Andrea Roach

November 28, 2002

Dear Whirly Girls,

My wife Andrea is the most dedicated wife and mother that I have ever met.

In July 1999, our first son, Keegan, was born. In September,  of that year, our family physician  noticed some irregularities in his strength and muscle development.  We were sent to a specialist to have several tests performed to see what the irregularity could be.  We were devastated when Keegan was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type 1 or SMA).

With SMA, the baby begins to lose muscle strength until complete debilitation is caused. This includes the muscles  which control swallowing and breathing. Our son was going to die.

When you have a baby with sma, you must take care of every aspect of his life at all times. The baby relies on you for swallowing, breathing, feeding through a tube in his nose to his stomach, and for complete movement. You must also suction the babies throat when mucos build-up begins to choke him, and stops his breathing.  My wife andrea took care of Keegan 24/7, and was his complete life support system.

When Keegan was hospitalized for over a month with RSV Virus, and Pneumonia, Andrea stayed in the hospital in a guest room every day to be by his side. I had accepted a new position in a new town, and could not always help or assist Andrea in taking care of Keegan. She traveled to Rochester with him for further testing and diagnosis to seek possible measures to comfort him and prolong his life.  Keegan had to be flown there and back, and almost died in the process. She was by his side the entire time.  

When Keegan returned home, for the final months of his life, Andrea was his caregiver.  Even though we had hospice care, she was responsible for all of his needs.  There were many nights when Andrea had little or no sleep, due to respirator alarms and feeding procedures,that had to be done every four hours.

We lost Keegan on march 8, 2000, at the age of 7 months.   My wife was devastated.

Our lives were perked by the birth of our second son in November of 2001. Garrett Christopher was diagnosed  with SMA 1 as well. Andrea went through the entire procedure again.  Only with Garrett, the diagnosis was much earlier, and he required much more care than Keegan had at his age.   We lost Garrett on April 24, 2002.

My wife has since taken on a new career that she had to put on hold while taking care of Garrett for 5 months.   My wife's life has been forever changed since the diagnosis  and deaths of our two sons. Not even I can feel the pain of losing a child which was carried inside of me for nine  months. She is my hero, and my best friend, and she deserves some recognition for her extraordinary love  for our sons.

We have two older daughters, Shanley (7) and Kendra (5), who also had to witness these deaths.  My wife also took care of them...and  me, while Garrett and Keegan were struggling to live.

I have been searching your sight for a bracelet for my wife for christmas. I wanted one with all four children's names on it. If she could win an award, and get a bracelet like that, i would be forever grateful.   She deserves it, and a lot more.

Thank you for your time and consideration.   Please do not contact my wife unless you talk to me first.  I want any Award to be a surprise.    For more information on my wife's devotion to her sons, please  contact Tisa Downhauer, at St. Alexius Hospital Hospice Care in Bismarck, ND.

Sincerely,

Darrin P. Roach