Schmidt Studio & Gallery proudly invites you to join us at

the Evening of Champions Derby Eve Ball.

This year’s theme is Midnight at the Oasis and will be held on

Friday May 2, 2008 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Lexington.

 

F or Ticket Information please visit: http://www.eveningofchampions.org/

 

I have people all the time who ask, what they can do to help my daughter… THIS … is what you can do to help. You can support the Makenna Foundation and the Kentucky Children’s Hospital and in turn you are helping Kyleigh to receive the care she needs!

 

I have made it no secret that our daughter has had some pretty in depth medical issues. Kyleigh was born with something called VACTERLS Association. I have always been open about sharing in her progress, ups and downs. Since she was born almost two years ago our life has changed quite a bit. We went from a relatively normal family of 4 to a family of 5 whose lives have been drastically altered to keep up with our daughter’s needs. Surgeries, months in the hospital, test after test, feeding tubes, medications, cathing and many other things have forced us to find ways to work her care into our daily lives. As you can imagine doing this and running a business at the same time is sometimes overwhelming.

 

In her short two years our daughter has spent nearly 6 months of days in children’s hospitals and has undergone 7 surgeries including open heart and spinal cord procedures. Most recently our search for the best medical care has led us home to the Kentucky Children’s Hospital. Its amazing and indicative of life that we have searched the nation only to find that what she really needed was right here under our noses. I never thought that I would find myself saying this but coming back to Kentucky Children’s Hospital was like going home. Walking those halls there were so many familiar faces.. so many familiar things and sounds and sights. We have our favorite child life girls, nurses, doctors, even our favorite food service guy who asks how our day was at dinner and leaves us breakfast if we are not awake yet in the mornings!! These things, familiar faces, are comforting in ways that the mind cannot explain. Most of all we have an amazing medical team that has worked for seemingly endless amounts of hours to make sure that my princess receives the care she needs. For you to understand how much we appreciate the Kentucky Children’s Hospital you must understand the vast number of people who have had their hand in caring for our child! So… to Dr. Joe Iocono, Dr. Arundathi Reddy, Dr. Carol Cottrill, Dr. Tim Bricker, Dr. Bob Owen, Dr. Thomas Pittman, Dr. Louis Bezold, Dr. Phil Bernard, Dr. Horacio Zaglul, Dr. Harohalli Shashidhar, Dr. Erich Maul, Dr. Deb Flomnehoft, Dr. Eric Renyolds, Dr. Vesna Kriss, to all of our amazing nurses, Lateefah, Rachel, Keri, Michael Ann, Karen, Helen, David, Jessica, Leah, Michelle, Melissa, Victoria, Brian, Emily, Elizabeth, Meghan, Stacie, AND all the girls in the PACU, PICU, NICU, 4 East & 4 West… I wish that I had a huge master list to thank everyone! Here’s to ALL of you … THANK YOU for everything you do!

So here I am. A Kentucky girl who never imagined that her hometown of Lexington and our hospital, Kentucky Children’s Hospital, could ever be good enough for our daughter. We never thought that they would be able to offer her what she needed. We never imagined that it would measure up to a place like Cincinnati or Chicago. We were wrong. I am here to tell you… I have been to two of the top Children’s Hospitals in America and I have come home knowing that our hospital, nurses, and doctors are not “as good” as these other places… They are better, the best even. Today of all days I am so proud to say that my daughter was treated by the amazing medical team at Kentucky Children’s Hospital. They are like family to us and we only hope that we are able to give just a little something back to them!

 

Recently I made a vow to myself and my daughter that I would find a way to give back to the place that has given us so much. I was sitting in a room on 4 East at KCH in January and when I am there I have time to sit and think. (not much else to do) I realized that I want to help other parents who may be just beginning their journey to find that peace, knowledge, and understanding so that they too can be a friend and support other who can use their love. There can be no better way to live than in pursuit of helping others. I watch the nurses and doctors and even the people who bring the food carts. Many of these people will live their lives never knowing what an impact they have made. Maybe I will spend the rest of my life just trying to find ways to brighten these people’s days. People who have meant so much to us for so long. Maybe that will be my way of changing the world…… who knows.

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 5:06 pm and is filed under Recent Photography .