There is a lady who works with my husband. Her daughter, Bobbie, was born with severe birth defects. She is 4 years old and has eaten formula thru a feeding tube her entire life. There is a surgery available to allow her to eat normal, but it is in Boston, and VERY expensive.
My husband and his friend are sponsoring a raffle to help fund this trip & surgery for little Bobbie. Tickets are just $5 each and some of the items being raffled are a 50" TV, ipad 2, rounds of gold, Lowe's GC, and other great stuff.
To help entice you....as if the story below won't melt your heart enough.... Darling Deuce is offering a $5 coupon code towards DDD for every ticket purchased.
*Up to $25 total. Valid on customs, DarlingDeuceDesigns.com, etc. Email Becca.Caney@gmail.com)
Bobbie's Story-- Grab a tissue, you will need it!
Bobbie Gray is a beautiful, loving 4 year old girl who was born with esophageal atresia. Only hours after Bobbie's birth she was diagnosed with having esophageal atresia (her esophagus is not attached to her stomach), club feet, scoliosis, a tethered cord, and later chronic lung disease.
Bobbie has had several major surgeries including the release of her tethered cord, an esophageal colon interposition (a piece of colon used to connect the long gap between her esophagus ends), and one to remove a stricture (scar tissue) in the colon piece used earlier but ended with the removal of the colon piece and putting a spit fistula to drain saliva out of the side of her neck. As well as numerous bouts of aspiration pneumonia caused by Bobbie not being able to swallow her saliva and her breathing it into her lungs.
Bobbie eats a special formula through a button in her stomach which requires her to sit still for at least an hour at a time, 4 times a day, just to get enough nutrients to sustain her. She has had to learn the hard way about being careful because if she gets the cord caught on something while being plugged into a feeding or someone pulls on it, her button will come out and we have to put it back in which is painful for her (it has happened numerous times in her 4 years).
After Bobbie's surgeon had to remove the piece of colon we were left with little hope that Bobbie would ever swallow or eat normally. But now we have found the answer to our prayers at Children's Hospital in Boston. They have a center, the Esophageal Advanced Treatment Center, dedicated to children who are born with Bobbie's unusual condition, 1 in 4000 are born this way. We have been in touch with the director of the center and he will be able to perform a procedure called the Foker Technique to lengthen the very short ends of Bobbie's own esophagus and then connect them together.
This is the only center in the world who performs this procedure. After successful completion Bobbie will be able to have her feeding tube removed and the hole in her neck closed. We have to travel from Texas to Boston and the cost of the procedure as well as the travel expenses are more than we could ever imagine. We will have to be in Boston at least 4 months. We would greatly appreciate everyone's prayers and any help you can give gets Bobbie closer to being able to swallow and eat.
