Jacob’s IA & Ear Canal Operation

I am knocking to all good hearts out there to please help us raise 330,000 pesos for our baby's operation.

Jacob is our first child. I delivered him through C section last February 20,2018 and he was immediately rushed to another hospital because of his condition. He was only 35 weeks, 2.02 kgs and he has multiple congenital disease. He has Imperforated anus, Hypospadia, Congenital Heart Disease and Congenital Artresia (his left ear canal has no opening). On top of that his platelet count kept on decreasing that time so his doctors advised us that they have to do blood transfusion. They also had to do a surgery on his neck because he has very small and narrow veins. On February 23,2018 he was operated for colostomy for him to be able to feed. My husband and I were so devastated for what happened because we never imagined that our child would be in this situation. I did whatever my gynecologist told me; drink milk, take vitamins, I even had to stay at home and opted not to work since I have low lying placenta. All we prayed for was for him to have a healthy and normal life. That time all we have was the budget for my delivery and since we don't want to lose him we did all we can to find money for his colostomy operation. He stayed 21 days in the NICU and our hospital bill went up to 296 thousand pesos. Through God's grace and the help of our family,friends and government institution we were able to pay the said amount and everything went well.

Photo below was taken February 22,2018. This was the first time I held his hand and it was so heartbreaking to see him and not able to hug or kiss him.='( This was the day before he had his colostomy operation.

He was recovering well and he was actually a healthy baby despite of his congenital anomalies. Everyone else who's seen him won't notice that he has colostomy because he was getting fatter and bigger like a normal child. We just noticed one thing on him, he sometimes breathe fast and deeply. We were not bothered by that since his pediatrician, neonatologist, surgeon and even his cardiologist said it was fine. He had 2D Echo and the result was just a small hole on his right ventricle which will close soon as per his cardiologist. He takes his regular vitamins and medications. Sadly I was not able to produce breast milk which is way better for him hence we need to feed him formula. We were so happy of his well being. He was so adorable. We were just saving money for his next operations when suddenly he had cough that we thought was normal because of the weather in our country. May 27 he started coughing "dry cough" then following day it got worst that he coughs like an old man with lots of phlegm so we brought him to his pediatrician and he was advised to use nebulizer. He was also given antibiotics and allergen. We did what his pediatrician told us but same night he was getting worst, he cried the whole night and rejects his milk so we decided to take him to the hospital. He was admitted immediately because they saw that he was having a hard time breathing. He went under different laboratory exams. The findings was pneumonia. He was given antibiotics and sedatives so he can sleep. He had 2 episodes of cyanosis (his skin is getting bluish due to poor circulation or inadequate oxygenation of the blood) first was less than 20 seconds then the other one last for 3 mins. He was transferred to PICU for close monitoring but we opted to transfer him anyway to a different hospital with complete equipment. When we were at the emergency room he had several episodes of cyanosis and during the last one he already lost his heart beat for a minute. I don't know what to think of that time. I just cried out and my sister insisted me to go out of the ER while the doctors are trying to revive him. I waited anxiously outside. I just prayed to God while I'm holding on to his shirt that's in my bag. I was so hopeless . I just wish to be in his place instead so he'd not feel any pain anymore. I prayed harder and gathered all my courage to see him and when I went inside the ER there I saw my little angel fighting hard for his life. He was intubated and several apparatus were connected to him. With teary eyes and heavy heart I held his hand and told him, "Please don't let go of my hand Jacob. Please be strong for mommy and daddy." I kept on telling him that Papa God loves him. It was so heartbreaking to see him like that. ='( He was then transferred to ICU for close monitoring again. He was intubated for 4 days. He had several x-rays and even CT scan to check his lungs and heart. Through the CT scan they found out that there is a vein surrounding his trachea that's also one of the reasons why he's having a hard time breathing. He was also asthmatic that contributed to his burden. We stayed 8 days at the ICU and was transferred to a private room afterwards. Our hospital bill went up to P327 thousand pesos. We had to ask financial assistant from our family, friends, government institution and even to other people through Facebook just to raise that amount. Through God's grace and again the generosity of the people around us we were able to pay the hospital bill and get to bring Jacob home again last June 14.

Photo below was taken when he was in the ICU.

Two months had past and he's actually getting bigger. This was his photo taken last August 20 when he turned 6 months.

He has late development given that he is a premature but we are doing our best to help him achieve his milestones. The last time we had him checked by his surgeon, we were given the go signal for his next operations. He gave us a quotation: 120 thousand pesos for the operation wherein he will close the fistula and create an opening for my son's anus, 80-90 thousand pesos for the operation of his hypospadia and another 120 thousand pesos for closing his colostomy. In total we are trying to raise 330 thousand pesos for these operations. We are really having a hard time saving money since he has lots of expenses; monthly check ups with several doctors, maintenance of medications for his heart and asthma, maintenance for his colostomy plus he can't feed on more affordable formula because he has allergies so he's taking Nutramigen LGG which costs 1,166 pesos each can that lasts 3-4 days only. We actually use cotton instead of regular colostomy bag since we can't afford buy a colostomy bag. My husband is the only one working for us since I need to keep an eye on Jacob due of his condition.

His ear problem is another thing that's worrying us but for now we want to have his rectum fixed first. We already had him checked by an ENT and we were advised to do CT scan and other laboratory exams.

It will be a big help for Jacob if he will be operated as soon as possible. He cries a lot whenever I clean his colostomy and the rashes around his stoma is not getting any better even if we tried different rash creams. We always avoid him to be on his tummy even if he really wants because his stoma bleeds. He's a very jolly child despite his condition that's why his doctors always say he's a fighter. He only gets irritated by his colostomy whenever he has poo. As parents we only want our child to have a normal and happy future. We are doing all we can to give him the future that he deserves but sometime we will be caught off guarded and that's the time we reach out for help. We are so blessed and thankful to our family and friends who are always there for us no matter what.

Photos below are his medical abstracts and the bills we had during his stay in NICU and ICU.

We will be very grateful for any amount that you can donate and your prayers will be truly appreciated.

You can send all donations through BDO, BPI and Paypal:

BPI
Account Name: Rizza P. Espiritu
Account Number: 0576478609
Account Type: Savings

BPI
Account Name: Rizza Plata Espiritu/ Jacob Gabriel Plata Espiritu
Account Number: 0873517395
Account Type: Savings

Paypal

paypal.me/NORILN FRANCISCO

Thank you for your time reading this and God bless you all!

Luke 1:37 - For with God nothing shall be impossible.