Welcome to my CP Telethon VIP page! As a Telethon VIP, I play a significant role in raising funds for the 2020 Telethon - which support the clients and programs at CP all year long. 

Our relationship with CP began several years ago. My oldest daughter, Bailey, was born with an extra thumb and had other hand strength issues. I took her to other therapy programs, but we weren't seeing Bailey make the gains that we wanted. Someone suggested that we try CP. Honestly, at first I didn't feel like we had a right to be there. There were so many families that had more significant challenges than us or Bailey. But, I leaned that CP is for everyone. Bailey was paired with a wonderful occupational therapist, Laurie Anderson, and with her Bailey has improved her fine motor skills beyond our expectations. Bailey continues to see Laurie to make sure she stays on track. 

Fast forward a few years and we became one of those families with significant challenges. After my twins, Braelyn and Brielle, were born in December 2018, they both got very sick with RSV, a potentially deadly respiratory virus. Braelyn, however, was much more sick than Brielle. This is because she was born with congenital heart disease. She has a hole in the wall separating the lower chambers of her heart, known as a ventricular septal defect or VSD. We didn't know she had that at birth though and were just becoming aware of it when she got sick because she was in heart failure, which contributed to her lungs getting so sick. 

After a week, at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay, Braelyn was getting worse. She was transported to Children's Wisconsin in critical condition and not expected to survive. After two days there, she was placed on ECMO, a type of heart-lung bypass machine. This would allow her lungs to rest and hopefully heal. Several days into being on ECMO, she had a brain bleed, which is a common complication of being on this advanced life support. After 13 days, she came off ECMO successfully. Only about half of pediatric patients on ECMO survive. 

Braelyn continued to be intubated for some time and was hospitalized for almost three months. Because of that, she lost her ability to suck, so she got a g-tube. She was also very weak. I knew there was only one place she was going for therapy and it was CP. From the time she was discharged in April until November, we battled a severe oral aversion. Braelyn ate NOTHING. She finally started eating in November and now we continue to work with her amazing speech therapist, Michelle Joslin, to increase the amount of food she eats. Braelyn also sees her big sister's OT, Laurie, who has helped her continue her development. She's working on standing and getting the proper skills in place to walk. 

Braelyn not only survived, but she's thriving. This is thanks to CP. 

I've created this page because I want to make a difference. Please help me help CP by giving whatever you can using the 'Give Now' button. The more people that know about CP, the greater their impact, so please also spread the word by sharing my page with your friends and family. Thank you in advance for your generosity, it means a lot!