Author: cassandraparkerauthorblog

This month I am spotlighting Rowan Staeffler, the author of the Black Eyed Witch on Cassandra Parker Books

Rowan was originally born in Australia but moved to Switzerland when he was 5. After 14 years completing school and an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner, he moved back to Australia. Eventually, he moved to Hong Kong for 3 years and got married. they currently live in Darwin.

As a child he wondered if there could be a different kind of witch who do not fly on a broom, has a pointy hat and a crooked nose. Now he likes to sharing his different perspective.

“I had this vision for some time now but never had the courage to tell the story, especially since I have mild dyslexia and English is my second language. Even though I was born in Australia, I moved to Switzerland at a very young age and grew up with their language.

The inspiration for this story was partly from the Manga and Anime series “Claymore” that is about silver-eyed witches who are part monster and part human and the only ones who can fight off monsters plaguing the humans.

While English is not my main language, I insisted on telling my story in the language. Even before the series, I had different views about witches. Many will think automatically of them wearing a black pointy hat, flying on brooms, having a long pointy nose and using magic. I tried to avoid these and make them look human but with abilities. The black eyes are one of their unique features.”

Please pray for Everest.

Everest Update from his mother.

I’m here right now because his nurses informed me he’s been having trouble with bowels and tummy bleeding again. This time there was blood in his NG tube (the tube that goes through his nose to his belly that he gets breastmilk through). They said they’re afraid he’s developing something called Necrotizing Enterocolitis. He does have some blood in his stomach and bowels. They’ve decided not to feed him anything until he receives a transplant. He will only ever get TPN & Lipids (IV nutrition and fats).

They’ve started antibiotics to reduce the infection risks because she said he’s the highest of high at risk. He just got a blood transfusion and she said the bleeding should stop with the feedings being stopped. Basically what Nec can do is it’ll start causing parts of the bowels to die or it’ll cause a lot of scar tissue to build up. We don’t want that because he would need surgery to remove those parts. Which would kick him off of the Heart Transplant list again. As of right now they’ve caught it and treated it so aggressively that they expect it to be just fine within a few days and for the bleeding to stop!

However, the downside with stopping the breastmilk completely and going to full IV nutrition is that he’s at risk for liver and gallbladder complications to arise again. She’s not sure that it will, because his levels look fine now, but it’s a good possibility. So instead of being on regular bloodwork schedule, he’s having it drawn every single morning
sometimes twice a day. They’re watching his liver enzymes and other factors very closely.

He’s a very sicky boy though, he’s sedated pretty heavily because he’s just not been comfortable today without it.

Good news! Baby Everest was able to be put back on the heart transplant list.

He had been on tpn/lipids feed which is hard on the liver and gallbladder. He was switched to breastmilk which was hard on his bowels and resulted in bleeding.

The doctors decided to try him on 50% tp and 50% breastmilk and hoped to minimize further damage.

It worked! He is back on the transplant list and is top priority.

Please pray for this little fighter. The family has a GoFundMe account called Conquering Everest. If you can donate even a little bit it will go a long way to help pay his medical costs.

Sad News about baby Everest. His liver is failing. Both Everest and the family need urgent prayers.

From his mother:

4/3/2020

Just had a visit with Everest. I was shocked to see he was very yellow/orange when I came in. The nurse said she was about to call me and let me know he’s having some issues being jaundiced today all of a sudden. She said it started last night/early morning and has progressively gotten worse with increasing bilirubin levels. They’re
repeating his ultrasounds, bloods tests & EKG to find out what’s going on and causing his liver to be so sick.
Obviously his heart function decreasing is causing his liver to struggle, they said it’s not super uncommon with really sick heart babies but concerning since he’s on the transplant list.
As of right now Dr. Garcia said it’s not bad enough she had to pull him from the transplant list. But he is throwing up all the feeds he’s being given in his NG tube (he gets breastmilk in a feeding tube that goes through his nose and into his stomach directly). They’re repeating his level testing a few times daily instead of weekly now and watching him VERY closely & if they aren’t able to get his liver function increased we may be in some trouble. If the liver function continues to make decreases, he will have to be pulled from the transplant list and that’s the end of the road for him. Can’t get a liver transplant with a failing heart & you can’t get a heart transplant with a failing liver.

Unfortunately there’s no cure or way to live without either of those. Please continue to pray for his liver function. We desperately need more time for him. If he can just hold on until a new heart comes
☹💙
If you are able to donate, this is the link to securely do so, if not please just pray and share with others so they can pray and share as well. Having a medical savings for Everest is SO important and everyone who has helped has given us peace of mind and blessed us so much more than we could ever explain.
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Go Fund Me

Baby Everest has been approved for a heart transplant. It could take up to six months before he receives a new heart. Meanwhile the bills are piling up. The family could use financial assistance.

Please consider donating. Any amount is appreciated.

Go fund me Everest

I don’t often write blogs asking for donations. This is an exception.

Everest is a month old baby who was born with Complex Congenital Heart Disease. Within days of his birth his parents learned he had a problem with his heart. He has one ventricle that works. The other three and his aorta are blocked or severely damaged. At first they thought he could have heart reconstruction surgery when he reached six months of age. Then he developed a strange abnormal heart rhythm over the weekend. The doctors planned to do his Norwood surgery this week. The day before his abnormal heart rhythm became more sustained. Further examination showed the top half of his heart and his ventricle are too weak to withstand the surgery. He would have died.

Now his only chance at life is a heart transplant. He has several factors against him. 1) He is on the highest dose of a heart medication, 2) He had twelve transfusions. If he has antibodies, he might not be eligible, 3) Time. He is now totally dependent on machines. Some infants can survive a few months on machines, most do not. Infant hearts are hard to get. Most infants do not live long enough to get a new heart.

Everest is a beautiful, sweet baby who is fighting for his life.  Just watching videos of his interactions with his parents shows how he brings joy. He smiles at everyone. This small infant has touched my heart in many ways.

His medical bills are piling up. His parents need spiritual and financial assistance. If you can find it in your heart, please pray for a miracle for baby Everest that he gets a new heart, pray for his parents whose hearts are breaking.

If you can, please donate to the gofundme account for Everest. Any amount is appreciated.

Go fund me Everest

Check out these videos.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCEp0QdOa9ZaLMGaMFn_3AOA