February 1st!
Today is the first official day of the challenge! And thanks to all of our incredible donors, we have already blown our financial goal out of the water! But we have the whole month so let’s see how much money team Opie can raise by the end of the month! Today we also start the “steps” portion of our challenge, so good luck to all our team members on their personal goals! ❤️❤️Go Team Opie!
Guys we can’t even believe it!! The generosity has been incredible! Thanks to every single donor! And everyone who shared our fundraiser! We are $550 away from our goal! We are seriously blown away. ❤️❤️❤️Opie’s Story
Hello Family and Friends and Friends of Friends!
If you are here, reading this, thank you so much in advance!
I'm not sure how to even start to express what SickKids has done for our family. So, I will start from the beginning of Opie’s story (I will try to keep it short). Opie was born May 15, 2023 with his twin Honey via c-section. After delivery both babies were doing well. Our first born Stevie who was 2 at the time was thrilled to be a big sister.
Opie had a little trouble nursing which resolved quickly and also had “Torticollis” (his head was always leaning to the left) so we were taking him to a chiropractor regularly and doing all the appropriate stretches etc., this resolved when he was around 4 months. Which was also the exact time we noticed he didn’t want to use his right hand when reaching for toys etc. This was really the start of his medical journey.
We expressed our concerns and were referred to a paediatrician, who told us he may have Cerebral Palsy and we received our first referral to SickKids. He started Occupational and Physical therapy while we were waiting for that first consultation at SickKids. We were told at that first appointment that it was likely Opie had a stroke in utero. This was news we weren’t expecting as we had never heard of babies having strokes. When Opie turned 1 he had his first brain MRI which confirmed his diagnosis, Opie had suffered a very large stroke in the left hemisphere of his brain, which was the cause of his Cerebral Palsy. At around the same time Opie had his first seizure. So we were back at SickKids for an EEG, which confirmed that he also had Epilepsy, he was having many seizures a day all originating in the damaged tissue in his left hemisphere. Over the course of 6 months Opie was diagnosed with drug resistant Epilepsy. Meaning, medication was not effective in controlling his seizures. Which is when it was recommended that Opie have a surgery called a hemispherectomy. The surgery would completely disconnect the left hemisphere. The goal of the surgery was to stop his seizures completely. The risk of the surgery was that anything housed in the good tissue of his left hemisphere would be lost, but the risks of not having the surgery were much more grave.
Opie’s neurosurgery team successfully completed the 9 hr gruelling surgery and delivered our baby back to us. Opie then spent 10 days on the neuro floor (shout out to all our 5C nurses and of course Melissa). Then we were transferred to Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (I also cannot express what this hospital means to us) where we stayed for 7 weeks. Opie worked hard in those 7 weeks relearning any skills that had been lost and regaining his strength. By the time we got home, just in time for Stevie’s 4th birthday, our little boy was walking and talking. The surgery was a great success! Opie has been seizure free ever since!!
The story doesn’t quite end there, after a couple of months of being home it became clear after more imaging and unsettling symptoms that Opie had developed hydrocephalus (the fluid in his brain was no longer draining on its own and was building pressure in his skull). So, we once again handed our little boy over to his neurosurgery team for another surgery to install a shunt that will drain his cerebral spinal fluid for him. SickKids hospital has given Opie a future and a bright, happy future at that! We are forever grateful for what this hospital has given our family.
This fundraiser comes at a very fitting time, the last day of the fundraiser February 28th is also Opie’s 1 year anniversary of seizure freedom and his hemispherectomy surgery. A day we will celebrate every year.
We are just one family that SickKids has helped. Countless families have been impacted by this incredible hospital. Please help us give back, and ensure that SickKids can continue to support families and children.
Thank you from the depths of our hearts.
And sorry I couldn't keep it very short 😊
Thank you to our Donors
$1,000
Martha Wiens
$318
Henry L Wiens
What a great little man.
$265
Anthony Fridman
Such great cause. Go Opie!
$212
Paula & Jim Esplen
Opie
$212
Radfords Honey
$212
Anonymous
Emily Cavers
$212
Sandy Viikna
Team Opie
$200
Wyatt
$159
Ann Radford
❤️
$159
Brian Radford
$153
Kathryn Radford
$150
Chrissy Kelton
$106
Michelle Mitchell
❤️ a very special hospital and a very special little boy. 🙏
$106
Courtney & Tyler
$106
Aaron&sue Gingerich
All the best to your beautiful family. Sick Kids is a great hospital.
$106
Greg Radford
$106
Rebecca Beresh
$106
Jessica Harrington
Love you Opie boy!!!
$106
Miller Shore
$106
Claudia & Kelsie
$106
Kate & Krisan
We love you!!!
$106
Anonymous
Team Opie!
$106
Alison Warner
Go Team Opie!!
$106
Emily Cavers
$106
Gloria Mitchell
$106
Anonymous
$106
Anonymous
Opie
$106
Aunt Kim
Go Sarah!
$106
Cliff And Stacey
$106
Cindy & Nicole
$106
Shelley Wilson
Xox
$106
Laura Wiebe
$106
Cindy
Hugs and prayers to your nephew Sara
$106
Anonymous
$106
Gillian Bryce
Sending so much love
$106
Daiva Mitchell
$106
Uncle Jeff And Aunt Tica
Keep getting better Opie. Love Aunt Tica and Uncle Jeff
$106
Emma Mitchell
$106
Catherine Warner
Opie! You are an inspiration!
$106
Kelley Cavers
Love you Opie, so much 💕
$100
Nancy Warner
Good luck with the challenge.
$100
Kari Esmail
$100
Laura & Keegan Cavers
Sending love ❤️
$100
Sarah Wiebe
$80
Jeremy & Dana Cavers
Team Opie!
$54
Erin
$54
Darcy And Esther Mcgee
Opie
$54
Jordan Ojczyk
Team Opie🩷 With love from Lennon and Juno
$54
Irma Dewit
$54
Jessica Moffatt
$54
Allison M-j & Kyle B
Love you
$54
Pat Miller
$54
Marilyn Almeida Personal Real Estate Corporation
$54
Kayte Mitchell
$54
Alison
$54
Kathleen Esplen
♥️!
$54
Anonymous
Team Opie
$54
Jo-ann Bollmann
To the amazing, caring team, thank you for all you do! Feel better soon Opi!
$54
Anonymous
$54
Sheri Claringbold
You go girl!
$54
Karen Henry
I'm happy to donate to this worthy cause!
$54
C.c. Matthews
$54
Kate Petriw
$54
Adrienne Fish
$53
Aaron And Lisa Gingerich
$53
Khadija Abubakar
$53
Mandy Johnson
$50
Kelsey Rutherford
You got this 👊
$50
Daniel Cavers
Love you Opie!!
$50
Jackie Brooks
$50
Natalie Albert
$50
Marilyn Primeau
$28
Lori & Dan
Way to go team! Wishing you health & happiness, Opie! So many grand adventures to come.
$28
Emily Durance
$28
Anonymous
Go Team!!!
$28
Kathy & Gary D
Team Opie!!
$28
Melissa Teatro
$28
Martha
proud of you!
$28
Christie Faraci
$28
Linda Lyman
$28
Jessica Klassen
Sarah Wiebe
$28
Lezandra Grundlingh
$27
Kelly
$25
Tess Keefe
$25
Anonymous
Love u
$25
