Nolan’s 5th Annual Toy Drive for
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Background
In February of 2014, a seemingly normal day had taken a significant turn for our then 2 1/2 year old son who was healthy, active and full of life. We had just come home from the gym and Nolan told me he was really tired so I carried our 2 1/2 month old daughter upstairs and came back down to carry him upstairs for a nap. When he woke up, he said his arm hurt really bad and he fell over when he tried to stand; we immediately got in the car and rushed to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.


By the time we arrived he had severe pain in his legs, arms, and abdomen; which prompted the healthcare professionals to began x-rays and ultrasounds to determine the cause.  After several hours and numerous test, we were about to be discharged when Nolan's left arm began to swell and he began to vomit blood. There was no discharging for us; instead we were admitted, and so began our very long journey...

No one knew what the problem was. We spend several visits with several teams of specialists and physicians over the next few days as they collaborated to determine the cause and source of the problem with Nolan. This is what we were facing at the time:

  • He still couldn't walk or lift his arms,

  • He continued to vomit blood

  • Purple bruises began to cover his body

  • At one point, he was scheduled for an orthopedic surgery to fix potential fractures

  • At another point, physicians thought he may have a rare for of leukemia


Diagnosis

  • After five days of what seemed like five years, the doctors finally determined that Nolan had Henoch Schonlein Purpura (HSP).

  • It typically affects the joints, causes purple bruises, and goes away.

  • After 2 1/2 weeks in the hospital we had discovered that he had an extremely rare case.

 

Treatment
Immediately he was providing steroids, and after a month, he was finally able to walk again. Every month from February - October 2014, we spent at least one week in the hospital a month. He had a severe allergic reaction and his HSP was flaring up constantly, so the doctors decided to treat this autoimmune vasculitis with IvIG treatments, which ended up helping to limit his flares significantly.

 

 

Currently

  • Nolan is currently 8 years old and his health has improved significantly over the last few years, and our continued follow up visits have decreased to only a few times a year!

  • Through this time we have kept life completely normal and positive. He is now a

    • Brown Belt in Tae Kwon Do

    • In his 3rd year of dance

    • Plays soccer

    • Attends NinjaKhana Camps

    • Runs

    • Boxes

    • Sings in the Children’s Choir at our church

  • He has a love of learning, reading, and math. His heart is filled with faith, love, and kindness. When he walks in the room he has the special ability to put a smile on the faces of all those around him, and continues to inspire me every single day!

 

The Start of the Toy Drive
During Nolan's hospital stays and may trips to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh he has received gifts of toys that he has always really appreciated, so in July 2015, after his 4th birthday, instead of returning duplicate gifts he received, he told me he wanted to take them to the kids at the hospital like him.

 This began Nolan's Toy Drive for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and between July and December he was able to collect over 300 toys with the help of his school, family, friends, social media and complete random acts of kindness.

 

We delivered the toys the week before Christmas and we were greeted by the AMAZING team of Child Life Specialists who are like angels that walk around the hospital creating a positive environment for the children, and giving them toys that have been donated to the hospital. We made it a really special day, took lots of pictures at the hospital and then made a trip to Market Square's Santa Village where he told Santa that next year he wanted to collect even more toys to make sure the children who had to spend Christmas in the hospital were able to have fun and get new toys.

 

This past year we were able to successfully collect over 1,000 toys with the help of:

  • Western Pennsylvania Montessori School

  • Gymkhana Gymnastics

  • St. James Catholic Church in Sewickley, PA

  • Wexford Dance Academy

  • ATA Tae Kwon Do in Wexford, PA

  • Dentistry For Kids in McCandless

  • Automated Health Systems

  • Wexford Veterinary Hospital

  • The Lower School at Sewickley Academy

  • The Running Rhino’s

  • And numerous friends and family

This year we are hoping to collect even more with the generous support of our faithful supporters as well as the help of some new supporters this year!

 

Nolan would like to ultimately create a non-profit for Children's Hospital Of Pittsburgh to assist in the Child Life Division and the Free Care Fund and continue to do his part in paying it forward to those in need.


Information to Know About the Toy Drive

  • Collecting dates: Saturday, November 9 - December 10 (we are delivery toys on Thursday, December 12)

    • Any and all help would be appreciated

  • Toy Bin Location: WDA lobby

  • Toy Guidelines: (provided by the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh)

    • All donated items must be NEW (store bought and in original packaging) and SAFE (non-toxic)

    • Due to infection control guidelines for all patients, they CANNOT accept used or “previously loved” items, riding toys, or food.

    • They CANNOT that are no longer clean/fresh, or have a strong odor (perfume, cigarettes, etc…)

    • They CANNOT accept HOMEMADE items anymore such as hats, blankets, or cards.

    • Donations CANNOT be GIFT WRAPPED

    • They will accept gift cards for the patients.





This year Children’s Hospital had some specific requests so we would like to title this years toy drive
“Nolan’s LEGO, Book, Play-Doh Drive, and Gift Card Drive for Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh,”
but any donations that adhere to the guidelines will be accepted and truly appreciated.

 

They have also sent us a link to share that has up-to-date requests from the Child Life Department: