UPDATE 10:45 p.m. - Our community didn't just call in for kids Wednesday, it came out on speed dial and surpassed the goal.
The 12-hour Call for Kids Media-thon with Cat Country Radio kicked off at 6 a.m. with the goal to raise $80,000 for the St. Vincent Healthcare Pediatric Intensive Cafe Unit.
At the end of the night, the community donates a total of $86,315 to help keep pediatric surgeons in the community.
We'd like to thank everyone who made the call to donate.
BILLINGS - The anxiety and fears around taking a newborn baby home can be overwhelming.
Imagine if a lack of sleep, or not getting a shower became the very least of your worries with your infant?
That’s what happened to Cassie and Cole Neubauer last month when their new baby boy Wyatt was just 9 days old.
“Absolutely delighted, and terrified” is how Cassie Neubauer describes being a new mom. “He was ready to come to this world.”
Wyatt William Neubauer was born 8 pounds 12 ounces on Feb. 24, 2020, but that new parent joy quickly turned to tremendous fear when Wyatt continued to vomit more and more.
“The day before I took him in it was almost projectile, it was neon green, so I knew that was not normal,” said Cassie.
It didn’t take long for Wyatt’s pediatrician at Billings Clinic to figure out what was wrong and sent Wyatt up the street to St. Vincent Healthcare where Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Michael Rollins was waiting.
Rollins said Wyatt is one out of every 600 babies born with Intestinal Malrotation. His intestines did not form into a coil causing them to twist and cut off blood supply.
"The intestines are very sensitive to lack of blood flow so within a very short time period intestines can die, which can become a lethal problem,” Rollins said.
A lethal problem that needed immediate treatment. And thankfully, Dr. Rollins was there.
Rollins is one of ten pediatric surgeons from Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City who rotate a week at a time at St. Vincent Healthcare. The collaboration ensures children in this region have global surgical care 24-7.
“Global care includes disrupting people's lives and decreasing the financial strain as much as possible. It's all part of taking great care of patients," said Rollins.
Rollins said the collaboration with St. Vincent helps local families so they don’t have to leave jobs, find childcare, and potentially disrupt their lives if their children need advanced surgical care.
Without this partnership Wyatt would have been headed out of state and his parents left scrambling to get there and camp out for the next two weeks as he recovered.
“We could have gotten sent to Salt Lake City and I couldn’t imagine uprooting our whole lives,” said Cassie.
But instead of spending two weeks hundreds of miles away, this new momma has found a silver lining within this scary situation.
“I can go home and do laundry," she said. "I can go home and shower. I’m missing that crazy newborn lack of sleep. I actually feel rested.”
But Wyatt’s headed home soon, and as all moms out there know, that rest isn’t going to last long.
If you would like to play a part in making sure patients like Wyatt are able to receive care close to home, you can answer the “Call for Kids.”
Call 406-869-3669 or visit SVHKIDS.ORG.
