We went to Winston Salem on Monday for our monthly check up. Everything went really good. The Doc, nurses, nutritionist and our NICU family were impressed with how well Ty looked. He is 15.6 lbs and 27 inches long. He's talking, well baby talk. He loves to hear himself. {grin} He had an ECHO done on his heart and everything looked great. He is looking good and going strong.While we were there, we had the chance to meet Amy Simmons. Amy and her husband are going through
I asked Amy if I could post their story on my blog so we could get more prayers going, and she was more than willing. Let's me go on ahead and say that Addison did not have any former health problems. She was just a normal little girl, running around playing, talking your ears off. Addison was diagnosed with an ear infection, so her parents started the normal round of antibiotics. Two days later they took her back to the doctor, because she was running a fever. So from there the doctor orders a chest X-ray, in the middle of the X-ray Addison collapsed having a cardiac arrest. Now, she is in a coma and does not have any brain activity. Addison is breathing on her own with the help of a trach and receiving food through a g-tube (feeding tube).
(I am going to post an article from "The Anson Record" that comes from the parents point of view and will help you better understand the story.)
Addison Simmons, 3, the granddaughter of Wadesboro native Dale Simmons, had a cardiac arrest June 16 and has been in a children's hospital in Winston-Salem ever since.
One minute, Addison Simmons was your average 3-year-old, full of wonder and energy. The next, she was unresponsive and lying in an intensive care unit at a pediatric hospital, after suffering a cardiac arrest. She has been in the hospital with no brain activity since June 16.
Addison is the granddaughter of Wadesboro native Dale Previtte Simmons, who currently lives in Winston-Salem. Simmons' mother, the late Louise Heavener Previtte, just passed away last year and had lived in Wadesboro all her life. Addison's parents are Mike and Amy Simmons of Winston-Salem.
Dale Simmons was with Addison when the ordeal began more than a month ago. It began mundanely enough, with Addison contracting an ear infection— a common ailment for toddlers and infants. "She'd actually had an ear infection and she took antibiotics for that," Dale recalled. "Two days later, she had another fever so we took her back to the doctor. The doctor ordered a chest X-ray and while they were doing the X-ray, she just collapsed and had a cardiac arrest."Before this, Addison had never had any health problems, her grandmother said. "Before we went to the doctor, she was up and playing," she said. "We went to McDonald's for lunch and she was feeding the ducks out in front of the doctor's office."
Once Addison collapsed during the X-ray, her doctor immediately started CPR and continued to work to get her heart restarted all the way to Brenner Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem. The little girl has been in the hospital ever since, and her mother, Amy Simmons, has only left her side for about two hours since June 16.
"I never left her before this and I don't plan on leaving now," Amy Simmons said in a phone interview from her daughter's bedside.
Addison is breathing on her own with the help of a tracheotomy, and is on a feeding tube for her meals. "Her fever's down and she's finishing up her antibiotics," Dale Simmons reported Monday night. "She is out of the pediatrics ICU and into her own room today. But there's still no brain activity."
Dale added that Addison is not in a coma. "She's awake and looks around but she's not seeing anything," he explained. "She has episodes that they call 'storming'— her blood pressure goes up and her heart rate goes up but they give her meds to calm her down."
What caused the cardiac arrest, doctors believe, is a virus that attacked Addison's heart, called viral myocarditis, Dale Simmons said.
Doctors have given the family no prognosis, Amy Simmons added. "They have not said. It's kind of a wait-and-see game right now."
However, Amy said there is a chance that Addison may be sent to Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte for what she called "two-week rehab."
Even though doctors hold out little hope for Addison to recover and become a normal 3-year-old again, the family remains hopeful.
"We've had a lot of faith," Dale said. "We believe that God will heal her brain."
A Facebook page dedicated to Addison has 12,000 members, Dale said.
"Most of all, we want prayers," Dale said.
"Please, continue to pray for us," Amy added. "That's all we really need."
To everyone reading this, things can change so fast. Don't take life for granted, enjoy every moment you can get with your child no matter what the circumstances are. Your child, your spouse and family are not guaranteed a minute, day, month or year. What doesn't break us just makes us stronger. Everything happens for a reason, we may never know that reason but sometimes just knowing that God has a plan is what gets me through.
I know I am rambling but just saying what is on my heart. I hope this story helps you some way but my whole reasoning for posting it was to have you all pray and lift this family up in prayer.
I know I am rambling but just saying what is on my heart. I hope this story helps you some way but my whole reasoning for posting it was to have you all pray and lift this family up in prayer.
