Updates!

Only One More Week Left of the Auction! Please see the baskets available below - 2 still have not received any bids! This is a great way to get some fantastic products and help baby Max at the same time!

Remember, you can still donate any amount by clicking here (every little bit helps!) and free gifts are available for your generosity here. If you don't have the funds to give, but there is something you need in your kitchen, know someone getting married or going off to college, all profits for any Pampered Chef orders go Max. I have listed instructions on how to order in the first paragraph here.

We appreciate all your support! The medical costs keep rising and because Josh is attending school full time at BYU, Jessica is the leading income and has not been able to work due to her current situation.

Don't forget you can follow more frequent updates on Max' facebook page - Maxwell Theron Swainston and the most recent video of Jessica holding her precious baby for the first time can be seen below or by clicking here.

Thanks again for your prayers, love, support and helping spread the word about baby Max!

Auction Time!

In an effort to raise money for Max and his family, I will be putting gift baskets together that you may bid on. At this time there are four baskets available. The bidding will stay open for two weeks at which time the highest bidder will be the winner!

When placing a bid, please leave it in the comments section below specifying which basket it is for. Bidding is to be increased by at least $1 increments. If you have any questions, please ask and I will try to address all issues as this is the first time we are trying something like this.

I hope this can be a successful event and you will help spread the word! Thanks so much for your continued support in relieving some of the burden on Jessica and Josh at this time!

BASKET #1 - BACK TO SCHOOL!
Includes-
Cut and Seal - Perfect for Uncrustable sandwiches - Make a bunch of sandwiches ahead of time, stick in the freezer and pop in lunch box in the morning. By lunch time they will be thawed and delicious! You can do grilled cheese, pizza calzones, breakfast sandwiches- keep in freezer and throw in the toaster oven. My kids LOVE this thing, use it themselves and has made eating sandwiches fun again at our house! It also works great for pastries, raviolis, anything where you want your edges sealed!

-Apple pie photo by TasteSpotting.com-

Fruit and Cheese Cutter - Make your own lunchables! These are so easy to use and adorable! Cut your lunch meats and cheeses in fun shapes. Make cute edible creations with fruit! Even use with brownies or french toast for breakfast or dessert kabobs. Think how enticing parfaits, drinks, fruit salads can be with just a little extra pizazz, Everyone will love this and there are so many possibilities!

-photo by Angela Walters-

Starting Bid - $15

*Shipping Fee - $5

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BASKET #2 - GRILL TIME
Includes - 
BBQ Pizza Pan - Bake a crispy pizza on the grill in minutes without heating up your house! The perforated slots on the base allow it to heat and crisp the crust and add a smoky flavor! You can throw veggies, potatoes and meats on here for outstanding results! Stainless steel, dishwasher safe.

Pizza Cutter - Love their pizza cutter! It is oversized, bevelled on both edges and provides comfort while cutting with its stainless blade and comes with a protective cover so little hands won't get cut when playing in the drawer :)

Grill Recipes - Includes 15 yummy recipe cards!

Staring Bid - $30

*Shipping Fee - $10

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BASKET #3 - FRUITS MADE EASY
Includes - 
Pineapple Wedger - Core and peel fresh pineapple in one easy step! Much like an apple wedger, it is one blade that will cleanly core and remove the skin of those difficult-to-eat pineapples. Can also use with pears, cucumbers, zucchinis and tomatoes!

Mango Wedger - Love mangoes and hate the hassel of trying to cut one? No more! The unique blade will hug the pit as it slices the mango into four sections allowing you more fruit and less waste!

Citrus Press - Our citrus press will leave you amazed by how much juice it is able to get out of your lemons, limes, and small oranges with little effort, no seeds and no sticky, acidic juice on your hands! It is a coated cast aluminum press that is rust-resistant, strong and dishwasher safe!

Starting Bid - $45

*Shipping Fee - $10

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BASKET #4 - DINNER IN NO TIME
Includes - 
Deep Covered Baker - This is sometimes called our "Magic Pot" or "Crockpot on Speed." It will change the way you look at cooking and make your life SO much easier! Make meats, soups, breads, casseroles, pastas, cakes, and anything you can think of, in the microwave! It sounds sick and wrong, but I use it for everything - breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert- never have other dishes to wash, and everything is done SO FAST!

