“Baby Juvan Meyer was born at 30 weeks and 5 days, on the 14th of July 2023. He was 1.66kg and 40.5cm, and he had an enlarged abdomen.
When they started to examine him with X-rays, CT scans and blood work, they found a meconium cyst and he could not pass stool. They also found symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis.
On the 4th of August 2023 he had his first surgery, where they removed the cyst and they discovered that the small bowel had atresia. They had to cut off a piece and attache two colostomy bags, one at the small bowel and one at the colon.
He still can’t pass stool, so they did some more scans and it seems as if the colon also has atresia. They will have to remove that piece as well.
The doctor already told us what to expect. If they are right about the colon, Juvan will have to live with a colostomy bag for a few years, before they can do reconstructive surgery.
His cystic fibrosis (CF) tests also came back positive and he has two rare types of CF.
He is in Bloemfontein Mediclinic and we are from Olifantshoek. It is 420km from where he is. Our expenses to be with him are a lot and we can only go to him every second weekend. We also received a few medical bills already, which the medical aid did not pay. We need all the prayers and help we can get. Please pray for our baby.”
Please open your heart and support our fundraiser for Juvan by purchasing his “Breath is Life” bracelets. All proceeds are donated towards his ongoing medical care and expenses where needed – together we CAN make a difference in this precious boy`s life!
Alternatively, please consider a donation, any and all donations welcome. REF: Juvan Meyer.
Fundraising for Juvan Meyer
Breath is Life Bracelets
The “Breath is Life Bracelets” consist of wooden beads with silver and diamante fillers.
Bracelet Options: 1. White and grey with cross charm. 2. Blue, white and grey with angel charm. 3. Blue and grey with feet charm.
“Baby Dylan was hospitalised with a fever on 13 March 2023 and diagnosed with an adenovirus infection. He was supposed to go home after a few days but that never happened.
The morning he was supposed to be released, something went horribly wrong. Dylan’s face went blue in his mother’s arms, he wasn’t breathing and his heart stopped. It took 3 tries to resuscitate him, during which he went without oxygen for about 30 minutes plus.
After the absolute horror this angel and his family endured, the doctors ruled that Dylan had severe brain damage and was classified as a vegetative state.
Baby Dylan had to get a trachea to assist with breathing because his throat muscles were extremely weak and had no cough and swallow reflexes, he had to get a feeding peck inserted as well.
They had to make specialised compression boots, to stop his leg muscles from pulling in on themselves.
Currently, Dylan is slowly improving but still needs a lot of care and medical support.
After four hospitalizations, Dylan is finally home, and his health care is in need of specific treatments and equipment. The list of medical criteria is growing and changing daily to sustain his medical need in aftercare.
The medical aid doesn’t cover everything Dylan needs for survival due to the classification as a ”special needs child” criteria. The family had to move in with the grandparents due to circumstances, and the level of assistance in Dylan’s daily daycare provision. It’s been hard on them but they’re by Dylan’s side every moment of every day.
Dylan was readmitted to hospital on the 6th of June 2023 due to Covid and pneumonia.” He has been home now for 14 weeks (at time of publishing this post).
Please open your heart and support our fundraiser for Dylan by purchasing his “Step by Step” bracelets. All proceeds are donated towards his ongoing medical are and expenses – together we CAN make a difference in this baby boy`s life!
Alternatively, please consider a donation, any and all donations welcome. REF: Dylan Beukes.
Fundraising for Dylan Beukes
Step by Step Bracelets
The “Step by Step Bracelets” consist of green, grey and beige wooden beads with silver and diamante fillers.
“Brody Van Der Schyff, a 2-year-old resident from KZN, South Africa, was diagnosed with an extremely rare disease called CHARGE Syndrome when he was just 1.5 months old in 2021. Brody has spent more than 60% of his life in hospital, fighting life-threatening recurring bacterial infections.
