Taegan Sage McFarland was born at Methodist Hospital in downtown Indianapolis two months early on 6-3-04. She weighed just 4lbs. 4oz. and was delivered via emergency C-section due to a compromised umbilical cord and numerous other contributing factors.

Taegan spent one month in the neonatal intensive care unit on a ventilator, battling pulmonary hypertension, respiratory infection, low blood pressure, patent ductus arteriosus (hole in the heart), poikilothermia (inability to maintain body temperature), apnea, reflux, and jaundice.

Since her birth, Taegan has struggled to conquer developmental milestones, and often lags behind her peers by 18-24 months. She is significantly speech delayed, having approximately ten intelligible words, and uses some simple sign language for basic needs. Taegan has limited use of her legs due to increased muscle tone.

In August, 2006 an MRI confirmed what we had suspected. Taegan was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL), and Spastic Diplegia. During the summer of 2007, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Duplication of 8p 23.3. In October, 2008 Taegan was also diagnosed with Autism disorder and severe global developmental delay.

Taegan has been receiving conventional therapies (Occupational, Physical, Speech, Nutritional) since the age of six months. While they play an important role in her development, there are also many non-traditional therapies which are yielding promising results. We'd like to pursue those avenues for Taegan, however, insurance companies do not cover non-traditional therapies and those that are not approved by the FDA for specific diagnoses.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT) are one of these non-FDA approved therapies. Cerebral Palsy and Autism are not recognized diagnoses for the treatment. That does not mean that we cannot pursue this avenue of treatment for our daughter. It simply means we will have to fund these treatments out of pocket. A typical cycle (40 one-hour sessions) of HBOT costs approximately $5,000 here in the United States at a private clinic.

Our hope for Taegan, as it is every parents hope, is for her to be able to live the fullest life possible. For her, unfortunately that also means struggling to overcome communication and physical limitations; limitations which very well could be lessened with HBOT. We're counting on God's magnificent earth angels (YOU!) to help us realize this hope for our daughter.

Thank you for taking the time to read about our daughter and our cause.

Sincerely,

Shawn, Michelle and Taegan McFarland