Meet Audrey
Audrey Josephine made her early surprise arrival at 9:52am March 23, 2005. She was the tiniest little bundle we had ever seen at 1lb 9oz & 13in long. Her nurses joked that her name was longer than she was. That day started the whirlwind of her life. After 6 days in the NICU she needed a blood transfusion, 15 days later she was moved to ICC, there she was labeled a feed & grow baby & we just waited for the day she would be big enough to bring home. That day came 108 days after her arrival. We proudly brought home our little girl weighing 4lbs 8oz. Among the tears of joy, fear weaved its way into our home. How would we care for a baby born with a soft palate cleft & was tube fed? How would we encourage her to learn & play when she could barely lift her arms? Her left side being smaller than the right made her balance difficult. Through it all we were blessed & happy.
At 8 months old she had a strong reaction to a vaccine that put her into a borderline vegetative state. Her eyes were all that moved & she slept 20 hours a day. This went on for 4 months & she never regained abilities learned prior to that point. The summer after her 1st birthday we noticed her making light jerking movements. As time went on those movements became larger & stronger. She had started having seizures. It was discovered early on that Audrey did not respond well to medications of any kind. Seizure meds caused her to completely withdraw. No more giggles, no more smiles. Seizures became frequent, sometimes 10 in a day. Food became a serious issue when she could no longer keep any of her feedings down. She did not gain any weight for 2 years, though she slowly grew in length.
Through much prayer & support we were able to find help in the form of a higher calorie diet, homeopathic supplements & alternative therapies. Today at 6 years old she is finally beginning to thrive. Her seizures are mostly under control & she has had surgery to help keep her feedings down. She has been trying to make up for lost time & is growing very quickly. 3 years ago we were blessed with a wheelchair just her size. It conveniently breaks down to fit in our car trunk. With her rapid growth & weight gain she is soon due for a new chair. The next chair does not fit into a car trunk & she is outgrowing her car seat, without the ability to stabilize herself in the next size car seat. For this reason our family needs a handicapped accessible van. Being a one income family of 4, finances are already stretched to the limit. Any help or support offered would move us one step closer to our goal.
Thank you, The Dawson Family
*This page is dedicated to our lovely little girl, Audrey Josephine. We will be keeping everyone updated on how she is doing, the current fundraising status for her van and any praise or prayer requests. Thank you for all the support you have given our family. Please leave us a message that you stopped by. God bless!
