Saturday, November 22, 2008
Beta Unit Fundraiser
The Colon family would like to thank the Beta Unit at South Brunswick school for choosing Karina for their Halloween/Valentine's Day fundraiser. We appreciate all the effort the kids put into selling all the flowers and balloons. The care and concern that they showed for Karina was so incredible. We will always be grateful and will always remember what you did for her. Thank you also for the beautiful and inspiring "Blessed by an Angel" book that all the kids signed. Karina will surely cherish it.
Happy Halloween!
Halloween is one of our favorite holidays. Arianna was a Giants cheerleader and little Karina was a bunny rabbit. It was another unseasonably warm day, so we went to our cousin Michael's Halloween parade at his school, and then we did some trick or treating. Then our family came over for some Halloween fun!
Pumpkin Farm
In October, Karina took her first trip to the pumpkin farm. It was a warm and sunny day and we all had so much fun picking our pumpkins and pies.
Arianna's 5th Birthday
On October 16, Karina's big sister Arianna turned 5 years old. We had a small get together with our family and friends. Arianna was very happy to see everyone. Karina enjoyed the love and laughter that filled the room. We even caught her smiling a few times!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Love Karina Benefit Dinner: A Grand Success!
On Thursday, September 18th, we held Karina's benefit dinner. From the second we walked through the doors we were just blown away by how wonderful everything was. Things were happening at every turn and in the middle of it all was Karina's godmother, Lina Russo orchestrating the event like a seasoned veteran. The attention to detail and overall setup was a sight to behold.
More importantly, the people.... we were so very touched by everyone there. You could feel the love in the room. Family members, friends and even people we've never even met before came to show their support. Amazing.
Because of everyone's support, we are now able to provide Karina with the special services and medications she will need moving forward.
All we can say is THANK YOU. Thank you for giving our daughter a chance to receive the specialized care she needs.
The Colón Family
More importantly, the people.... we were so very touched by everyone there. You could feel the love in the room. Family members, friends and even people we've never even met before came to show their support. Amazing.
Because of everyone's support, we are now able to provide Karina with the special services and medications she will need moving forward.
All we can say is THANK YOU. Thank you for giving our daughter a chance to receive the specialized care she needs.
The Colón Family
Monday, September 8, 2008
Karina's First Birthday!
Karina celebrated her first birthday on September 5th. Everyone had a nice time at her party and Karina was happy. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend (despite the bad weather) and we also look forward to seeing everyone at the benefit dinner next week.
I can't believe that the dinner is almost here. The response and support has been overwhelming but very much appreciated. Words can't express how thankful we are to everyone involved in any way.
I created this short video with some of the highlights of her first year. Please take a minute to watch the video and drop us a note on this blog. We would really like to hear from you. :-)
I can't believe that the dinner is almost here. The response and support has been overwhelming but very much appreciated. Words can't express how thankful we are to everyone involved in any way.
I created this short video with some of the highlights of her first year. Please take a minute to watch the video and drop us a note on this blog. We would really like to hear from you. :-)
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
T-shirts Are In
The Love-Karina t-shirts are in! They cost $12.00 each, $15.00 if you would liked them shipped out to you. They come in sizes small, medium, large, and extra-large. You will also be able to purchase them at the Fundraiser dinner. If you would like to purchase one, please contact Lina Russo @ loulina123@aol.com
Back from the Hospital
Karina is home from the hospital after staying for almost a week. She got an upper respiratory infection. Luckily we got her the care she needed before things got worse. Thank you to all the nurses in the PICU at Valley Hospital who treated our girl so wonderfully. It seems Karina is pretty famous there! We realize now how dangerous it could be for her if she gets sick. Even though her body may be weak, she is strong in so many other ways. She has a strong will to fight. So we got over this hurdle. Go Karina!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Karina's First Vacation
We just returned home from spending some much needed family time in Cape May. We had a great time together. Karina was a trooper through it all, even after being stuck in heavy traffic! Here are some pictures from our stay.
