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| Helmick Family Truckers 200 - UPDATE MARCH 12 | Open Letter From Rick Bristol
The Lord has shown me the family to help this year. The thing that this letter does not tell you is that the Mom's insurance is through her work, the father stays with the baby most of the time.
They have been able with insurance and there part keep up the medical bills but they have had to file bankruptcy for there personal stuff because they can not keep up with it all. Bob is a former racer, track promoter in the Indiana area and knows several of the top cup drivers. He had spoke to Rusty Marcus the other day and Rusty sent him my way. I have been praying for direction and believe those prayers have been answered.
THUS IS A LETTER FROM THE FAMILY:
The Kaleigh Helmick Story
Our daughter Kaleigh was born on September 19, 2006 at Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando, Florida. Kaleigh arrived weighing at 6lbs 3oz with a length of 18 ¾ inches long and more beautiful than we ever could have imagined. We were told that after a few routine assessments in the NICU she would be delivered to our room. Then in the blink of an eye, just forty-five short minutes later her life and ours changed dramatically. Kaleigh was diagnosed with a very rare heart disease that is treatable but, never curable.
The disease is called Pulmonary Artesian with a Hypo Plastic Right Heart, which means the right side of her heart is underdeveloped and not functioning correctly. This disease requires normally just three open heart surgeries; however, in her case it could be more or less. Her situation appears to be different than most other children with Hypo Plastic hearts. We have been told that there is another type of Hypo Plastic heart condition involving the left side that is more common than that of Kaleigh’s right side.
When Kaleigh was only three days old she had her first heart catheterization and at only seven days old had her first open heart surgery to place a shunt in her heart. Kaleigh seemed to be doing well with the placement of the shunt until January when she was found to have about 85% blockage in her shunt from blood clots. The doctors decided after another heart catheterization in which they had placed 4 stints to open the passage, that the shunt could no longer be trusted and prepared her for another open heart surgery. Kaleigh underwent the surgery to remove her old shunt and give her a larger more central shunt allowing for more blood flow. The surgery was successful. The shunt at three weeks later seems to be doing a fantastic job.
Kaleigh has not followed the three typical surgical steps as the medical team had hoped for but, at this point they are not completely ruling them out either. She could still get back on track. However, she is just taking a lot of detours to get there. Kaleigh is not only faced with heart disease but today she is faced with thrombosis of the left lung which means that the arteries and veins are narrow restricting proper blood and air flow to her left lung. The lung problem is treatable but, not curable. The only way to have a permanent solution to both the heart and lung problems is with a heart and lung transplant which in her case is not out of the question, but hopefully a long way away if ever. Kaleigh has so far gone through two open heart surgeries and five heart catheterizations as well as a couple of less complicated surgeries to fix some other minor issues. She has been in the hospital a total of 133 days and we are still counting. Kaleigh has only been home in her own bed for a brief 33 days.
When Kaleigh was born the medical staff had no idea that there would be any problems at all. It was not until she was in transition undergoing routine assessments some forty-five minutes later that the medical staff realized there was a problem. Noticing that her breathing and vitals was not at normal levels, the doctor in charge was called. He decided to call in the heart specialists. The cardiologist determined what the diagnosis was by running some tests; he then made his way to our room. It was not until this time that we were informed about the diagnosis; and then and only then did we realized how significant our daughter’s heart problem was. If you can try and imagine how you would feel if you were just told that your newborn baby has a very rare heart disease and it’s not curable. Your life would just stop and ours did.
Kaleigh is currently in the hospital at this time awaiting her next heart catheterization and possibly more surgeries. However, through the hard work and knowledge of amazing doctors, skilled nurses and respiratory therapists and more prayer then you could imagine, Kaleigh is still here today. We spend our days and nights with Kaleigh trying to bring a sense of normalcy into her life, cherishing every moment we get to spend with her. You see except for 33 days when she came home, the hospital has been her home and the staff her family just as much as we are. The single most amazing and beautiful thing about Kaleigh is her constant smiling face. No matter what she goes through she is always smiling and happy. She knows nothing else, for her this life is normal. She does not know that it is uncommon to have so many surgeries and procedures. She does not know that having a very low energy level and eating from a g-tube is not normal. She does not know that there is life outside these hospital walls. The only thing we can guarantee is she will know is that she is loved more than words can say. We know that the road ahead of Kaleigh is still long and winding and often filled with detours, but with our belief in God and a lot of prayers our thoughts remain positive that she will have many opportunities to explore life outside the hospital walls and enjoy the world around her.
Thank you for your prayers,
Bob, Misty & Kaleigh Helmick
This years fundraiser will be called the "Helmick Family Truckers 200" the proceeds will go to this family to get back on there feet. I ask all of you to pray for little baby Kaleigh. I will be asking for photo's to have Jack Smith put up on the website from the family.
Jack will get the info all set up on the website in the next few weeks. We will set up a meeting of people to help with different items as part of a board. If you did not respond before and want to help please let me know.
I will be inviting the Hopkins family to come back again this year, to give us a update on Tommy and to share in the blessing of helping others with us. Each year the families we help will be invited to come, and know that we are still praying for and are here to help.
My vision is for this to go on for many, many years to come. It will get bigger and better every year. I hope you all will help in this great cause. Please call me at 407-497-0448 or e-mail me at rbmini68@aol.com with any suggestions or comments.
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