They are also quite unsure if the hemorrhage already occurred while he was still in my stomach and had seizures when he came out or the hypoglycemia caused the seizures which resulted to a hemorrhage. I have given them my ultrasound film which was performed 2 days before my scheduled CS but the results were normal. Because of the hemorrhage, he also developed hydrocephalus and cerebral palsy.
We have been sending Shawn to rehab for his physical and occupational therapy but our main priority now is for his surgery. His neurologist said that we need to place a shunt on his head to drain the water. Shunts often malfunction or fail few years after the placement and it may require multiple revisions or surgeries.
Shawn is a very brave baby. He is behind in other areas of development but he always try to communicate to us. I want him to live a normal life like any other kids. Donating or sharing this post with your social network would mean so much. Thank you for the support! God Bless.
Indeed, Shawn is a very brave baby.
Baby Shawn was diagnosed with Hypoglycemia and Intraventricular Hemmorhage and also with Sepsis.
With his diagnosis, he then developed ventricular enlargement on his latest examinations. This will result in severe hydrocephalus and cerebral palsy if baby Shawn cannot undergo Shunt Surgery as soon as possible.
According to Healthline.com, a VP shunt, shunt surgery or shunting
A ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt is a medical device that relieves pressure on the brain caused by fluid accumulation. VP shunting is a surgical procedure that primarily treats a condition called hydrocephalus. This condition occurs when excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collects in the brain's ventricles.
Just by looking at the picture of how shunt procedure is being done, I can say that it is a crucial operation, especially in infancy to toddler stage patients like baby Shawn.
Jemae was raising the target funds of $5000 in GoFundMe. But unfortunately, the post was removed due to some error in Terms and Conditions guideline. She is now trying to accumulate the funds thru her own ways and with the support and help of her families and friends.
I had the chance to contact her and tell her about the help I can offer thru crowdfunding and by the use of cryptocurrencies like steem. And told her that I could ask the community of steemit to help me raise the funds she needed. Moreover, I got those details and pictures above from her thru facebook communication. Again, she is not a steemian and due to some important priorities and privacy, I opted not to invite her into the community and start to ask donations.
I'm looking to some possible solutions and ideas to reach the target funds but I know it's too big to achieve it instantly. But, I'm doing what's best to lessen the expenses in operation and future medications for the Baby. I am also looking forward to seek help with fundition and whoever wanted me to guide about their rules and procedure in making a crowdfunded project. This post will serve as an initiation, that I, will be held accountable for this project for a cause.
So to start, I am donating all rewards that will be generated from this post for baby Shawn's operation including my post payouts of steem tokens and some future payouts of my previous posts.
If you want to help, you can send some donations directly to my account or contact Jemae on her facebook account if you want to transfer the money thru bank. The funds accumulated will be transferred thru bank and/or remittances here in the Philippines with the bridged connection of Coins.ph and its Filipino Users. I will give future updates with enough transparency for this steemit funded cause.
Special thanks to the following, for the encouragement they gave on me:
and some