Frozen chicken breasts will be juicy, tender, delicious in just 6 minutes! Put a whole pork tenderloin and microwave 30 minutes-you will not believe the results! Fyer chickens, meatloafs, baked potatoes all come out perfect!

Open a box of muffin mix, mix it together right in the pot, microwave 6 minutes and you've got breakfast for your kids with practically zero effort!

Dessert is just plain amazing. Any ordinary cake mix can become a bite of heaven with molten lava cake when you mix it as directed, spoon frosting of your choice on top and microwave just 10 minutes! I do brownies, cobblers, and more!

Of course, it can go in your oven too so do not think you are limited. But if you don't have a lot of time and don't want to heat up your house, the results are fabulous! I guarantee you will love this thing!

Deep Covered Baker Recipe Book - Pampered Chef has come out with a recipe book to help you get started with outstanding recipes! Not only that, I will also include a collection of some of my favorite recipes! Once you get started your mind will begin rolling and you will not understand how you lived without it!

Starting Bid - $80

*Shipping Fee - $20

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*Bidding will End August 31st at 8pm Mountain Time*

To make a comment you can click where it says "Comments" and it will take you to a comment page or if you click on the actual title "Auction Time!" it will have a comment section at the bottom of the page. You can choose how you would like your comment to appear- a "google account" if you have it, otherwise you can choose "name/url" and type in your name leaving the url space blank or choose "anonymous" and leave your name in the actual comment. Good luck!

Holding Max for the First Time!

After waiting 6 weeks to hold her baby, she finally got to for the very first time yesterday!

Update 8/14/13

Max had a difficult week with several clots in his neck and head which did not allow oxygen to get to his brain. They considered all options of surgery removing them or staying slow and steady with the medication. From the last post you will see they found new information out leading them to not go the surgery route because it was too risky in leading to death or severe brain damage.

His head remained swollen but after a few days the swelling began to go down. On August 13th they did a CT scan. It showed the dead tissue in his brain begin to repair itself, the clots in his brain getting a little smaller, and the clots in his neck not getting any worse. They also did an echocardiogram which was difficult to watch. Max was in severe pain as they had to push on his chest where he recently had surgery and it was difficult to watch him scream in pain, but hear nothing. The findings were not good, but were hoping it was due to him being so upset and decided to try again the next day while he was sedated. His ultrasound looked good with no new clots. His x-rays showed both lungs improving. When they did the echocardiogram yesterday it showed AMAZING improvement which we are so grateful for.

They fed him milk for the first time and he did great!They were worried about the chylo-thorax his chest is producing that milk may make it go up, but it actually decreased a little. He also had a bowel movement.

They are weaning him off morphine which has caused severe withdrawals, but began giving him methadone which is helping.

Despite what doctors had said in the past, we have seen miracles and they are now hopeful at this point. They say there is no longer a question of 'if' there is brain damage, but 'how much.' We are lucky Max has two great older brothers to interact with and learn from which doctors say will help in how well his brain functions.

Let's take all this great news and add to it by having a successful auction! Please see the baskets currently available above, thanks so much!