Brody was born with a Horseshoe kidney and Grade IV Vesicoureteral. He had multiple surgeries to try prevent infections and UTI’s. Due to Genital abnormalities, Brody underwent Ureteral reimplantation surgery before he was a year old. At the age of 18 months Brody went into Kidney failure and had his Horseshoe kidney separated and received a Left radical nephrectomy in December 2022.
Over the last 7 months Brody had been living in absolute agony with 7 recurring E.COLI infections and multiple skin infections with constant itching and severe abdominal pain! On the 17th of July 2023 he was admitted for 19 days where they discovered he has a cyst on his right kidney, an inguinal hernia, a neurogenic bladder and multiple issues in his spine. After an MRI was done, he was diagnosed with Type II Caudal Regression Syndrome.
His inguinal hernia repair surgery has provisionally been booked for the 19th of August 2023.
We have been told by a Neurosurgeon that Brody would need spinal cord surgery to assist with the tethered cord as he can lose total control of his lower body. We will now first see a pediatric Neurologist to get a better understanding of what is going on in the spine as there are multiple issues to be looked at, and then we will see a Neurosurgeon to discuss what needs to happen and when. Brody will always have a neurogenic bladder, and this can lead to kidney damage. Due to Brody only having 1 precious Horseshoe Kidney, we need to protect his kidney. Brody has no bladder function control. His bladder does not empty out and this is what is causing the requiring Infections! We have been referred to go see a Pediatric Urologist In Umhlanga on the 24th of August to discuss a way forward for the neurogenic bladder.”
Please open your heart and support our fundraiser for Brody by purchasing one of his bracelets, two, or the whole set of three. All proceeds from the “Brody in Charge Bracelets” are donated towards his ongoing treatment, medical care and expenses. Together we CAN make a positive difference!
Alternatively, please consider a donation; any and all donations welcome. REF: Brody van der Schyff.
Fundraising for Brody Van Der Schyff
Brody in Charge Bracelets
The “Brody in Charge Bracelets” for consist of blue, coffee and white wooden beads with crystal, silver and diamante fillers.
Jan-Hendrik Louw is an 11-year-old boy from Klerksdorp in the North West Province, who was diagnosed with Malignant Neoplasm at the age of 6. He has a tumour on his brain, which causes neurological problems such as shaking and imbalance.
Sadly, the process of his treatment was slowed down because of Lockdown. The tumour has recently shown growth and the doctors are now starting with radiation to shrink the tumour, as they can’t operate to remove it because of it`s location. Due to the tumour, Jan-Hendrik has a slight speech impairment and is also totally deaf in his right ear.
Please open your heart and support our fundraiser for Jan-Hendrik by purchasing one of his bracelets, two, or the whole set of three. All proceeds from the “Faithful and Worthy Bracelets” are donated towards his ongoing treatment, medical care and expenses. Together we CAN make a positive difference!
Alternatively, please consider a donation; any and all donations welcome. REF: Jan-Hendrik Louw.
Fundraising for Jan-Hendrik Louw
Faithful and Worthy Bracelets
The “Faithful and Worthy Bracelets” for Jan-Hendrik consist of white and grey wooden beads with crystal, silver and diamante fillers.
“Mieke Van den Berg is an 8-year-old girl from Rustenburg who was diagnosed in November 2022 with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), better known as blood and bone marrow cancer. Mieke is not healthy at all and is currently in a critical condition regarding her heart. She can’t walk, she doesn’t want to eat and she is very weak.
Mieke will have to go through to Pretoria for chemo three times a week for the next 24 months. She will also have bone marrow drawn to monitor the cancer, every third week for the next 3 months. Mieke will not be allowed to return to a normal school, because Leukemia affects her immune system and breaks it down completely. Having said that, she is very susceptible to any virus and/or infection. She has to wear masks when we go to town, and we as parents, have to wear gloves every time when she gets chemo.
