A woman from Bismarck is going through something unimaginable and she’s asking the community for support.
On July 21st Brooke Frederick, mom of four, recently gave birth to a baby boy by way of emergency C-Section. Since then, Frederick’s family has been in and out of hospitals as doctors care for baby Hunter.
Baby Hunter
Frederick tells me she had been seeing a specialist while pregnant. This, because doctors had noticed his cardiac axis was off.
Frederick went in for a normal checkup with her OB on July 20th, and to her surprise, was told she would have to deliver the baby right away.
After the C-Section Frederick was told things had improved and he was doing great, though once the hospital did an Echo on Hunter’s heart, they noticed his aorta wasn’t pumping blood like it should — a very scary thing for a mother to hear.
Doctors in Bismarck told Frederick she and Hunter would need to go to The Mayo Clinic for care that night. Before they left, Hunter’s condition had changed and doctors at CHI St. Alexius said they could monitor Hunter in Bismarck instead.
Brooke Frederick
It Wasn’t Over
Just as the Frederick family was set to leave the hospital, Hunter’s condition had taken another turn. Doctors at CHI did another Echo and decided Hunter would need to stay under medical observation. With that decision, the two were airlifted to The Mayo Clinic.
A Roller Coaster
This story has a lot of ups and downs. I can only imagine what this family is going through. Frederick tells me she had to leave her three daughters and husband to go to Mayo with Hunter.
Her husband has since joined her at the hospital in Minnesota, but her daughters had to stay back in North Dakota. As of today (August 3rd) the family is still separated.
“I feel very overwhelmed and emotional, I just want my baby boy to be better and bring him home so he can join our family especially his 3 big sisters,” said Frederick.
The Diagnosis
Hunter was diagnosed with aortic coarctation and had surgery just this past Saturday (July 30th). Hunter is recovering and the family is waiting to find out when they will get to go home and all be reunited.
Medical Bills & Asking For Help
As I’m sure you can imagine, the Frederick family now has an overwhelming amount of medical bills; they’re asking the Bisman community for a helping hand, which is no easy thing to do.
A GoFundMe was started with a goal of $50,000. Currently they are only at a little over $2,000.
When I hear stories like this it always touches me, because you never know… it could happen to you or your family. As I said, asking for help is one of the hardest things to do, so when I see someone reach out, I feel it’s important to get the word out.
I know money is tight for many of us, but if you have anything to spare maybe you could send it their way.
Things You Shouldn’t Buy When Back To School Shopping
You can probably leave these off of your list.
LOOK: Here Are 30 Foods That Are Poisonous to Dogs
To prepare yourself for a potential incident, always keep your vet’s phone number handy, along with an after-hours clinic you can call in an emergency. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center also has a hotline you can call at (888) 426-4435 for advice.
Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you.
