Day of Giving

Angie Lopez was concerned when her two-year-old son, Ezekiel didn’t want to eat and complained about stomach pain every day for a week. After being told she had nothing to worry about at an Urgent Care, Angie took Ezekiel to the emergency room at Nemours Children’s Hospital because she knew something was wrong with her son. After running 70 different tests over a three-day period, Angie received the shocking and devastating diagnosis for her son: acute liver failure. Ezekiel was severely jaundiced.

Catherine remembers the day vividly when DJ was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors had found a tumor in his thigh that tested positive for bone cancer and Catherine fell to the floor. She looked at the doctor and said, “save his life.” The next few months were a blur, Catherine had to utilize the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for work as she focused on her new priority- getting her son better.

After 102 days in the NICU, Connor defied all odds again and was stable enough to go home. Jennifer and Robert know they have a long road ahead with monthly surgeries and doctors’ visits, but the new parents are up for the challenge. The AdventHealth for Children child life, music therapy and volunteer services teams began creating special moments for the parents as soon as baby Connor was born.

When Caleb was four months old, a neurosurgeon diagnosed him with hydrocephalus, which means he had fluid in his brain and lungs. This diagnosis led to surgery when Caleb was just seven months old to remove the entire top half of his left lung.