Within the next two weeks, she will get a Chemo Pod implanted in her chest, which is implanted under her skin with a tube that is inserted directly into her main artery. This device is then used to give her chemo every week, three times a week, instead of inserting a drip every time or going home with a drip.
The chemo she is currently receiving is: Doxorubicin and Vincristin, two very aggressive chemo treatments. Vincristine is injected directly into her spine by means of a lumber punch injection, every fourth week under anesthesia. Doxorubicin is currently given directly through a drip, and from next week she will receive it through the chemo pod. Her white blood cell count is still low, because of the chemo, but her red blood cell count is increasing, very slowly, but it is increasing.
Mieke is currently being treated at Dr George Mukhari Hospital at Ga-Rankuwa. The Medical Aid is busy to Reinstate so everything is on hold.”
Please open your heart and support our fundraiser for Mieke. All proceeds from the “Miracle for Mieke Bracelets” are donated towards her ongoing medical care and expenses. Together we CAN make a positive difference and help a child in need.
Alternatively, please consider a donation; any and all donations welcome. REF: Mieke van den Berg.
Fundraising for Mieke van den Berg
Miracle for Mieke Bracelets
The “Miracle for Mieke Bracelets” consist of coral and silver wooden beads with silver and diamante fillers.
“Meet beautiful little Jasmijn Duvenhage. She is our little superhero, fighting, like only a superhero can, since the day that she was born. Jasmijn was born via C/section with low Apgar scores and hypotonia and started choking, then turning blue on day two of life. Initially diagnosed with severe reflux, with temporal lobe epilepsy later confirmed at the age of 4 months. Complicated with West syndrome, diagnosed two months later.
By the Lord’s Mercy and Grace, West syndrome resolved at 10 months of age after battling through four months of very expensive steroid therapy combined with specific anticonvulsants.
Due to her underlying genetic condition (IDIC 15), Jasmijn’s condition was complicated with several different forms of uncontrolled epilepsy requiring yet another multitude of expensive anticonvulsant therapies, which (still to date) has not completely aborted the seizure activity. Little Jasmijn continues to have multiple daily seizures ranging in severity from quick and mild to completely life-threatening.
The ketogenic diet had been added about five months ago with a favourable, but still incomplete effect. This is still being titrated by a Specialist Dietician in the field and there is always hope.
Unfortunately this brave little girl, of whom her parents are very proud, started combatting recurrent viral pneumonia in mid 2022, these requiring admission for non-invasive ventilation leading to prolonged and very complicated hospital stays.
Her mother, despite being a medical professional, has not been able to go back to work since little Jasmijn had been born. She has been needed next to her little girl’s bedside to assist with her complicated therapeutic regime at home, as well as the hospital. This causes extreme financial strain as their home and their future plans were built on two reliable salaries.
To make matters worse, the medical aid has been helpful, but does not cover most of the expenses needed for Jasmijn’s basic care and the family is still in the process of reapplying for PMB cover. They have depleted their savings on their precious daughter’s care, with Jasmijn’s father working full time to support their family.
Thank you for supporting this brave little girl and our fight by purchasing one of these lovely bracelets from Arms of Mercy. Our Lord Jesus Christ bless you.”
Please open your heart and support our fundraiser for Jasmijn. All proceeds from the “Divine Grace Bracelets” are donated towards her ongoing medical care and expenses. Together we CAN make a positive difference and help a child in need.
Alternatively, please consider a donation; any and all donations welcome. REF: Jasmijn Duvenhage.
Fundraising for Jasmijn Duvenhage
Divine Grace Bracelets
The “Divine Grace Bracelets” for Jasmijn consist of wooden beads with silver and diamante fillers.
“Our Story begins on the day of 1st of December 2012, when my husband Neil and I got married.
We have a baby girl named Ava Eliza Liberty. Ava was born on 03 April 2016. She is a talkative, inquisitive and a stunning rising star.
