Angel's for Alex

Alex was born November 7, 2013 and diagnosed with Heterotaxy, causing some of his organs to be located on the opposite side of his body. Alex spent the first 2 months of life in the NICU. At 3 months old, Alex had intestinal malrotation surgery and open heart surgery at 6 months old. He has been in and out of the hospital at least 1x a month and has stayed anywhere from 6-14 days. Unsure why he would not eat more than 1 1/2-2oz every 3 hours, they placed an NG tube and sent him home. Alex’s feedings dropped to 1oz and he was taken to a different hospital, struggling with no weight gain and constipation for 9 months before being transferred to Rochester, MN where they watched him for a couple days and sent him home. A month later Alex was in so much pain that his parents could only hold him and try to comfort him. Blood tests at the emergency room revealed his glucose was only 38, resulting in an ambulance ride to Rochester. Within days and an MRI later, Laura & AJ were informed Alex had Panhypopituitarism (an underdeveloped pituitary gland), he has no left Cortid Artery, Chiari 1 Malformation, another major artery is missing in the back of his head, he has 2 spleens, and something is wrong with his kidneys. September 11, 2014 Alex went to see a GI doc, hoping a G-Tube could be put in place but they were told it could not be done. On February 3, after borrowing a reliable vehicle and traveling to Milwaukee, WI in a horrible snow storm, Alex underwent surgery to place a temporary G-tube. The surgery was successful and with a few setbacks, he was released from the hospital on February 18. Alex was admitted to the hospital in Rochester, MN on February 20 with pneumonia, double ear infection and digestive issues. While Laura was holding Alex today (2/22/15), Alex’s eyes rolled in the back of his head and his small body went limp for about 20 minutes before “coming to” and vomiting. Alex was given an IV and while being rocked to sleep, his heart rate lowered.  (2/23/15) Alex had a GI study to see why he is throwing up. This family has gone through so much to provide for Alex. They have spent holidays together in the hospital, and sometimes separated for days while AJ tries to work. They have sold everything of value in order to survive and often worry about how they will pay bills, provide the kids with what they need, and have money to get to/from appointments. With the recent events, AJ has missed a great deal of work which results in no income. Alex will be having a G-J surgery on (4/14/15).