Be Warned This Is Long! Yesterday I had stopped in for lunch at my favorite DQ, and had a chat with my buddy DeLon. I asked how things were going for the big Miracle Treat Day coming up, and I was telling him how grateful our family was for CMN and MTD as they have made a huge impact in our lives. If you didn’t know, Miracle Treat Day helps with fundraising for CMN (Childrens Miracle Network). CMN helps with families who have children who are sick and in and out of the hospital. From the amazing giraffe beds the NICU babies are in, to helping feed and house families who are too far from home, and to many other things! So today, in efforts to help support our local favorite DQ, MTD and CMN, I wanted to share some of our story and how they have affected my family, and why you should buy blizzards and help out other familes. We knew Nolan was going to be in hospital after he was born, but we never imagined he would be in there for 98 days (we were told 3 weeks). We didn’t expect him to have a feeding tube for 6 months, or have 5 surgeries with 3 of them being before he was even 3 months old. Also since then he has had 5 other hospital stays. We got ourselves as mentally and game planned prepared as we could be before Nolan was born. We visited the Sanford NICU, met with his surgical staff, and everyone in between. As prepared as we felt we were, one thing I never thought of was how was I going to eat during that time he was in the hospital. Luckily I knew where I was going to stay, as I grew up in SF and knew I could stay with mom and dad. However, many families come from many miles away and don’t have places to stay. Our initial thoughts when we thought hed only be in there for week 3 weeks was I could eat a few meals at hospital and a few at mom and dads. But as complications and confusion about his arose about his health, our 3 week stay got longer and longer and longer. But very luckily for us, right after Nolan was born we were approached by one of the staff members who explained CMN to us, and told us they were giving us vouchers to help feed us and they even offered a room at the Ronald McDonald House if ever needed. At the time this felt like a nice small gesture, but after realizing the financial burden 98 days in the hospital can have on a family, this gesture turned into something huge for me. I didn’t have to worry about having extra money for eating, I would not have to worry about housing costs either, which are all on top of any medical expenses that were accruing. What I needed to worry about was the health and well-being of my child, and CMN helps provide that comfort. So out of curiosity I did some math. What would have 98 days been without the help from MTD and CMN: Food (single person, avg cost of meals 3 meals a day, $5 breakfast, $7 lunch, $10 supper) = $2156 Hotel (say a cheaper $65 a night hotel) = $6370 OR Gas if I drove from Madison daily (33mi/gal, $3.25 a gal, 9 gal tank, $30 to fill-ish) = $960 Those numbers of ours are just a fraction of what many other families go through. Tons of families go through much worse situations than ours, and much more travelling and outside expenses. Just imagine how much you can positively affect someones life by going out eating a blizzard. So today I ask you to get out there and start buying those Dairy Queen Miracle Treat Day coupons, and get ready to go and celebrate MTD on August 14th. Those delicious blizzards not only make your own tummy happy, but they help out many families and kiddos just like my very own who really appreciate the amazing generosity from all of you, DQ, MTD, and CMN. Love, The Schmidts Amber, Steve, Nolan and Hank PS, those giraffe beds are amazing! Check them out!www3.gehealthcare/en/products/categories/maternal-infant_care/giraffe_omni-bed_incubator_and_warmer miracletreatday/ Dairy Queen of Madison SDSanford Childrens Miracle Network Miracle Treat Day
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 18:11:36 +0000
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