The Farnkopf Family

Scroll down to see updates as the Farnkopf family progresses in their CDH Journey! (All updates are written and given by parents with consent)

Update 8/2/24

Meet Dawson, our precious 3 month old who has already been through so much in his short life. 

A little bit about us. We are the Farnkopf family from NJ: Dan, Steph, Bailey (Dawson’s 4yr old brother) and Colby (Dawson’s fur brother). We struggled for nearly 2 years to get pregnant with Dawson, 4 miscarriages, a failed IVF attempt. You name it, we tried it. Then amazingly God blessed us with getting pregnant naturally! 

At our 20 week anatomy scan, we learned that our baby had a rare heart defect. We spent the next few months learning and praying but nothing could really prepare us for what happened next. At 34 weeks, Steph’s placenta separated and she began to bleed heavily. Dawson would have to be born via emergency c-section. Dawson was immediately taken to the NICU before Steph could even hold him. 

The next day we learned that Dawson would need surgery to repair a right CDH where his liver had come up through his diaphragm and was attached to his lung. We relocated to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Dawson had his repair. 

Since then, Dawson has been unable to get off his breathing tube, due to issues with his right lung being so small, an atrial septal defect and Scimitar syndrome. We have been in Philadelphia for 3 months and there’s no timeline as to when we will go home. 

This grant means so much to all of us. Steph was denied temporary disability because she worked for a public school district who did not take out money for that fund, and Dan has only been receiving 60% of his pay. Staying away from home gets expensive too. 

We thank God for all the help we have and continue to receive.

Dawson is still in the hospital but is finally extubated! He’s on a bipap machine now and doing pretty well! He’s weaning off sedation medicine and feeling some withdrawal symptoms. Poor guy. But he loves being able to be held now! 

Update 8/22/24

Dawson is still in the hospital but is finally extubated! He’s on a bipap machine now and doing pretty well! He’s weaning off sedation medicine and feeling some withdrawal symptoms. Poor guy. But he loves being able to be held now!