Taken August 11th

Taken August 12th

his swelling began to go down

Update - 8/10/13

Written by Jessica and Josh -

Today has been an extremely hard day. Max had a CT scan this morning that showed the infarction, or stroke, that he had actually did hemorrhage. Now that they knew this the risk of doing the procedure to break down the clot in his neck sky rocketed. It will almost certainly cause the bleed in his brain to bleed more and it is a 20% chance that it would kill him. For now the decision is to wait and see if the medication will help enough to allow his body to break down the clots. They also found that there are several clots in his brain and that is completely stopping the flow of drainage through the normal veins on his left side. His body has compensated with some small vessels to drain the blood somewhat. On top of this, Max has had other complications and the dr. told us today that he believed Maxwell has a 90-100 percent chance of dying. It is so hard to see our son with his head so swollen and his tiny little body so beat up. Sometimes it is just too heartbreaking to handle. We have seen miracles in his life and we have full faith that they will continue and that he will live. We are so thankful that Max is still with us and we praise God for that. However, we want everyone to know that no matter what happens to our son, or what he has to endure, we will always praise God. Even if the miracles we want to happen don’t happen the way we want, we will praise our God, for He sent His Son to suffer so much more for all of us. As I looked down on my son today I thought how difficult it is to see him like this and then I thought of how much more difficult it must have been for our Father in Heaven to send His Son to earth being fully aware of what was going to be asked of Him. This is why I praise Him, because without the power of the Atonement I don’t know how I would be able to continue on. Jesus not only suffered for my sins but he suffered all of my sorrows. When the pain is too much for me to bear I can give it over to Him and He has taken it. He has picked me up and eased my burdens more times than I can count in the past 4 weeks. “The Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane and His agony on the cross redeem us from sin by satisfying the demands that justice has upon us. He extends mercy and pardons those who repent. The Atonement also satisfies the debt justice owes to us by healing and compensating us for any suffering we innocently endure” (Redemption by D. Todd Christofferson April 2013, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/redemption?lang=eng). Through the power of the Atonement my heart has been healed over and over again. Through the power of the Atonement my son is being watched over and protected. The Savior has suffered my sorrows so that I do not need to feel them so intently. I have so many reasons to sing praises to my God and Savior and I want the world to know it.

Free Gift to You as a Thank You for Donation!

Jessica is my little sister, and because I am a Pampered Chef consultant I am giving 100% of profits to her and my nephew Max on any orders placed. This is a great way to give a little without any burden placed on you. You can go to www.pamperedchef.biz/joinjill, create an account and search for show "Miracle Max." Because Pampered Chef is unable to pay individuals for charities, you will need to search for first name-Miracle, last name-Max, rather than an organization then add any items you would like to purchase to your cart. There are so many great products, go to my website to see everything available! Keep in mind those getting married, going off to college, birthdays, etc!

Any free products earned from sales will be placed with additional items in gift baskets that will be put together and placed for auction on this site at a later time where proceeds will also go to Maxwell. I feel this is the best way to put the most money in their pockets with sales.

If you are uninterested in purchasing any products, donations can be received by clicking on the donate button at the bottom of the post. To thank you for your contributions we are offering a free gift for your generosity, if interested, in the following ways -

Donate $20 receive Season's Best cookbook

Donate $35 receive your choice of Suds Pump or Cut and Seal (+$5 shipping fee)

Donate $50 receive your choice of pineapple wedger or color coated santoku knife (+$5 shipping fee)

Donate $75 receive microwave chip maker or adjustable cheese grater (+$8 shipping fee)

Donate $100 receive collapsible picnic basket or cool  and serve tray (+$10 shipping fee)

Donate $200 receive microwave chip maker set or tea pitcher plus free shipping!

To put the most money in their pockets, you may donate any amount, no matter how small, by clicking here (or the button below). If interested in the free gift, be sure to include shipping costs for the free product and have the correct mailing address listed. You may post which free item you would like by 'adding special instructions' on the payment page or in the comments section below. Thank you so much for your help in all its forms!

*If you are having any trouble placing an order or donation please feel free to contact me at
 maxwelltswainston@gmail.com or call 435-256-5447

Update 8/6/13

Rather than trying to provide an update myself, I decided to share directly what my sister wrote on his facebook page late last night-

"Tonight has been a difficult one. The swelling to Max’s head got significantly worse today. They did an ultrasound on his neck and found a blood clot in his left vein. The vein on his right side of neck is compromised because that is where the ECMO lines were in. The blood is going up to his head but neither of the main veins in his neck is allowing that blood to drain. There are some small vessels that are still allowing some drainage, but it is not a lot. His head is very swollen right now. This does not happen often with babies so they were not sure what action they were going to take. They eventually decided they were going to put him on a blood thinner and over several days this would hopefully solve the problem. Before they were going to start the medication they did an ultrasound on his head to see how his brain was doing. They found a hemorrhage and a portion of his right brain is not getting oxygen. The doctors are not sure what to do at this point. At this time they are not going to start him on blood thinners to resolve the clot as this would make the bleeding in his brain worse. Treatment for the bleeding in the brain would make the blood clot worse and treatment for the clot would make the bleeding in the brain worse. The clot is making more pressure on his brain which is making the situation even worse, but they don’t know how to get rid of it. All of the different departments are communicating with each other to try to come up with a plan of action. Maxwell really needs your prayers tonight. Josh was able to give him a priesthood blessing tonight and I know that the power of the priesthood is real. I know that God can perform miracles today. Miracles are not something that only happened in the past. We have seen them many times already in Max’s short little life and I know that if it is God’s will it can happen again. I was able to spend some time with Max tonight while he was awake after we found out all of this news. My time with my son awake is always very precious to me. This time I told him how much we love him. I told him that his Father in Heaven and Jesus love him so much more than we can even understand. As I was telling him this I had no doubt that our Father in Heaven is looking over my sweet little boy. As I stood there alone talking to my boy I felt comfort and peace. I have always thought that there were angels with Max but tonight I felt them there with me. At this scary point in my life I felt their arms around me, helping me be strong so that my son wouldn’t see me upset. I just want everyone that I know, to understand that I know there is a God and that He loves all of his children. He will provide a way to give us comfort in these difficult times. If we turn to Him, He will not leave us alone."