When Ava was 9 months old, we received our miracle surprise blessing who made his presence known. A healthy baby boy, Wyatt Ethan Liberty made our family complete on the 26 February 2018. A very active boy with an amazing wonderful imagination. Always playing, a typical boy that loved any game that includes a ball made him happy. Apart from the occasional seasonal allergies and cold he was always a very healthy boy.
Exciting times for our family, we started potty training Wyatt – he was doing so well, and was on his way to be fully potty trained until it all suddenly changed.
On the 13th of April 2022 he started suffering from constipation over the long weekend. With the fact that he was potty training it didn’t alarm us too much. We got him some medication at the local pharmacy. By Tuesday we took him to the doctor. On the 19th April 2022 the doctor advised that he is pale and that we should take him for blood work. The GP contacted us the same night and advised that we need to come and collect a referral letter for Karl Bremmer hospital as he has a septic blood infection. Karl Bremmer transferred us to Tygerberg hospital at 00:00 hours -observations and blood works were done. The next day, Wyatt received platelets and red blood cells (blood transfusion).
Due to the fact that Wyatt is 4years of age and not speaking, they advised that he should be tested for Autism. His hearing test was perfect, and they made an appointment for us to see the speech therapist and Occupational therapist.
From the 19th until the 24th of April they completed constant testing and on the 3rd of May 2022 they drew blood, discharged us and advised that they will contact us in a week to advise on the blood results.
On the 19th of May I was contacted at work and was told that the blood works are perfect and that he is discharged. They confirmed that it was a very bad viral infection.
Sadly, on the 16th of May, Wyatt started developing bumps on his head and what looks like spider bites on his legs that made him lose feeling in his leg. Because Wyatt doesn’t speak, we took him to the GP and we thought he had mumps, so the GP advised just for safety and with his history, to get blood work done.
The same day the GP contacted us and advised that his blood works are low and referred us to the hospital, this time to Tygerberg hospital directly and recommended that they complete a bone marrow extraction for testing. The hospital advised that due to his recent blood transfusion they would rather give it 2weeks and get the blood tested again. In the interim while we are at home, we should monitor him closely and see if the bumps increase in size or if he develops a fever or shortness of breath. They gave us a date to return back to hospital on the 6th of June 2022.
On the 23rd of May we took Wyatt into hospital as the bumps increased and started to become inflamed. They drew blood and on the 24th of May 2022, Wyatt was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia).
He received his first chemotherapy on the same day as he was in a favorable stage and they wanted to start with the treatment as soon as possible. Friday the 27th of May they did a lumber punch.
Wyatt then received Chemotherapy every 2nd day. On the 3rd of June they completed his 2nd lumber punch. He then completed his 10-day trial of the 1st chemotherapy.
On the 13th of June we received the news that stronger chemotherapy needs to be administered as the 1st round of chemo did not kill any cancer cells.
On the day of my only son’s diagnosis, our entire world and life was turned upside down where nothing makes sense anymore. The only thing that keeps us sane and strong is our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and believing that our story will be a story of surviving, victory and grace. A true testimony of a miracle working God.
Wyatt was also diagnosed with Autism on 19 June 2022.
The mere fact that my son shows so much power and endurance and through all of this still smiles and laughs gives us strength to carry on fighting with him every single day.
We have maxed our credit cards. Bank balance is in overdraft that is maxed. My amazing husband gave up his job to be with my son in hospital for treatment and we are surviving on personal loans that have been maxed. But the grace of God has carried us this far and he will never forsake us.”
All things are possible – (I can endure all these things through the power of the ONE who gives me strength – Philippians 4:13).
Please open your heart to Wyatt and his family today and support our fundraiser. All the proceeds from the “Life is Beautiful Bracelets” are donated towards his ongoing medical care, treatment and therapy. Together we CAN make a positive difference in his life!
