Ollie's Story
Our wonderful kiddo, Ollie, has Noonan Syndrome, a life long genetic syndrome that has led to numerous hospital stays. She has issues with her heart, lungs, skeletal and digestive systems. Through the management of her disorder, we have been to doctors in both Tennessee and Ohio.
Usually her hospital stays are overnight, but occasionally, she is there a few days. We had never really considered what an extended stay might feel like, but following her hospital stay for spinal rod surgery in 2021, she developed an infection that required over a month in the hospital. This was our first long term stay and it was during that time she celebrated her 13th birthday, and who wants to celebrate their birthday in a hospital, even if you do get presents. The biggest thing we noticed this time as parents though, is the longer her stay was, the more down she felt. We realize that we can't change the time she has to be in the hospital, but we can brighten her stay just a bit. Even though her birthday had come and gone, each day Daddy would show up with something special just for her. It might have been a small gift, but to her it had such a huge meaning. It was all these little gifts that made her feel a bit more loved and important.
One day, Ollie asked us if there was a way to give gifts to other children to make them feel special too. It was this idea that gave birth to Lollipop Totes. We can't visit with every child every day, but we can fill a bag with fun items and deliver it to the hospital. The wonderful people there can ensure it gets into the hands of a special child. Ollie's idea was that the gifts were not because they had won them or received them because of surgery, she wanted each child to know they were special and deserved something special just because someone cared. We are at the beginning of this journey and know it will be a lot of hard work, but we also know... that if it brings a SMILE to even just one child, it is worth doing.