Thankful Update
In support of
Zoe Sue's Journey
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Zoe Sue's Journey
Hi everyone!
I've been meaning to add an update here, but life doesn't slow down for us here at the Odette household.
An introduction to our family and backstory...I am Beth, Zoe's mother, and Mike is Zoe's father. We live in East Asheville, NC, and have had a ton of life thrown at us the last year and a half or so. We announced our pregnancy 4 days before Hurricane Helene destroyed so much of our area in September 2024. We found out about Zoe's Down Syndrome diagnosis a couple weeks after that, followed by a hole in her heart a few months later, and a pinch in her lower intestine a few months after that. She was born in April.
It has been a whirlwind since then, with the major life challenges coming after she was born. While we were expecting delays with our child, we were not expecting the life altering 30 minute cardiac arrest that lead to severe brain damage, seizures, and a Cerebral Palsy diagnosis. Saying goodbye to our newborn was not what any parent should have to go through, and although she made it through the cardiac arrest, she was in critical care for almost 3 months after.
With a successful repeated surgery, Zoe was able to come home with us in June. We spent a glorious couple of months enjoying our little girl while she made progress in therapies, got established with specialists for neurology, cardiology, gastrointestinal, speech, occupational and physical therapies. One day Zoe stopped participating in many activities of life. She stopped playing with her toys, she didn't participate in tummy time, and her eyes started losing focus and going all over the place. A few weeks of super fussy behavior later and we were rushed back to Charlotte for Hydrocephalus-swelling of the head due to excess cerebrospinal fluid. She underwent brain surgery to have a VP shunt placed and was discharged the next day. Scans showed less healthy brain tissue and we were given yet again a grim diagnosis.
Since returning home, Zoe has been a trooper and has started to once again progress with development, but is still a bit behind. At 7 months we are still working on head control and getting her to hold it up on her own. We are starting to see her wiggle her legs more and use her hands for things, but she needs more.
Through this support page, you can help our family get Zoe therapies and treatments she needs to help her brain grow, develop and make neurological connections she never would have the chance to do on her own. Intensive therapies as well as brain treatment will help her to continue to prove the diagnosis wrong. All of the proceeds we receive will be going directly to helping Zoe become the best person she can be. Our hopeful target date would be early-mid 2026, a bit closer to Zoe's one year birthday.
Thank you for your donations, support and prayers!!
I've been meaning to add an update here, but life doesn't slow down for us here at the Odette household.
An introduction to our family and backstory...I am Beth, Zoe's mother, and Mike is Zoe's father. We live in East Asheville, NC, and have had a ton of life thrown at us the last year and a half or so. We announced our pregnancy 4 days before Hurricane Helene destroyed so much of our area in September 2024. We found out about Zoe's Down Syndrome diagnosis a couple weeks after that, followed by a hole in her heart a few months later, and a pinch in her lower intestine a few months after that. She was born in April.
It has been a whirlwind since then, with the major life challenges coming after she was born. While we were expecting delays with our child, we were not expecting the life altering 30 minute cardiac arrest that lead to severe brain damage, seizures, and a Cerebral Palsy diagnosis. Saying goodbye to our newborn was not what any parent should have to go through, and although she made it through the cardiac arrest, she was in critical care for almost 3 months after.
With a successful repeated surgery, Zoe was able to come home with us in June. We spent a glorious couple of months enjoying our little girl while she made progress in therapies, got established with specialists for neurology, cardiology, gastrointestinal, speech, occupational and physical therapies. One day Zoe stopped participating in many activities of life. She stopped playing with her toys, she didn't participate in tummy time, and her eyes started losing focus and going all over the place. A few weeks of super fussy behavior later and we were rushed back to Charlotte for Hydrocephalus-swelling of the head due to excess cerebrospinal fluid. She underwent brain surgery to have a VP shunt placed and was discharged the next day. Scans showed less healthy brain tissue and we were given yet again a grim diagnosis.
Since returning home, Zoe has been a trooper and has started to once again progress with development, but is still a bit behind. At 7 months we are still working on head control and getting her to hold it up on her own. We are starting to see her wiggle her legs more and use her hands for things, but she needs more.
Through this support page, you can help our family get Zoe therapies and treatments she needs to help her brain grow, develop and make neurological connections she never would have the chance to do on her own. Intensive therapies as well as brain treatment will help her to continue to prove the diagnosis wrong. All of the proceeds we receive will be going directly to helping Zoe become the best person she can be. Our hopeful target date would be early-mid 2026, a bit closer to Zoe's one year birthday.
Thank you for your donations, support and prayers!!
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