Alternatively, please consider a donation; any and all donations welcome. REF: Wyatt Liberty.
Fundraising for Wyatt Liberty
Life is Beautiful Bracelets
The “Life is Beautiful Bracelets” for Wyatt consist of wooden beads with silver and diamante fillers.
“Zachary is happy, incredibly busy, and he loves every moment of life. To Zach, the world is full of possibilities and endless fun, but shortly before his second birthday in March 2021, we got the news that Zach’s life will be nothing like we expected. He was diagnosed with MPSII.
Hunter syndrome is a very rare, inherited genetic disorder caused by a missing or malfunctioning enzyme. In Hunter syndrome, the body doesn’t have enough of the enzyme iduronate 2-sulfatase. This enzyme’s job is to break down certain complex molecules, and without enough of this enzyme, the molecules build up in harmful amounts. The buildup of massive amounts of these harmful substances eventually causes permanent, progressive damage affecting appearance, mental development, organ function and physical abilities.
Hunter syndrome occurs in 1 in 120 000 to 170 000 boys. There’s no cure for Hunter syndrome.
Treatment involves managing symptoms and complications through weekly Enzyme Replacement Therapy. This is an extremely expensive treatment but absolutely life changing and life saving. With treatment, life expectancy is much higher, meaning Zachary can live well into adulthood and live a healthy long life. Without treatment the disease will progress and life expectation is 12 to 18 years.
Signs and symptoms include:
• Reduced endurance • Vision problems • Reduced field of vision • Optic nerve damage • Glaucoma • Enlarged liver and spleen (hepatosplenomegaly) • Umbilical and inguinal hernias • Abnormal facial features (such as flat face, flat and depressed nasal bridge, slightly bulging eyes, enlarged tongue, thick lips) • Large head (macrocephaly) • Short stature • Lung problems • Reduced lung function • Frequent, recurrent lung infections • Sleep apnea • Potential developmental delays (some may have normal intelligence) • Potential slowing of mental development • Carpal tunnel syndrome • Fluid in the brain (hydrocephalus) • Compression of the cervical spinal cord • Thick lips • Enlarged tongue (macroglossia) • Abnormal teeth (widely spaced and very thin enamel) • Frequent ear infections (otitis media) • Hearing loss • Frequent and recurrent sinus infections (sinusitis) • Heart valve disease, especially aortic valve • Abnormal heart muscle (cardiomyopathy) • Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) • Angina • High blood pressure (hypertension) • Poor circulation • Joint stiffness • Skeletal abnormalities (dysostosis multiplex) • Abnormal hip formation (hip dysplasia) • Bone deformities in the spine (scoliosis, gibbus, kyphosis), or knees (knock-knees or genu valgum).
Zachary suffers from a wide variety of these symptoms, he therefore has an extensive medical team comprising of the following specialists monitoring and taking care of him: Paediatrician, Pulmonologist, Cardiologist, Ophthalmologist, Ear Nose & Throat Specialist, Neurologist, Occupational Therapist, and a Speech Therapist.
Unfortunately treatments and Specialists are extremely costly and medical aid does not cover all of this. We are continually in need of funds for those additional expenses.”
Please open your heart to Zachary and his family today and support our fundraiser. All the proceeds from his “Amazing Grace Bracelets” are donated towards his ongoing medical care, treatment and therapy. Together we CAN make a positive difference in his life!
Alternatively, please consider a donation; any and all donations welcome. REF: Zachary de Wet.
Fundraising for Zachary de Wet
Amazing Grace Bracelets – Ladies
The “Amazing Grace Bracelets” for Zachary consist of turquoise and black wooden beads with silver and diamante fillers.
Deliveries: Please note that items are made by hand and on-order. Delivery may take between 7 and 14 working days after payment has cleared in our bank account. Direct Bank Transfers: Should we not receive payment or POP within 3 days the order will unfortunately be cancelled on our system. Shipping Policy
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