CMN Hospitals at Gundersen Announces 2023 Heroes

Amanda is an active high school junior, participating in adaptive bowling through school, as well as a member of Darby’s Dancers. She loves having her hair and make-up done, and she wants to be a jewelry-maker’s assistance when she grows up. When she was 9, Amanda was diagnosed with FOXG1 Syndrome — a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder. CMN Hospitals has helped Amanda and her family in a number of ways, including with transportation expenses and for an iPad for Amanda to use for audiobooks, music, and educational shows. “Children’s Miracle Network provides support for children and families in their time of need,” says Amanda’s mom, Diane. “These things reduce anxiety and stress for the entire family during difficult times.”

Brynleigh began her CMN Hospitals journey as one of our tiniest patients. She was born at just 27 weeks and 6 days, weighing just 2 lbs 7oz. She spent 61 days in Gundersen’s NICU. While she was born with a hole in her heart, that later healed on its own with the help of monitoring from Gundersen’s pediatric cardiology team. She is now a thriving 3-year-old who loves to play babies and ponies. CMN Hospitals assisted with gas cards and meal vouchers for her parents during her hospital stay. “For our family, the early birth of our children came unexpectedly, and financially, we weren’t prepared for the travel expenses being 1 hour and 15 minutes from home and missing work,” said Elizabeth, Brynleigh’s mom. “CMN allowed us some financial freedom with gas expenses and meals, as well as medical expenses to follow after discharge.”

Charlie knows more about dinosaurs that most 10-year-olds. He even wants to write and illustrate a book on them when he grows up. Charlie’s health journey started when he was around 10 months old and his parents noticed he had low muscle tone and wasn’t as active as other kids. He was eventually diagnosed with Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy. Charlie works with a team at Gundersen and through his school on stretches and exercises to maintain his range of motion, and he goes to pool therapy in Viroqua each week. It is important that families can get the support that they need so they can focus on their child and healing,” Cheryl, Charlie’s mom, says on the importance of CMN Hospitals. “Often these diagnoses come out of nowhere with no time to plan or think about anything but the health of your child. Other family members and children are also affected, and these programs help relieve some of that burden.”

When Eduardo was just 7 years old, his school called his mom. Her son was struggling to walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded and feeling ill. Blood work followed, and his care team immediately called his mom, Maria, to bring Eduardo to Gundersen. “That’s when we found out he had cancer for the first time,” she said. “It was pretty hard to hear.” Eduardo was diagnosed with Leukemia. Treatments followed, and he went into remission. After another recurrence a year later, Eduardo is back in remission and regularly getting check-ups at Gundersen. CMN Hospitals has been there for Eduardo and his family, providing gas cards and meal vouchers. He’s now an active teenager who enjoy spending time with his friends, watching sports, and riding bikes. “I am very appreciative of everything that I’ve been able to get because of CMN Hospitals and just being able to do as much as I’ve been able to because of them helping – I’ve really been grateful for that,” says Maria.

Trey is Brynleigh’s big brother. And like his younger sister, he entered this world earlier than anticipated. A micropreemie, he was born at just 24 weeks 5 days, weighing 1 lb 9.4 oz. He spent 104 days in the NICU. CMN has been there to assist with medical expenses, meal vouchers and gas cards. “You never know how beneficial programs like CMN are until you are the family in need,” his mom, Elizabeth, says. “Prior to our kids being born, my husband Matt supported CMN through his work with each paycheck, and it was great to know the help was available at a time in our lives when we needed it most.” Trey has had some follow up care with Gundersen Ophthalmology for retinopathy of prematurity in both eyes, and he is now an active kindergartener. He recently started wrestling, and he also enjoys basketball, t-ball, and pretending the be a super hero.