Success in Helping Joey

LATEST UPDATE 5/4/2012:

So yes our donation process is over, but baby Joey’s struggle has not ended.  I was notified about this the other day by baby Joey’s grandfather and I was very upset to hear this.  The valve they resized in his heart was sized too small, causing fluid overload on his lungs. In the words of Katie – Joey’s mother, “This valve will now cause indefinite issues and he will be battling congestive heart failure throughout his life. Worst case is if he ends up with a mechanical valve and that will mean heart surgery every growth spurt (not to mention life long coumadin).”  Joey’s lungs are Bad – the right upper lobe is compressed and/or collapsed from the fluid and he has bilateral extensive pulmonary edema as well as pleural effusions and if the diuretics can’t pull this fluid out he may end up re-intubated awaiting another surgery.” Joey’s grandfather informed me that there may have to be another open heart surgery but first they will try a cardiac cath to thoroughly examine the problem.  ”We are hoping to minimize the number of future surgeries. This weekend will be the determining factor if his next surgery will be this upcoming week or if we can delay it for an ‘unknown’ time-frame”, Katie said.

I am hoping that Joey is still in all of your thoughts and prayers, as he has overcome so much already but still has quite a path ahead of him.  Please send positive thoughts and healing his way, as progress was looking good after his surgery and now they’ve hit a bump in the road with this situation.  I will continue to try to keep our fans and customers informed to the best of my ability but in the interim please continue to follow Joey’s grandfather’s blog for all updates on baby Joey.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The time has come to announce our grand total!!  First I want to personally thank EVERYONE who took the time to purchase at Winky Boo or donate during our donation period.  You all have kind and caring hearts and trust me for those who are able to give will always receive tenfold.  I appreciate all of you for finding it in your hearts to help us help Joey and his parents during this difficult time.

Although I would have definitely liked to have been able to give sooo much more to this family, we were able to raise

$354.34!!!!

As you all are aware, we had 2 options for our donation process as we donated $3.00 from every item purchased off our website between March 14th and May 1st.  The other option was to send donations via PayPal to us.   My mother was a huge help by placing donation buckets on the Operating Room floor and in their break rooms at Hunterdon Medical Center, where she works.  I also want to thank my psychic and her family for collecting donations at their shop,  The Psychic Gallery as well.  I really cannot thank everyone who helped and donated enough!!  Below is a family photo of baby Joey and his mother and father, Katie and Steve before Joey’s surgery.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with Gary Morton’s (Joey’s grandfather) blog, Joey underwent his reconstructive heart surgery on April 26th to repair his heart, reconstructing two valves and a part of the heart wall that had not formed properly.  The surgery was a success and Joey is now well on the way to recovery.  Below is a photo of Joey before surgery smiling at his mother.

Yet, recovery doesn’t happen without some bumps in the road.  The 48 hours following surgery are critical as to showing if there will be any serious complications.  Since surgery went well, Joey’s breathing tube was removed Friday afternoon – the day after surgery.  On Sunday, Joey started to become more fidgety with a bit more anxiety but the doctors believe those are reactions to Joey being weaned off his medications.  Though an X-Ray showed that a mildly collapsed right lung was also to blame for the distress, but that is also a side effect of Joey being weaned off of his medications as well.  For more constant updates on Joey please visit Gary Morton’s Blog.

Thank you all so much again for helping us in supporting Joey and his parents during this difficult time!  Below is the most recent photo of baby Joey after his surgery; peaceful & happy!