Update - 8/5/13

Because updates have slowed down I have had people asking if Max is doing better and 'in the clear' even though a long road of recovery waits for him. The short answer is 'no.' Max is stable, and that is the best they can hope for right now, but there are still several issues that could cause that to change instantly and send Max back to his Father in Heaven.

I don't understand a lot of medical stuff so I will try to gather some things that have been posted on their facebook page along with conversations I have had. There was a surgery to put all of Max' intestines in and there were a few complications. His muscle where a flap was taken was very weak. Because the muscle is so weak they don't know if it will hold everything down and intestines may move up putting pressure on the heart causing another heart attack along with some other unfortunate possibilities. In addition to the weak muscle there were several holes being susceptible to hernias.

His right lung is slightly collapsed. His left lung has a hole in it. This situation has not really improved over the last several days. They believe the hole will fix itself if they turn the ventilator down, but they cannot turn the ventilator down, because his right lung is not able to work on its own.

His bowels were handled several times and are not working. His gallbladder makes bile but his intestines don't care of it so it backs up into his stomach.

His heart rate was high today and eventually figured out he had a blood clot in his chest tube clogging it. There is a large air pocket in his chest. This air pocket could also add pressure to his lungs, not allowing them to inflate fully, or on his heart.

So in short, Max is still in need of prayers, but we cannot forget my sister and her family. Their condition doesn't really get spoken of much since so much attention is on Max, but Jessi has had a very difficult time. Since Max has been born she has been dealing with one sickness after another. She currently is very achy, flu-like and having a difficult time breathing. She had a long, hard delivery and was never really given the time to relax and heal. Her body is very tired and has fallen victim to several health problems. I believe she is emotionally and physically drained and pray that she will begin to start feeling better so she won't be dealing with guilt of not being with her newborn as she takes time to rest which she needs to do.

And some pictures I haven't posted taken the morning after having Max-

Update - 7/29/13

I know some people follow the progress on facebook, but sometimes I get questions on what is currently going on. Much has happened.

They determined to take Max off the ECMO on July 22nd. He was doing well when around 12:30 or 1:00 am that night he went into cardiac arrest. It was a very scary time while they did 15 minutes of chest compressions, were able to get him back on ECMO and in stable condition. During the procedure of putting him back on ECMO they tore a vein. When they would come to a point to take him off ECMO again, they physically would not be able to put him back on because of this, so if he were to have another scare like that night, he would return to his Father in Heaven.

Some doctors suggested it was time to pull the plug, and though Jessi and Josh were accepting if that is what their Father in Heaven's plan was, they did not feel it was time.

He stayed on ECMO for a few days. On July 26th they decided to do another trial off ECMO. It went well and there was a second trial off before officially taking him off. They were hoping when taking him off the broken vein would stay attached so they could stitch it up when they took it out, but that was not the case. The only way to repair the vein was to cut open his chest and do open heart surgery. Though this was not the ideal situation, it ended up working out for the best as once they were inside they found several blood clots they did not know about and there was no way they could have gotten those taken care of otherwise.

We have seen one miracle after another with this precious baby. He has now been officially off ECMO since Saturday and is doing great. They are working on getting him off the ventilator and another surgery will happen soon to get his intestines back in his body.

Yesterday was a special day when Max was awake and opened his eyes.

Post Surgery

I think one of the hardest things about what my sister is going through is the constant ups and downs. Things change so quickly and you never know what the next thing will be or when it will happen.

So, they were able to do the surgery and things went smoothly. However, the hole was larger than they thought so in addition to his stomach and intestines going up into the diaphragm and chest cavity, his spleen and liver had also made their way up there. They stitched the hole up and put his organs down into his abdomen, but it did not all fit. His abdomen had not grown and it was swollen from the surgery, so they had to leave his intestines out. In a week, they are hoping there will be more room for the intestines after it stretches and inflamation goes down and there will be a second surgery.

There were no bleeding issues during and immediately after the surgery, but we have to remember they were never able to take Max off ECMO so he has continued on it, having the need to stay on blood thinners. Two days after the surgery his lungs stopped expanding and they were able to determine that his chest was bleeding more than they thought. Things did not look good. Last night the surgeons were able to get a new chest tube into Maxwell and suck some of the blood out. This improved his lung situation and he is heavily sedated. Our goal is to get Max off the ECMO.

Jessi and Josh are an inspiration to us all. Part of their status update when things left in the unknown -

"The doctors are doing all that can to find a solution. I feel peace right now through my Savior Jesus Christ. I'm not sure how this will turnout but I know it is up the Lord. I know he has a knowledge far beyond my own and trusting his judgement is the best thing Jessi and I can ever do."

They have shared time and time again their testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and if you want to know more about their faith you can go to www.mormon.org

Surgery

Baby Max was scheduled for surgery yesterday at 4:00. It was pushed back due to other emergencies and eventually scheduled for today at 8am. Some people have asked what the surgery is for and what exactly the problem was. A diaphragmatic hernia is a hole in your diaphragm. Because of the hole (this is my understanding from what I was told several months ago when they found out), his stomach and intestines have gone up into his diaphragm, his heart was pushed down, and his lungs were unable to develop like they should.

Basically the surgery closes the hole in his diaphragm and moves all his organs to where they should be. My sister was telling me about a procedure Primary Childrens does which is not done everywhere, but they have had great success with it. To close the hole they use part of his own muscle, that way his body is more readily able to accept it-makes sense and she didn't understand why other hospitals have not done this.

So now we pray and wait. Thank you again for your love and support!

Their Story

Sweet little baby Maxwell Theron Swainston entered the world on Wednesday morning, July 10th at 2:14 am weighing 6 lb 14 oz. It was known he suffered from a congenital diaphragmatic hernia and the team was ready to life flight him to Primary Childrens Hospital, though they purposely delivered at University of Utah Hospital to make for as short a trip as possible. He would not have survived otherwise and had to be resuscitated while being transported. They thought things were well when 2 hours after he was born things took a turn for the worse and his parents were rushed to Primary Childrens to get some precious last moments with their newborn. After this heart-wrenching experience they waited for the end. To the astonishment of his Medical Team Max fought and beat out incredible odds to survive taking on his nickname, Miracle Max.

He was given less than a 50% chance of surviving. In addition to the hernia, one lung was the size of a nickel and the good lung had a leak in it. He had an infection somewhere in his body and his heart was weak. He only scored 1 out of 10 on his APGAR leading so suspicions of brain damage and testing has begun to see how severe it is along with numerous other tests to see what Maxwell faces in the future.

He was immediately put on ECMO which has been keeping him alive. However, they need to proceed with surgery whether he is still on it or not so they will begin the process of trying to wean him off of it, as risks are very high if he continues on. Infants in this condition typically stay hospitalized 6 months to a year so Maxwell still has a long road ahead of him. But we pray he will continue fighting and for the time to quickly come that his parents can finally hold him in their arms.

His father, Joshua, goes to school full-time and his mother, Jessica is the sole provider. She normally works from home taking care of her other two little boys, Beckham-4 and Lincoln-2, but will need to cut back hours due to her being there for her precious newborn. All support is greatly appreciated!

Swainston Family - Fall 2012

Big Brother Beckham- he loves visiting Max and will read him stories

Big Brother Lincoln - he is too little to be allowed in the NICU and still has not been able to meet his little brother

Ready to go to the hospital!

Max makes his arrival and is handled by great people

Set up on ECMO

Though he was heavily sedated, he held tight to his mommy's hand

We love you Maxwell!