This is a copy of an email I am sending out today. In case, I've missed your address, which is entirely possible, please take a moment to read it and/or share our website with others. THANK YOU!:
Dear family and friends,
Many of you know what our daughter Ellie has been through in the past year and a half and many of you have helped us out in so many ways. To this we say Thank You so very much! What you may not know is that we found out that Ellie would be born with Down Syndrome about a month before she was born. At the time we received the diagnosis, we were given a packet of information from our doctor's office. We didn'
t know a lot about Down Syndrome at the time, so we read everything we were given. We sent in the reply card enclosed and the Kansas City Down Syndrome Guild sent us a huge package full of books, brochures, a DVD, and even some gifts along with a very nice letter letting us know that they were available when and if we needed them. We also received a call asking us if we would like support and information from another family in our area who had a child with Down Syndrome. At the time, we declined. Her medical issues and just the knowledge that she would have Down Syndrome were incredibly overwhelming. But, what we did do was read the info and books they sent us cover to cover. It was this information and one of these books that gave us the knowledge we needed to ask the right questions after Ellie was born. It was reading one of these books that led us to ask for the Echocardiogram that discovered the hole in her heart. I'm sure the hospital would have done this anyway, but in a situation where you feel completely powerless, it gave us a little bit of power. The doctors appreciated our newfound knowledge and we're sure this is why they were able to discuss Ellie's situation with us so candidly.
Many of you know what our daughter Ellie has been through in the past year and a half and many of you have helped us out in so many ways. To this we say Thank You so very much! What you may not know is that we found out that Ellie would be born with Down Syndrome about a month before she was born. At the time we received the diagnosis, we were given a packet of information from our doctor's office. We didn'
t know a lot about Down Syndrome at the time, so we read everything we were given. We sent in the reply card enclosed and the Kansas City Down Syndrome Guild sent us a huge package full of books, brochures, a DVD, and even some gifts along with a very nice letter letting us know that they were available when and if we needed them. We also received a call asking us if we would like support and information from another family in our area who had a child with Down Syndrome. At the time, we declined. Her medical issues and just the knowledge that she would have Down Syndrome were incredibly overwhelming. But, what we did do was read the info and books they sent us cover to cover. It was this information and one of these books that gave us the knowledge we needed to ask the right questions after Ellie was born. It was reading one of these books that led us to ask for the Echocardiogram that discovered the hole in her heart. I'm sure the hospital would have done this anyway, but in a situation where you feel completely powerless, it gave us a little bit of power. The doctors appreciated our newfound knowledge and we're sure this is why they were able to discuss Ellie's situation with us so candidly.The reason we're sharing this with you is because we are participating in the the Buddy Walk this year. This is the Kansas City Down Syndrome Guild's main fundraiser. The money donated is used to send out packets of information to doctor's offices like mine, to buy books like the one we received and send them in care packages to families who have just received the news that their child will be born/has been born with Down Syndrome. It is used for activities that allow families of children with Down Syndrome to interact and learn from each other and it is used to help families, whose child has to be hospitalized, offset some of their costs. And these are are only some of the ways in which we have been helped by the Guild. There are many more ways in which the money that is donated to them is used.
Please consider visiting our Ellie's Mission team site at http://www.kcbuddywalk.org/ . If you would like, you can make a donation to the Kansas City Down Syndrome Guild from the site or you can join our team, help us to raise money and walk with us at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, October 18th. If you decide to join our team, please sign up by this Friday, September 19 so you can have our team name on your shirt!
If you've gotten this far, thank you for taking the time to read about a small part of our journey no matter what you decide to do. Please feel free to pass this email along to any of your family and friends.
David and Natalie Wonnell
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