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| Benjamin after his TEF repair at a day old at Children's Hospital |
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| Benjamin recovering at Children's |
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| Benjamin turns 9 this year!!! |
We can't believe we will be celebrating 9 years of Benjamin this March 27th! I'll never forget seeing Benjamin for the first time after he was born with that white blonde hair and great tan (i.e. high bilirubin level) and moments later having him whisked off to Children's hospital when they diagnosed his TEF. Lifechanging. Game changer. We had never imagined our story would include having a child with a major birth anomaly. Having a child without a complete esophagus was DEFINITELY not on our radar.
Today we are so thankful for our Benjamin and that he is a NICU survivor and the God used his surgeons and other doctors and nurses at Children's to repair his Esophagus and to give him the chance at life.
Right after Jud's birthday last month I got an email from our missionary friend Dr. Alyssa Pfister. She told me they had a TEF (tracheal esophageal fistula) like Benjamin born at Kibuye Hospital the week before. As you can imagine that significant an anomaly needs very advanced surgical care and ventilation. That sweet baby in Burundi had to be sent home on Hospice care and his family was told there was nothing that could be done. Heartbreaking and humbling. The baby was not even stable enough to be transferred to a larger hospital, and even if it had been the family would have had no way to pay for the surgery. The end of Alyssa's email said "I'm so thankful your Benjamin was born where and when he was."
Alyssa is a pediatrician and missionary at Hope Kibuye Hospital which is the primary teaching hospital planted by Hope Africa University. Alyssa is not only caring for Burundian children but she and her colleges are training new Burundian doctors and nurses. See pinterest link below for a great video about the work they are doing! Keep your eyes open for a short glimpse of Alyssa and the NICU with mothers sitting holding their babies. This place is needed and special and a true place that offers hope to premature and sick infants.
Because of the generosity of MANY of you, we were able to build a small NICU in the hospital two years ago in honor of Jud and Benjamin. Then last year many of you helped us provide a year's supply of hand sanitizer to the entire hospital, not just the NICU. The hospital does not have constant running water so the sanitizer was a great need for them.
This year for Jud's 4rd birthday and Benjamin's 9th we hope to provide the following items to the NICU:
The items needed are:
· Folic Acid (for kids with Sickle Cell)
· Infant multivitamin drops or chewable vitamins (not gummy as they stick together)
· Hand Sanitizer refills (The brand Babyganics foam hand sanitizer refills could be useful to refill the bottles we donated in years past). But any brand hand sanitizer is appreciated.
· Infant formula (make sure it has an expiration date that will allow for at least 6 months container shipping to Burundi). They need high-calorie nutrition so specialty formulas are not as helpful.
· Small toys for toddlers to use on the peds ward, especially those that can be easily washed. These can be new or gently used.
How to give?:
Donate money directly to Alyssa and mark the donation when giving to be used for the GRANT NICU/Peds ward project and she will order needed items from Amazon and have them shipped to the container in Indianapolis. To donate through Alyssa please use this link: (https://www.serge.org/staff/i
One day we hope each of our three boys will be able to visit the Jud and Benjamin Grant NICU! We hope this special place will always be dear to them and be a constant reminder to Jud and Benjamin of God's amazing Grace in sustaining their little lives and for Barrett a reminder of God's blessing of putting medical help there so his brother's lives would be spared. So today we are thankful for our Benjamin and for this amazing hospital our family will be always connected to!
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