Little Luke Sigmon may be only 2 1/2 months old, but he has endured more than many adults have in their lifetimes.
The son of Lyndsi and Wesley Sigmon, of Sherrills Ford, has gone through one heart surgery and faces another one today. While coping with the anguish, Lyndsi and Wesley have to face paying the medical bills after being out of work for two months.
"I'm pregnant myself, so that makes me empathize that much more with the situation," said Hickory photographer Dana Andreasson, owner of Orange Cat Photography in Harris Arcade in downtown Hickory.
Andreasson took newborn photos of Luke just two days before his parents had to rush him to Catawba Valley Medical Center. That session made such a connection between the photographer and the young family she decided to hold special mini-sessions by appointment on Saturday to raise money to help the Sigmons.
"My heart goes out to them," Andreasson said. "I can feel a little of what they must feel to have to go through something like this. Plus they're Carolina grads too, so I've got to support them."
The road from hospital to hospital has landed Luke in Boston Children's Hospital where he will have surgery to fix an occlusion in one of his ventricles today. Wesley Sigmon said the problem with Luke's heart showed up when he was eight days old. He didn't seem to eat as much as he should and his temperature seemed too cool. But when Luke began to turn blue, Wesley and Lyndsi took him to Catawba Valley Medical Center. The doctors determined the baby had problems with his heart and sent him to Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, where he underwent a 17-hour surgery Dec. 15 to repair his aortic arch by replacing it with his pulmonary artery. Doctors had to perform a transplant to replace the pulmonary artery.
Luke has a hole between two chambers in his heart, as well as one on top of the heart, Wesley said.
Everything seemed to be going well, Wesley said, until mid-January. Luke seemed to lose his appetite again, a sign of cardiac problems, Wesley said. The day after they noticed the change in feeding, Luke suffered a cardiac arrest and seizures.
"The doctors found a blockage and figured it was a blood clot and put him on medicine to dissolve the clot for about a week," Wesley said.
But the medicine didn't work, and Luke continued to have seizures. So doctors at Levine sent the family to Boston Children's Hospital.
"It could be some type of occlusion," Wesley said of possible scar tissue blocking the flow of blood to the heart. "And if they don't fix it, the heart muscle would die, and they can't fix that."
Wesley said he and Lyndsi were talking about how good Luke looks, despite facing more surgery.
Since Luke began having problems, Wesley said the community has been key to them getting through these tough times.
"There are no strangers," he said. "We have had prayers going on from Portugal and across the U.S. And now, for Dana to be doing this, it's just incredible."
The cost of a mini-session with Andreasson lasts 15 minutes and costs $75. All proceeds go to the Sigmons, and parents will be able to choose an 8-by-10 photograph to take home.
"We just want to send a big thank you to everybody from family, strangers and friends, the whole community," Wesley said.
To track Luke's progress, go to CaringBridge: www.caringbridge.org/visit/lukewesleysigmon
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement