Support TEAM RIDE to GIVE as they compete in Ironman Louisville Saturday August 24, 2014. Ride to Give is a charitable non-profit organization devoted exclusively to helping sick children. The charitable donations will be used to help current and future children in need.

RIDE TO GIVE

The Ride to Give is a charitable non-profit organization based in Nyack NY, just outside of NYC. It was founded by Kaete Nazaroff and her husband, nine-time Ironman Dave Nazaroff.

In the summer of 2013 Dave, followed by a support van with a team of 3, completed the first annual Ride from Nyack to Jefferson, GA (over 900 miles by bicycle) in 5 days to raise awareness and donations for the family of Tripp Halstead, a toddler who suffered a traumatic brain injury in fall of 2012. The Ride raised $180,000 for the Halstead family, plus an additional $17,000 for Sunshine on a Ranney Day, a 501C(3) charity that renovates rooms and homes for children with illnesses and special needs.

BABY STONE

Stone Wilson Anderson was born on September 11, 2012 as a seemingly healthy 7lb 10oz baby boy except for the fact that he threw up within minutes of being held for the first time. He continued to throw up what looked like bile but we were reassured that it was all normal for a newborn baby and that he was fine.

Over the next few weeks Stone continued to throw up after every feeding however the color was not as yellow as before and he was gaining so it didn’t seem to be such a big deal. We were a bit concerned about the noises he would make in the middle of the night (noises we later found out were sounds of pain). At 4 weeks old he was prescribed reflux meds which did not work. Then he was prescribed another. After the 3rd medication I called his doctor and told him that none of the medications were working and he was nursing every ½ hour to an hour. His stomach was also starting to swell. Our 6 week old was wearing 3-6 month clothes and they were tight.

We were referred to a GI doctor who ordered a slew of blood tests, ultrasounds, and x-rays. We were told that our son had intestinal malrotation. At 8 weeks he underwent a LADDs procedure with appendectomy for the malro and spent over a week in PICU. Two days after being released he was still throwing up and became incredibly dehydrated. We spent another week in the hospital where he had an NG tube placed. We were sent home with a pump and NG tube and directions that Stone would be 100% tube fed. 

Two weeks after coming home Stone was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy and prescribed a hypoallergenic AA formula. (I still continue to pump in hopes of nursing him again). His weight began to plato and eventually it dropped. For 2 months Stone lost 2 ounces a week. At 8 weeks Stone was in the 90th percentile and he was rapidly dropping. He underwent an endoscopy and sigmoidoscopy which showed erosive gastritis. 

On January 30th, Stone underwent his 2nd surgery for a PEG G-tube by open procedure (Endo assist) with a week long hospital stay to recover. After that discharge we were sent to PA to CHOP for a second opinion and repeat upper GI with small bowel follow through with no answers. We came back home and they completed a rectal suction biopsy with also no answers. Shortly after returning home Stone spent another few days in the hospital for a high fever that he was unable to break on his own. We have had the first round of genetics testing complete with normal results and the second round to look at deletions and duplications is currently being processed.