Giving Hands for Hannah

08/05/2025

💜🦋

05/31/2025

Our sweetgirl is back home. Still with minimal answers, but home nonetheless. I realize that I’ve been quieter than usual for a while, but honestly, I’ve been doing my best to navigate each day and cherish every moment. Hannah’s latest MRI shows some stability, and despite our short stint in the hospital, I am hoping to carve time out of any moment that I can to bring happiness and joy to Hannah and Maeghan’s day. With that being said, I would like to start a bucket list of sorts for Hannah. I’m not really sure how to go about this, so any suggestions are more than welcomed. As far as time away from work, and a break in Hannah’s appointments, I have June 30-July 11 to hopefully for starters be able to plan some special time with her and us as a family. Y’all have been a blessing to our family in so many ways, and I promise that my less than normal quietness is merely a reflection of my state of mind. I am determined to make more precious memories with our sweet girls and to bring more light and love into our days ahead. I am eternally grateful for y’all’s continued prayers and strength when I’m struggling the most. Blessed, falls short of how I have felt from the love that y’all have shown our family and I simply cannot thank you enough ♥️

12/14/2024

Update 12/13/24:
I have no words…🥺😇
Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart! ♥️ To see the love and prayers that surround Hannah and our family is absolutely amazing 😇. You’ve made the impossible, possible and I can’t be more grateful to each and everyone that has helped us in so many ways.. 🙏🏻 We have the how!!! After an entire day of phone calls and finagling, we have made the decision to rent a RV that will provide us the space and comfort to make the 13-15 hour drive to Cleveland Ohio, provide us with transport while there, and a way back home. While I don’t discount just how difficult this drive will be, it is the safest option and makes the most sense for our situation. Hannah’s doctors determined that flying is absolutely not an option for her right now, not with the pressure that already exists in her brain. Sharp changes in altitude could be detrimental and even potentially deadly for our girl. While medic flight’s are deemed slightly safer, her doctors say that they cannot clear her for any air travel whatsoever in good conscience, and we simply cannot take that risk with our precious girl!! In an effort to expedite the process, her CHOA doctors have scheduled a PET Scan and bloodwork that the Cleveland Clinic doctors are requesting to be done in Atlanta just prior to our journey to Ohio. Once there we are still unsure of lodging as the Ronald McDonald House is a possibility, but will depend on availability, of which we won’t know until close to arrival. Thankfully, if that door is closed, y’all have helped us have options. Either way, we will be traveling in a RV, so if push comes to shove, we find a place to park, lol 🥶🥶. Our 1st day will officially begin on 12/18 and appointments will continue through 12/23. In good measure and in truly respectable thoroughness on behalf of the physician who initially accepted Hannah, we are now up to 8 specialist appointments that will be completed during that timeframe. The contingency is that if at any point any of those 8 physicians decide that Hannah should be admitted, our stay will be extended. Please continue to keep us in your prayers in the days and weeks ahead as the cold that we are about to experience is next level and Hannah’s condition makes it difficult to regulate her body temperature 🥶 On the positive side of the extreme cold, if there truly is one, there will be snow!! ❄️☃️. You know us southerners don’t know much about that stuff, so I’ll ask you to pitch another prayer up there as we navigate that terrain. Depending on what comes of her appointments, there is a distinct possibility that we will be making return trips, prayerfully for treatment, soon after our initial visit. So as to say, this is the beginning of our renewed faithful journey that we will continue to be on as long as it takes to save our sweet girl 🦋. We love y’all and will keep you posted along the way ♥️
🎄

12/13/2024

After 4 very long days of phone calls, we have a plan, or at least the concepts of a plan 😰. Appointments have been made for Hannah to be individually evaluated by 6 specialists at Cleveland Clinic in the span of 6 days, which is a miracle in and of itself. The first appointments will take place on 12/18 and span through 12/23. There is a chance that stay could become extended or that it could warrant a hospitalization, but for now we hope to be home for Christmas. So now we have the why and the when and are left with the how. In addition to the extensive phone calls to Cleveland Clinic and CHOA, I have been in contact with potential options for lodging as well as weighing every single option for the best and safest mode of transport for Hannah and the three of us. With as complex as Hannah’s medical and physical needs are, it requires myself, Burt, and Maeghan to properly care for Hannah. There are pros and cons to every option as well as potential pitfalls of ability for transport of medical equipment and more variables than I can even begin to list here that we have been weighing carefully. I have reached out to charity organizations who unfortunately don’t have availability due to time constraints and we have been generously offered a potential mode of van transport, but aren’t quite sure if Hannah would be able to tolerate what would equate to a 15-16 hr drive with no clear path to return home after being dropped off in Ohio. With how everything has begun to fall in place, there is no question that this has been divinely guided and that we are on the path that we are meant to be on. What I haven’t been provided with is complete direction on is the how of making this come to fruition for our sweet girl that is so deserving of every chance at life that we can give her. With so many variables and such limited time to figure out transport and lodging, we need help in any way possible. Y’all have shown up for our girl more times that I can count and for that and all of your prayers, we are eternally grateful. Although it has been a long journey that has been full of ups and downs, we are now more than ever in the fight for Hannah’s life. As options were exhausted at CHOA, we were told that we may only have a small time left with our girl and Cleveland Clinic has given us the first glimmer of hope that we have had in a long time. I know times are hard for everyone, especially with Christmas being around the corner, but I come to you with my heart in my hand to ask for your help in any way and in any form possible. 🙏🏻

