Life as a Leach

There are so many stories.  I won't stop until all of them are shared.  The words of the families who owe Dr. Campbell so much and simply beautiful. --------------------------------------- "My daughter Linsey was the 18th child to have the Titanium Ribs. She is now 25 years old thanks to Dr Campbell and Dr Smith.   May you both Rest In Peace!   You made such a difference in so many lives! Thank you dear friend, you shall be missed..." -Sue Ponfick "Dr C. wasn't my son's doctor, but he saved his life every bit as much as Dr Oetgen who did his surgery . He gave me a little boy who is alive and no longer trach and vent dependent!!" -Michelle Beckman "I'm completely heart broken  💔  This man gave us hope with Kimmy when nobody else did.  He saved her life and mine because I don't know where I would be without Kimmy. I just feel my tears coming down randomly. I'm so scared with Kimmy's future veptrs.... I pray for his wife and ...

By now, you should have a pretty good idea of Dr. Campbell's character.  The stories tell of his love and dedication to his patients, and there are many more stories to tell.   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I just feel so sad. When I told Owen that Dr. C could not operate anymore, he was so upset. That’s his friend and he is his tiger (as I am sure many of your kids have been called). I also am struggling to find the right words to describe what Dr. C did for our family. I know you all know since we are on similar paths. He saved Owen’s life. He gave him a quality of life he would not have had otherwise. He fixed it so Owen can enjoy the most simplest of things in life, but also experience the big things. He gave him his lungs. He saw the potential in Owen’s little severely curved body. The world has a hole in it now. And no one else can really fill it. RIP Dr. C." -Owen, Nick, and Sar...

So many stories.  So much gratitude.  Thank you will never be enough, but we share our stories so that others will know just how much Dr. Campbell means to us.  We are #veptrstrong because of him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Our first visit with Dr Campbell we knew he was the one to care for our Audra. He was so kind and gentle and didn't even need x-rays to say yeah I bet she is in pain and we are gonna fix that. The love he showed my family will never be forgotten." -Tonya Ankeney "I think we all owe this man more than we can ever repay. I know he saved Joey’s life. At 3 years old the other doctors told us there wasn’t much we could do for him but wait and see, which would have meant death. Our family is so grateful for him and those magic hands and big brain. I just hope he knew all the families he touched."   -Ashley Moore "We will always be grateful for ...

Being a writer, I tend to feel much more comfortable sharing me thoughts on paper (computer?!) than out loud.  My words get all jumbled up and I cry at the drop of a hat, so sharing heartfelt thoughts with others is best done in writing for me. I have already shared what Dr. Campbell means to our family, but during our time of grieving as a VEPTR community, many of the families wanted to share how much Dr. Campbell means to them as well.  I asked if anyone wanted to contribute to a blog post and held my breath for at least 2 people to reply.  (Cue insecurity!)  It is a testament to Dr. Campbell's legacy that over 30 people would like to share how this wonderful man has affected them. I'll be doing a series called, "An Angel for Our Angels" which was suggested by another VEPTR mom because Dr. Campbell is our angel for all of our kids.  He truly cared about each and every one and sacrificed so much to operate on those complex cases that were deemed hopeless....

Hero (noun): a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character; a person who, in the opinion of others, has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal. Dr. Campbell was a true hero to our family and to so many others. He created the VEPTR, the device that has given us 7 wonderful years with Abby. He has been our surgeon through thick and thin and has never given up on Abby, even when things seemed rather hopele ss. I'll never forget the first time we met him. It will be 5 years ago tomorrow that we had decided to go to CHOP to get his opinion on Abby's spine and ribs. We had been told by another orthopedic surgeon to just wait until things started to get bad, and that didn't sit well with me. From the moment Dr. Campbell walked in the room, I knew we were in the presence of a brilliant man. Yet, he was always so humble. I've learned from experience that there are very few humble, br...

Our second port day was to Juneau.  Whereas Skagway was a very small town, Juneau is a much bigger city and more industrial.  We got off of our ship and were in the middle of a big shipping port.  We had to get on a shuttle to go to the shopping areas.  There were many more shops and restaurants than in Skagway, but it was also much more urban.  Today's excursion was whale watching.  We used a private tour group again, but it didn't have the same personal feel as in Skagway.  It was a bigger company that had multiple buses, so we kept having different drivers every time we would get on.  The whale watching was interesting and the guide was very knowledgeable. Everyone got snacks and water, which was nice.  The indoor seating area was really great with a nice kind of bar set up so that you could have your camera or binoculars in front of you.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of outdoor seating, so you pretty much had to stand i...

While planning for our cruise, I read quite a bit about the kids' clubs and how they can accommodate kids with special needs.  I saw a lot about kids with autism and cognitive delays and how they can modify things as needed.  Kids have to be potty trained, but even kids in pull-ups can be accommodated at time.  However, I could never find solid information about what they do if the kids have complex medical needs.  In talking to customer service representatives with the special needs department, they said that parents could not stay in kids' clubs.  The only time we were allowed in was during the open house each day for an hour.  I figured I would wait until we were on the ship and talk to someone, which is exactly what I did. I realized quickly that the open houses were unstructured times, and the really fun stuff happened when the parents couldn't be in there.  However, I really needed to be around in case Abby had trouble breathing or got knocke...