What your donation does

First off, thank you for even considering making a donation to Andrew's care fund.  It is hard to ask for help when I need it, but Andrew's quality of life is bigger than my pride.  I know that Mister and I struggle to give him everything he needs, and the budget's only going to get tighter as Little ages and his medical needs become greater.  Little ones are expensive - and ones with special needs take even more money.  We have to buy aides for Andrew that most children don't require.  There are toys made to aide in occupational therapy, like this book to strengthen his fingers so that one day he'll be able to dress himself ;

(thank you, Aunt Christie!)

special shoes that are made to fit around his leg braces


toys and devices to build strength in his core to develop his gross motor skills;

(thank you, Nana!)

gear to get him around easier;


(thank you, Ergo Baby!)

and dietary supplements like Pediasure that we have to purchase for him.  And everything together makes for one REALLY expensive toddler.  Those shoes alone are $63.00 and they don't grow along with him, unfortunately.

Right now we live an hour away from Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, where his team of specialists, as well as the MDA clinic, is located.  That's 2 hours run out of the gas tank per appointment - and previously we've had as many as 3 different appointment days in a week.  Any time anything at all is medically off with Andrew, we have to take him to VCH.  We've had to spend plenty of nights there in Nashville both in the hospital and in hotels and it really gets expensive.  The trail coordinator for present and future DMD treatments is located in Columbus, OH, and starting January 2012, we'll begin traveling there for appointments, too.

Thankfully, right now we have AMAZING health insurance through the military's Tricare system, so we have no medical bills piled up.  That will not always be the case since army life is not in Andrew's best interest.  We just can't move around every 2-3 years, interrupting therapy services and getting a whole new team of doctors and therapists every time.  So sometime in 2014, we may not have coverage as comprehensive as what we do now.  And there are many surgeries, hospital stays, procedures, prescriptions, medical equipment, home health aides, and the purchase of a wheelchair accessible vehicle in our near future.   We will even need to modify our home with larger door frames and wood floors to accommodate his wheelchair at some point.

So this is why we decided to start up a care fund for his present and future expenses.  As you can see from the thank yous under some of the pictures, we have already been blessed by some donations from relatives.  If you decide to donate, please believe that we will only use your gift to pay for Andrew's Duchenne related expenses.  This is a separate, secure account in no way linked to our checking account.  It's not even at the same bank!  I promise you that your donation will not be misused in any way nor will it be unappreciated.  I am humbled that you care enough even to be reading this page and considering helping us out!   We are so fortunate to have so many people surrounding us with love, hope, prayer, and helping hands!

You can head back to the blog and click on the yellow DONATE button on the right hand side of the page, or you can click here:

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

God bless!
Katherine, Mister, and Little