11/02/2024

We received devastating news today as Hannah’s neuroinflammation is not responding to her current treatment, which can potentially mean mere months with our sweetgirl . Her immune dysregulation doctor has plans to exhaust all options over the weekend which willl hopefully entail conversations with Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Encephalitis Center. If options for treatment present themselves, extensive travel may be required, but I just can’t envision not exhausting every single option to save her. While y’all have done so much for us over the last few years, I humbly come to you tonight to help us make those treatment options, if there are any, possible. We may need to plan for plane travel, hotel stays, and possibly the cost of the evaluation/treatment itself if I can’t find a way for insurance to cover it. The Give a Hand fundraiser is still active on this site, but we also have dedicated sites such as Venmo, cashapp, and Zelle that I will list below if you are able to help in anyway. If you aren’t able to donate, we appreciate any and all prayers as our girl is in very much need of a miracle 🙏🏻. I’ve never liked asking anyone for anything, just please know that I will do anything, even admit that I need help, if it can help my child.
Thank you 💛

giveahand.com
-direct link is also on this page
Venmo:
--bennett-171
Cashapp:
-$bbennettrn
Zelle:
4789545924 or bbennettrn@gmail.com

Hannah is a beautiful, vibrant young woman who has been in the battle of her life for the second time this past year. Hannah has been battling lupus since she was very young. After a huge health scare entering high school, Hannah rallied like the warrior she is and became a star student, graduating....

11/01/2024

We received devastating news today as Hannah’s neuroinflammation is not responding to her current treatment, which can potentially mean mere months with our sweetgirl . Her immune dysregulation doctor has plans to exhaust all options over the weekend which willl hopefully entail conversations with Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Encephalitis Center. If options for treatment present themselves, extensive travel may be required, but I just can’t envision not exhausting every single option to save her. While y’all have done so much for us over the last few years, I humbly come to you tonight to help us make those treatment options, if there are any, possible. We may need to plan for plane travel, hotel stays, and possibly the cost of the evaluation/treatment itself if I can’t find a way for insurance to cover it. The Give a Hand fundraiser is still active on this site, but we also have dedicated sites such as Venmo, cashapp, and Zelle that I will list below if you are able to help in anyway. If you aren’t able to donate, we appreciate any and all prayers as our girl is in very much need of a miracle 🙏🏻. I’ve never liked asking anyone for anything, just please know that I will do anything, even admit that I need help, if it can help my child.
Thank you 💛

giveahand.com
-direct link is also on this page
Venmo:
--bennett-171
Cashapp:
-$bbennettrn
Zelle:
4789545924 or bbennettrn@gmail.com

Raise money online to support people and causes you love with 0% platform fees. Start a fundraiser right now and inspire others to give!

10/17/2024

09/26/2024

While making emergency preparations and hunkering down for this storm tonight, I wanted to hop on here to share some recent blessings that we are so grateful for.
First, Hannah’s most recent MRI came back as stable, not better but not worse 🙏🏻. This translates to a continuation of her current medication regimen and a plan for another lumbar puncture in 6-8 weeks. This LP will determine a lot going forward, so please continue to pray that the inflammation in her brain continues to decrease leading up to this and beyond. Second, I received a call from Hannah’s case manager today with what I can only describe as divine intervention…there is a piece of rehabilitation equipment that no rehab south of Atlanta has available that Hannah so desperately needs to treat her current condition as well as prevent further complications…after months of exhausting every avenue possible, Hannah’s case manager laid her heart out to any and everyone who would listen, and today we got an approval!! To God be the Glory!! Since local rehabs don’t have the equipment and/or training to give Hannah the best chance for a positive outcome, and because rehab in Atlanta is not an option at this time, our ultimate goal in this is to create our own home based rehab for our sweetgirl ♥️💪🏻.!! Last, but most certainly not least, to everyone who has stepped up to help Hannah and our family through love, prayer, compassion, donation, and everything in between, you have physically, mentally, and spiritually kept us afloat and have blessed our family a million times over ♥️. We simply cannot thank you enough 🙏🏻. Our journey has been long, and though at times we are weary, our girl is a warrior and we will continue move mountains ⛰️ for our sweetgirl to see her through this. Never Give Up for God has a plan and a purpose for us all 💜🦋🙏🏻

09/18/2024

In the midst of another few days in Atlanta…we have been to Norcross, Kennesaw, Sandy Springs, and everywhere in between. Please send Hannah good vibes for tomorrow’s infusion 💜🙏🏻

08/09/2024

Update on Hannah:
The MRI and LP that Hannah had a few weeks ago showed that the inflammation has increased in Hannah’s brain, worse than it was back in December, prior to the ibtrathecal chemotherapy. Thankfully the culprit doesn’t appear to be Enterovirus, but what’s concerning is that it is her own immune system that is attacking her brain, seemingly unprovoked. With that being said, the extensive fight for a specialty medication began and after weeks of denial, I am so happy to share that it has now been approved. Hannah’s immune dysregulation doctor and case manager have fought tirelessly for Hannah to have access to this medication as it is extremely expensive and is not FDA approved for this specific condition. With that, we also have no guarantees, but are very hopeful as the science behind it makes sense. Her journey with the new medication will begin tomorrow. 🙏🏻. As if that wasn’t enough, she will undergo oral surgery on Monday, IVIG on Wednesday, and another LP with chemo on Thursday (unless we see rapid results with the new medication and your prayers of course!). Our girl is a warrior and we are so grateful for each and everyday that God is blessing us with her and a path to help her. Please continue to lift her up in the days ahead as well as my dad who remains critical in CVICU. 💔

07/20/2024

Due to Hannah’s complexity and fragility, the decision has now been made to transfer Hannah from the trauma bay at Egleston to ICU, please continue to pray 🙏🏻 💜