Our Kids

Welcome to the Recipients Archive of the Professionals Miracles Foundation, a heartwarming gallery of courage and resilience. Here, we celebrate the journeys of remarkable children and families whose lives we’ve touched and who have touched ours in return. Each story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of community support. As you browse through the tales of these brave young souls, we hope you are moved, inspired, and motivated to join us in making a difference. From overcoming life-threatening illnesses to battling serious medical conditions, these are the faces of hope and the stories of miracles.

Kailee

Kailee is a four-year-old girl with a severe traumatic brain injury with hypoxic ischemic injury after a near drowning and cardiac event following a boating accident with the family. She has a twin sister as well as 6 other siblings which has caused additional trauma and challenges for the entire family. Kailee was originally in a coma, on a ventilator and struggled with kidney and lung issues. She has been hospitalized since August 22, 2021. She is making substantial progress but this little girl has a long way to go. Prayers are asked to be continued from everyone. Her full story is on Facebook, Kailee’s Miracle. Please take some time to read her extraordinary story.

Adam

Adam is a 16-year-old boy with Primary myelofibrosis and thrombocytosis (Leukemia and a blood disorder leading to a malignancy and iron-deficiency anemia) and was diagnosed in August, 2020. He was scheduled for a bone marrow transplant in November, 2020 but due to a tumor growth in his nasal cavity had to undergo a complicated surgery and start chemotherapy. Adam has since had his bone marrow transplant and endured more than a 100 days in the hospital. Due to this extreme situation, his mother has had to leave her work position to stay by his side.

Athena

Three year old Athena was diagnosed last summer with a brain tumor (Pilocytic Astrocytoma) after she was rushed to the Emergency Room after she fell on the sidewalk. The brain tumor was significantly impacting her function and she was rushed into emergency surgery to resect the tumor. After the surgery, it was determined she needed additional Physical, Occupational and Speech therapy. In addition to all these challenges, she is currently undergoing Chemotherapy and has continual scans to identify how the brain tumor is reacting to the chemotherapy. As is common in these circumstances, Athena’s mom has lost her job to act as her full-time caretaker which will result in their moving to a more affordable location.

Madeline

Madeline is a nine-year-old girl and was diagnosed in 2019 with Stage III Wilms tumor (kidney cancer). She underwent a right nephrectomy and lymphadenectomy and sadly, relapsed in December, 2020 causing the cancer to escalate to Stage IV and spread to her lungs as well. She is currently being treated at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's Hospital Colorado with chemotherapy nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine, cycle 1. The good news is she is showing progress with her therapy; however, both parents have either lost or scaled down their work hours and hope this situation will change soon.

Ariyah

Ariyah is an eight-year-old girl with a brain tumor and has had a history of Spindle Cell Sarcoma since she was three years old. Ariyah is undergoing constant Chemotherapy treatments and is in the middle of what will be a total of 9 treatments. Financially she, along with her other siblings and Mother are struggling with making payments for her treatment costs, prescriptions and everyday living expenses. Her mom, unfortunately, had to reduce her work hours to keep up with Ariyah’s medical schedule.

Marcus

Marcus suffers with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and comes from a family of 5 other siblings, two of which also have the same disease. Their family situation, as imagined, is chaotic and they struggle just to meet the minor needs of daily living. They just recently have been able to find an apartment and are trying to settle in the best they can. The diagnosis at this time is not as encouraging as they would like to see and they will need daily prayers.

Gabby

Gabby is a sweet 6-year-old with history of lung issues. She had a CT scan of her chest in November, 2020 and was admitted to the hospital in December, 2020 following imaging that showed a right-sided mediastinal mass with superior vena cava (SVC) compression and right mainstream bronchial involvement. Additional testing identified metastatic disease including multiple muscle and brain metastases. At this time, Gabby is diagnosed with poorly differentiated metastatic sarcoma. She completed ongoing testing and pathology to clarify diagnosis but additional specifications have not been identified at this time. Her treatment has involved multiple cycles of intensive chemotherapy followed by radiation 5 days per week for 28 sessions. Gabby’s cancer diagnosis is rare, extremely complex, and has a very poor prognosis and many meeting with her physician to determine the best treatment plan, including being admitted to a facility for treatment, possibly Lutetium-177 which is a very radioactive drug that will impact Gabby’s day to day living for about a week following each treatment as she will not be able to physically touch any of her family members including her mother.

