Honoring Wyatt the Warrior
Donation protected
Wyatt ‘the Warrior’ was born on June 30th at 8:38am and has spent every day of his life intubated and in the NICU.
He IS a warrior and he is making small improvements each day. We choose to believe that Wyatt will continue to follow this trajectory he has set, however, the official diagnosis (a very rare genetic condition, TARP syndrome) and prognosis is not so favorable.
During this precious time, it is important for Scott and Stephanie to be able to spend as much time as possible with Wyatt. This quickly leads to choices they should not have to worry about at this time.
Do they spend time with their son who desperately needs them, or do they lose that time with their son so they are able to retain their home?
In an effort to ease that stress, this fundraiser seeks to cover mortgage, car note, food, gas (as mom and dad travel to see their daughter Piper, who is too young to be allowed in the NICU), and other daily living expenses so they can spend as much time as possible with their sweet boy.
Please see update on Wyatt from mom and dad below, thank you!
-Heather (Wyatt’s aunt)
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An Update on Wyatt “The Warrior”
Dear Friends and Family,
Let us start by saying that we are eternally grateful for all of the love, prayers, kind messages, and support that you all have provided. The long days and nights of the NICU roller coaster have been difficult and having the army of support behind us helps us tackle each day.
Secondly, we would like to apologize to those who are finding out the following information via this statement or Social Media. As much as we wish we could call each and every one of you, conveying this information again and again is trying.
On Wednesday July 20th we met with a few doctors and the Genetics team here at Advocate Christ Medical Center. At that time we learned that Wyatt has a very rare genetic condition called “TARP Syndrome.” This condition affects many parts of the body and more specifically tends to have a strong effect on lung development and functionality. Essentially, babies with this condition are missing necessary DNA/Genetic information that operates certain functions within the body. It’s like reading through a recipe to make bread and turning the page and halfway down the recipe stops - in this case, you cannot make the bread.
The prognosis of the diagnosis is that most babies do not make it through the pregnancy. Statistically speaking, the next majority don’t survive through infancy. If they do, they have a lot of medical conditions that require them to be on constant intervention throughout the duration of their lives. Looking at what has happened previously to other babies, with this condition, the team does not anticipate that Wyatt will be with us for more than a few months. Essentially, they say, that looking at the numbers there is barely a 1% survival rate for this syndrome.
This is what they have told us.
Of course, initially we were in shock and devastated to hear that this could be true for our brave boy, Wyatt. But after taking some time to think, pray and look at the situation we are choosing to live in a different mindset.
Wyatt has been doing VERY well overall and has been making progress on his feedings, gaining weight, and recovering from Mandibular Distraction Surgery. We are choosing to follow his positive progression and continue to fight on with him.
We are sharing this information with everyone for a few reasons:
Wyatt is strong
Wyatt is here with us now
Wyatt is making improvements despite his diagnosis
We are hoping for a miracle
We believe in miracles and know the collective focus of individuals can enact change
And lastly, we are reaching out to those of you who also believe in the impossible becoming possible. Who believe miracles can happen and ask you to join with us in a focused prayer:
“Wyatt’s DNA has the information it needs
for him to live a healthy, vibrant, fulfilling life,
free of medical interventions.”
We strongly believe that if we can pull together as a family, as a community, we can help our little warrior continue to defy the odds and persevere.
We will try to continue to update everyone of Wyatt’s progress as we move forward and again we appreciate all of the many prayers and support.
Ways you can help:
Pray with is and help this miracle come to fruition
Share this message/post and this prayer with as many people you can: church groups, friends, prayer circles, etc. The more people we have focused on this the better
Our sister, Heather, has set up a GoFundMe to help us with some of the financial burdens that we now face. The bottom line is the more funds we raise the longer that we can stay together as a family unit and not have to choose between work/bills and being with Wyatt. The link can be found here:
With gratitude and love,
Scott, Stephanie, Piper and Wyatt Podgor
Organizer and beneficiary
Heather Madison Looper
Organizer
Coal City, IL
Scott Podgor
Beneficiary