Fundraiser Dinner Update
Looks like the benefit dinner ticket sale is a huge success! We have SOLD OUT all of the tickets. What an amazing response. We cannot thank everyone enough for the show of support.
For those of you that have wanted to come but have not yet purchased a ticket, please still contact Lina Russo and leave your name as a reserve. We are taking a limited amount of reserves so please call soon.
Again, thank you all so much for the tremendous show of support. We are deeply touched.
For those of you that have wanted to come but have not yet purchased a ticket, please still contact Lina Russo and leave your name as a reserve. We are taking a limited amount of reserves so please call soon.
Again, thank you all so much for the tremendous show of support. We are deeply touched.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Love Karina T-shirt For Sale
We will be selling t-shirts at the upcoming benefit dinner this September for Karina. If you would like to purchase one, please contact Lina Russo @ loulina123@aol.com
Here is what the t-shirt design will look like.
Here is what the t-shirt design will look like.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Fundraiser Dinner for Karina
There will be a Fundraiser Tricky Tray for Karina on September 18, 2008, which also coincides with Mitochondrial awareness week. It will be held at the American Legion on Union Blvd. in Totowa, NJ from 7:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. The price is $40.00 for adults and $20.00 for children under 12. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact Lina Russo (Karina's aunt & Godmother) at 973-595-9210, or email loulina123@aol.com.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Love Karina
My name is Fernando and my wife is Melissa, and we have a beautiful daughter named Karina Alessia. Karina was born on September 5, 2007 at the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey. She weighed in at 6lbs 5ozs and 19 1/2 inches tall.
After a few days, we brought Karina home to join her sister Arianna for what we considered to be our completed family. Arianna is 4 and she has taken to Karina with such caring and love. She is just wonderful with her. We've always wanted two children and we could not be happier with Karina's arrival.
After 2 weeks at home, Karina began to cry excessively. Melissa's motherly intuition thought that something was definitely not right about the way Karina cried.
We took Karina to her pediatrician and the doctor told us that Karina was probably suffering from acid reflux - common in many newborn babies. She prescribed some medication and off we went, back to what we thought was going to be normalcy.
Another few weeks passed and Karina's acid reflux did not get any better. She also started to make abnormal movements which appeared seizure-like. She was also not meeting her developmental milestones. We decided the best thing to do was to bring her to the emergency room. Our lives would forever change that night and our nightmare began.
After many days in the hospital and numerous tests, we were told that Karina may be suffering from mitochondrial disease.
We had never heard of mitochondrial disease and we did not know what to expect. The doctors still cannot tell us for certain what her prognosis will be, so we are taking things day by day and praying that she will have as normal a life as possible.
We created this blog as a way to communicate with family and friends and keep them up-to-date on how Karina is doing.
It is also our hope that we can bring awareness to this rare disease and offer some support to other families going through a similar situation.
After a few days, we brought Karina home to join her sister Arianna for what we considered to be our completed family. Arianna is 4 and she has taken to Karina with such caring and love. She is just wonderful with her. We've always wanted two children and we could not be happier with Karina's arrival.
After 2 weeks at home, Karina began to cry excessively. Melissa's motherly intuition thought that something was definitely not right about the way Karina cried.We took Karina to her pediatrician and the doctor told us that Karina was probably suffering from acid reflux - common in many newborn babies. She prescribed some medication and off we went, back to what we thought was going to be normalcy.
Another few weeks passed and Karina's acid reflux did not get any better. She also started to make abnormal movements which appeared seizure-like. She was also not meeting her developmental milestones. We decided the best thing to do was to bring her to the emergency room. Our lives would forever change that night and our nightmare began.After many days in the hospital and numerous tests, we were told that Karina may be suffering from mitochondrial disease.
We had never heard of mitochondrial disease and we did not know what to expect. The doctors still cannot tell us for certain what her prognosis will be, so we are taking things day by day and praying that she will have as normal a life as possible.
We created this blog as a way to communicate with family and friends and keep them up-to-date on how Karina is doing.
It is also our hope that we can bring awareness to this rare disease and offer some support to other families going through a similar situation.
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