Daniel

Daniel is a13-year-old boy with severe Sickle Cell Anemia and is a pre- bone marrow transplant patient. Daniel, who is the youngest, has three other siblings who are also afflicted with the same disease. Daniel had a bone marrow transplant and his father was the donor; however, his father is also the sole financial provider for the family and until he is fully recovered which will take several months, the financial status of this family is critical. Daniel’s father also has taken all his work vacation time which will only add to their dire situation. They are totally reliant on their other children to take on the day-to-day chores as well as full time caregiving while trying to complete their education.

Xander

Xander is a seven-year-old boy and was diagnosed 2 years ago with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and is currently undergoing liquid chemotherapy. Xander’s mom has been working overtime to make up for the loss of income they incurred when her son was hospitalized.

Elisha

Elisha is an 8-month-boy with Post heart transplant issues, acute kidney injury, and immunosuppression. He was diagnosed upon entering Children’s Hospital suffering from cardiogenic shock causing multi-organ dysfunction and required immediate mechanical circulator support from ECMO which is (blood pumped outside the body to a heart-lung machine to remove carbon dioxide and send oxygen-filled blood back to body tissues), dialysis, and surgery to maintain life. He has been in the inpatient at Children's Hospital since 1/9/22. He received a heart transplant on 2/26/22. Unfortunately, due these tragic circumstances both parents lost their jobs and are trying to make it day by day with their loss of income as well as lost their car due to an accident that totaled their vehicle.

Serenity

Serenity is a 17-year-old girl with a Congenital Heart Defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, learning difficulties. She was born with a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and it was surgically addressed with a procedure called a Fontan. Her heart now operates with a only a single ventricle. She is monitored very closely medically and takes medications daily and constant follow up care. Serenity also struggles with learning difficulties, mental health issues and asthma. Her mom is single and cares for her daughter plus 3 other siblings on a very small income.

Waylon

Waylon is a four-month-old boy with (TGA) Transposition of Great Arteries, feeding intolerance- g-tube. “Transposition of Great Arteries (TGA)- is a type of congenital heart defect in which there is a reversal of the normal connections of the aorta and the pulmonary artery with the heart. His diagnosis requires a series of surgeries. Stage 1 surgery- Norwood procedure was completed and this first surgery stage converts the right ventricle into the main ventricle pumping blood to both the lungs and the body. His stage 2 surgery will be completed at 6 months of age and his stage 3 surgery will hopefully be completed at 18-36 months of age. This family will have multiple long hospitalizations and medical involvement for the next few years. Waylon also has a g-tube for oral feeding intolerance so that his nutritional needs can be met. He requires skilled care at home above and beyond a typical infant due to his need for g-tube feeds limiting day care options. The family is unable to commute so they live at the hospital and only are able to go home 1-2 times a week to do laundry and check on their pets. The mother's employer gave her 12 weeks (unpaid) leave due to my son's medical needs but she was only approved for 6 weeks through short term disability. The father has had decreased hours resulting in decreased pay while child was at the hospital. The future holds a series of two more surgeries, hospitalizations and medical appointments.

Sofia

Sofia is a 15-month-old girl with “a number of health issues including diabetic embryopathy, tetralogy of fallot, tracheostomy status, pulmonary hypertension, abnormal bladder function test, hearing loss, sialorrhea, rhinorrhea making her an extremely complex patient. Other issues this little girl is suffering are as follows:
Tetralogy of Fallot is a rare condition caused by a combination of four heart defects that are present at birth. Tetralogy of Fallot cause oxygen-poor blood to flow out of the heart and into the rest of the body.

Chronic respiratory failure can also be classified as hypoxemic or hypercapnic respiratory failure. Low blood oxygen levels cause hypoxemic respiratory failure. High carbon dioxide levels cause hypercapnic respiratory failure.

Tracheomalacia means that the walls of a child's windpipe (trachea) collapse (fall in on themselves). This can happen because the walls of the windpipe are weak, or it can happen because something is pressing on it.

Pulmonary hypertension pulmonary hypertension happens when the pressure in the blood vessels leading from the heart to the lungs is too high. With pulmonary hypertension, the blood vessels to the lungs develop an increased amount of muscle in the wall of the blood vessels.

These are just some of her medical complexities

Sofia has a complex medical history including diabetic embryopathy w/ multiple resulting skeletal abnormalities, Tetrology of Fallot and pulmonary atresia s/p surgical repair (VSD closure, PDA ligation, Genesis stent in RV to PA conduit), mild pulm hypertension (stable on sildenafil) with chronic respiratory failure due to restrictive (chest wall deformity) and obstructive (tracheobronchomalacia) lung physiology and CLD requiring placement of tracheostomy (7/21) given critical airway and ventilator dependence. She has been stable on her baseline ventilator settings (AVAPS), growing well and tolerating most therapies. Active issues include intermittent nasal secretion burden (s/p salivary botox x3), and erythema under tracheostomy ties, who remains hospitalized to work on education for MOC and recruitment of home nursing. Mom is a single mom to four older kids and Sofia is the baby, due to her complex medical needs Sofia has not left the hospital. Mom works as a CNA she is trying to work to save as much as possible to be able to provide support family during Sofia's transition home and getting comfortable..

