Family and Friends…
We are so excited to announce the
1st Annual Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Night at the Kansas City
Royals game for the 2015 opening weekend series. The game will be held Friday, April 17th at
710p. Proceeds from the ticket sales will be benefiting Children's Mercy
Hospital NICU, Kansas City, Missouri in honor of Noah and all CDH Survivors and
Angels. Tickets are now available to purchase for $20(includes all fees)
and are in Hy-Vee Box seats. This game is the first rematch vs the
Oakland A’s since the 2014 AL Wild Card Game.
Former KC Royal Billy Butler returns to Kauffman stadium as a member of
the Oakland A’s. The promotion for this
game is Buck Night ($1 soda, $1 peanuts, and $1 hotdogs). Children 32 inches and below do not require
at ticket to enter Kauffman stadium but must sit on the lap of an accompanying
adult. Deadline for ticket sales
will be Friday, March 20th. All
ticket sales must be paid to Tera Linenberger prior to ticket
distribution. We will begin to
distribute purchased tickets in mid-March. Please contact Tera Linenberger at teralinenberger@yahoo.comif you are interested or have any questions. Feel free to share with your
friends and family. We hope to see all of you at the game!
Congenital
Diaphragmatic Hernia is a birth defect for which there is no known cause. It affects people of all races and
socioeconomic backgrounds and occurs in about 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 5,000 live
births. Basically, a baby born with CDH
either has a diaphragm that is missing or partially formed. This allows the abdominal organs to migrate
into the chest cavity, which in turn causes undeveloped lungs. Typically medical costs are $500,000 to
$1,000,000 for each baby. Most NICU
stays are 6-12 weeks in length and require multiple surgeries.
Our son Noah
Linenberger was born with a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia on January 4,
2010. During delivery Noah’s heart rate
dropped with every contraction, and a rapid assisted delivery was
required. After a few difficult moments
he was delivered and whisked away to be resuscitated. After Noah became stable, he was transferred
to Children’s Mercy Hospital NICU, Kansas City, Missouri. Since we
were not diagnosed prior to his birth we did not know the statistical outcomes
for CDH. Therefore, our focus was on a
day to day evaluation of our son’s status.
The days were very long and seemed to be eternal. Our focus was moment by moment, with
expectations of a breath, hiccup, wiggle, or eyes opening. We knew there would be no recognition of us,
but any response to our voices or touch gave us hope. Since he was on a ventilator for breathing
assistance we were unable to hold, touch, or stimulate him for fear of
increasing his breathing difficulties.
As each agonizing moment went by, his team of specialized physicians
relayed more information on CDH and decisions we would have to deal with in the
upcoming hours. On day 2, Noah underwent
the CDH repair that involved a thoracoscopic procedure that wasn’t very
invasive. Happily, our son was among the
few that were able to correct the defect by a primary repair and was discharged
from the NICU within a week. Today, Noah
is a happy and healthy little five year old.
CDH babies do not choose to be born and battle this horrific birth
defect. Although as a parent that has seen their baby fight their battle, we
choose to stand up and raise awareness for Congenital Diaphragmatic
Hernia. Please consider supporting
Children’s Mercy Hospital NICU in honor of all CDH Angels and Survivors. - Tera
and David Linenberger, Olathe, KS
