Luke’s Story

Site created on March 3, 2021

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. 

Our son Luke, the sixth child to join our family, was born via cesarean on Thursday, June 17th, 2021. Earlier this year, Luke was diagnosed in utero with a type of skeletal dysplasia called campomelic dysplasia. CD is a rare type of dwarfism and is known to be fatal for a vast majority of babies born with the condition. Luke is currently hospitalized in the NICU at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL, USA. We are hopeful that through the miracles of faith and modern medicine, Luke might come home to live a full and happy life with us. 

Thanks for visiting our page.

With all our love,
Andrew & Christina
Abigail, Madeline, Jameson, Jude, Grace, & Luke

Newest Update

Alive and well

Journal entry by Christina Hougan —

Hello! Luke is nearly four months old now and he is thriving. He is still not home, but has now transferred to a transitional care facility. 

Since my last entry, we have
  • Moved back home to Maple Park
  • Returned to work full time
  • Transferred Luke to La Rabida Children’s Hospital
  • Successfully transitioned our three oldest kids to public school 
  • Listed our house for sale (!)
  • Navigated the world of Medicaid and the search for home nursing
  • Deciphered over a million dollars in medical bills
  • Kept up a near-daily schedule of drives to Chicago to visit our boy
  • Continued our training in trach care, ventilators, CPR, and tube feedings

We have only been able to make this happen by the grace of God, the help of my former spouse and his wife, and a LOT of coffee. I apologize for the lack of updates here and hope to share more this week. I just wanted to pop in to let everyone know that Luke is doing great! 

We’d appreciate prayers and good thoughts for:
  • Luke’s continued good health, as well as ours
  • The sale of our house (this is a biggie!!)
  • That we find a full staff of nurses for home care.
  • The continued success of Andrew’s work life and my business (which we are so grateful for as life has gotten rather expensive).
  • For the strength of our marriage to continue to grow so that we can be the team that all these little people need. <3 

 Thank you!!

Read More of the journal titled "Alive and well"
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