Ashton

Ashton is an eight-year-old boy with 18p partial monosomy syndrome (a chromosomal disorder resulting from the deletion of all or part of the short arm of chromosome18), seizures, g-tube dependence, BPAP (ventilator device that helps with breathing) dependence, Chronic lung disease-O2 dependent, acute chronic respiratory failure with hypoxia (an absence of enough oxygen in the tissues to sustain bodily functions) and hypercapnia (a condition of abnormally elevated carbon dioxide levels in the blood), Obstructive sleep apnea and palliative care. Ashton has been extremely medically involved and fragile since his birth. His mother is normally his paid CNA through Medicaid but when he is in the hospital she isn’t paid for his care because he is here at the hospital receiving nursing care. His mom has been staying bedside with Ashton constantly to support him emotionally, support his cares and oversee his wellness. His care needs, severe developmental disabilities and the complexity of his medical needs require his mother to be present to support him daily. The family has been no income for over 3 months. Ashton relies on others for all his care, daily living needs and medical needs. He has a g-tube for nutrition, oxygen and a BPAP for breathing and has been recently struggling with frequent desaturations related to acute respiratory failure.”

Ryland

Ryland is a 12 year old boy with very complex and multiple health issues. Since birth, Ryland has a history of HIE (Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy) which has led to a required a CP pump, has significant neuromuscular deficiencies, scoliosis, consistent seizures, hearing loss, restricted lung disease, is dependent on an NG tube, difficulties with aspirating and requires oxygen at night to sleep. Unfortunately, his parents have had to leave their employment to provide full time care which has inhibited them to pay their day to day bills.

Davian

Davian is a sweet 16 month old boy suffering with Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, chronic respiratory failure, congenital heart disease, is feeding tube and ventilator dependent. Davian has been in the hospital since he was born. Davian has a twin brother is quite healthy. His parents spend their time as caregivers as well as having constant and extensive training on managing a ventilator as well as trying to take care of Davian’s medical needs along with maintaining some type of normality with their entire family.

Kaziyah

Kaziyah is a five year old boy with suffers from high risk Neuroblastoma which is a type of cancer that forms from immature nerve cells and begins in the adrenal glands but can be found in the abdomen, chest or nerve tissue near the spine. This illness, unfortunately, can start before birth and most often occurs in children younger than 5 years old. Kaziyah has been in treatment for over a year and very sadly is progressing. The mother has had to leave her employment to become a fulltime caregiver for Kaziyah as well as provide the support she needs to her other children.

Hunter

This precious little 6 year old boy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblasitc Leukemia (ALL) in May, 2020 and unfortunately relapsed just last January, 2023. This devastating disease creates the overproduction of lymphoblasts that continuously multiply causing extensive damage which inhibits the production of normal cells in the bone marrow. Typically, in addition to extensive chemotheraphy and long, long stays in the hospital, he will require an allogenic stem cell transplant. Finding matching donors is a challenging, frustrating and difficult venture. The family is also trying to make ends meet by taking care of their other 7 children, in which the father is the sole provider.

Lucas

Just one week before sweet Lucas was born, he and his parents were able to move into their new home. Imagine the excitement of starting a new and wonderful life together as a family with a new baby only to find out shortly thereafter, their son was diagnosed with Hypoplastic aortic arch Hypoplastic LV (left ventrical), VSD (ventricular septal defect) and a mitral heart valve hypoplasia. This is more than a new or any family should ever have to endure. Now just abit over 4 months old, Lucas will spend much of his next months and years undergoing open heart surgeries. It will be a long road for this little guy and his family but the family continues to stay encouraged and positive.

Mazikeen

Mazikeen was born early at 25 weeks along with her twin sister. She weighed only 15.3 ounces (less than 1 pound). She is still in the NICU but the family is encouraged with her growth which is now at 3 lbs 8 oz. Both she and her sister have a long way to go and their hospital stay will be lengthy. They also have 3 other step siblings at home part-time. To get a vision of the size of this little girl, her hand was the size of her mom’s first knuckle of her thumb and her foot wasn’t even as big as a pen lid…just incredible. Touching this family with some financial support was met with tears of joy and huge gratefulness