Hi everybody!! Welcome to my website!
***UPDATE*** I just got assigned my honor patient for MIM and I am so unbelievably excited. I am the happiest person ever right now! My honor patients name is Zeke and he is three years old. Zeke is the "poster" child for Miracles in Motion; he is the cute little boy on the front of all the MIM brochures I have handed out.
Zeke’s Story (written by Zeke's mom): Zeke was born 11 weeks before his due date for no known reason. He spent 8 weeks as a patient in the NICU at PCH before her was well enough to go home with his mom and dad. When he was born his digestive and respiratory systems were not developed enough to sustain him without the help of the wonderful doctors and nurses at PCH. He struggled to maintain his heart rate and to remember to breathe (called Brady's and Appeas, respectively). When the As and Bs were bad, mom, dad, and the doctors worried about oxygen deprivation as tiny baby Zeke turned horrible shades of blue. The As and Bs continued to plague him so when all other issues had been resolved, Zeke came home on a aphea monitor. When he was 5 months old, Zeke was freed from his aphea monitor. Zeke's other milestone before he was allowed to come home involved eating. Babies born before 34 weeks of pregnancy cannot coordinate breathing, sucking from a bottle and swallowing milk. For the first 5 weeks Zeke got all his nutrition from a combination of IV nutrition and milk fed to his stomach through a tube in his nose. Five weeks after his birth he was allowed to try nursing and drinking from a bottle. Unfortunately each time he ate the As & Bs would increase. Tests revealed the flap that protected his airway when swallowing was not functioning properly. Fluid was splashing into his lungs with each swallow making him silently choke. To prevent this, Zeke's milk was mixed with thickener and fed to him in a bottle until he was 5 and 1/2 months old. At that point test revealed he was finally able to protect his airway.
PCH was amazing during our 8 weeks in the NICU and for all of the follow up appointments once he came home. The nurses and doctors took care of Zeke, but also paid attention to the needs of our entire family as we learned our way around caring for our son in the hospital. While we hope that we never have to spend time in the NICU again, knowing PCH is there makes the idea not as terrifying.
Zeke is now 3 years old and all the signs of his premature birth are gone. The great care he received at PCH played a large part in that.***UPDATE***
The journey I am about to embark on is going to be an amazing one and I am so excited, but I cannot do it without your help!! In January I will be running in the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon with the Miracles in Motion team for Phoenix Children’s Hospital. I know, I know, all of you are thinking, Kimberly runs?! No, I don’t run, I have never run before in my life =/, but after hearing what an amazing opportunity and experience this is going to be, I decided I am now a runner!! =). In June, I became a member of the Miracles in Motion volunteer committee for Phoenix Children’s Hospital and after learning what Miracles in Motion was all about, I decided I wanted to be a participant on the Miracles in Motion team as well! Miracles in Motion is a team of runners and walkers who get to have fun, get into shape, make new friends, raise money for Phoenix Children’s Hospital and run in the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. Each Miracles in Motion participant runs in the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in honor of a child who is or has been a patient at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. At the beginning of training for the marathon each participant gets paired with an honor patient. We get to meet, hang out, and go to Miracles in Motion events with them, making an amazing experience even more special for ourselves and for our honor patient. The Honor Patient is there to give us strength and encouragement; they are our inspirations!
I understand we are in an economic crisis right now, but that doesn’t change anything for these children, they are still sick and in the hospital. Whether it is 50 cents, $5, $100 or $500, anything helps and everything counts! I cannot do this without your help! I need to raise $1500 in order to be able to participate in this race with my team.
Thank you for visiting my Personal Fundraising Page. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to make a contribution to my fundraising efforts. Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think may want to donate as well! If you would like to be a participant in Miracles of Motion or if you want more information, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail me,
PLEASE forward this to anyone and everyone you know!!!
Thank you so, so much and have a wonderful day!!!!
Kimberly