Local Benefit For Brielle Miller

A local child and her family needs your help!  The Miller family is holding an action packed benefit for little Brielle to help pay for her medical bills.

There will be live music from:

• Geno Delafose
• Steel Shot
• Under The Influence
• And many more artists!

Location: Wilkerson Arena, Bell City, LA

Date:  Saturday, March 3, 2018

Time:  10 am - until

There will be fun jumps, dart boards, train rides and many more fun activities for the kids!

Come hungry! BBQ plate lunches will be available at 11 am.   There will also be a sweet shop, pop corn machine, Kona Ice will be on hand, plus sodas, water, and beer to wet your whistle!

Live and silent auctions start at 4 pm and include prizes like:

• 700 lb steer
• Mossy Oak 12 gauge shotgun
• Furnished 2 day stay in Toledo Bend
• And much more!

All proceeds go to help with Brielle's medical expenses.

Here's little Brielle Miller's story:

On September 5, 2017 at 7:19 pm a beautiful blue eyed baby girl, Brielle Marie Miller, was delivered into the world. Brielle is the daughter of Everett and Heather Miller. Just moments after she was born it was noticed that something was not right. She was having a very difficult time breathing, would not cry, and was starting to turn purple. She was immediately intubated and rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where she was placed on a ventilator. A feeding tube was also put into place. Brielle then went through various test and scans to determine what was going on. She was diagnosed with micrognathia as well as retrognathia (meaning that her chin and lower jaw are set back from the upper jaw). With the lower jaw set back it causes the tongue to be pushed toward the back of the throat blocking the airway (glossoptosis). It was also discovered that she had a cleft palate. On September 11, 2017 she was taken off the ventilator and put on regular oxygen, but was still having a very difficult time breathing. Brielle had to be placed on her side or belly at all times to allow her tongue to fall forward and open her airway. Once she was off of the ventilator she was able to attempt feeding with the bottle, but it was unsuccessful. Brielle had an extremely difficult time breathing, especially when feeding, which would cause her heart rate and oxygen to continuously drop. At this point she was starting to lose weight due to the struggle while trying to eat. After 28 days in NICU in Lake Charles, the doctors felt it would be in Brielles best interest to be transported to a hospital that is more equipped to handle her condition. On October 3, 2017 Brielle was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans where a team of doctors where awaiting her arrival. Once Brielle arrived they immediately began a series of extensive testing to determine the best course of treatment. Some of the various test include lab work, CAT scan, upper GI, sleep study, X-ray, etc. Doctors determined that Brielle would need multiple operations to open her airway as well as repair her cleft palate. On October 19, 2017 Brielle underwent her first major operation. They began by running a scope to check for other obstructions of the air way. Brielle was placed back on a ventilator. The doctors broke Brielle’s jaw in two places. They added metal plates and pins to pull the jaw bone apart which would allow new bone to form in between. This will extend the lower jaw and tongue forward allowing her airway to open up. A gastrostomy tube, a more permanent feeding tube, was inserted through the abdomen straight to the stomach for more efficient feeding. The next morning a series of lab work was drawn up and it was discovered that Brielle had lost too much blood during surgery. Immediately, a blood transfusion was performed on Brielle. The week following surgery she was diagnosed with a pseudomonas bacterial infection (tracheitis). The infection was treated with antibiotics. They also noticed that the main blood vessel that connects to her heart remained open since birth. Thankfully before being released from the hospital another echocardiogram was done on Brielles heart and the blood vessel had finally closed up on its own. On November 7, 2017, After spending five weeks in the NICU in New Orleans, Brielle was released from the hospital. In December Brielle became sick. She was diagnosed with Group B strep and staph infection. It formed from the inside of the stomach around the feeding tube. Brielle was treated with a series of medications. She is awaiting her second surgery which will take place in the upcoming weeks. The second surgery will be to remove the metal plates and pins that were previously placed in the jaw. Brielle goes to speech therapy twice a week to help her with more efficient feedings. She also goes to physical therapy as needed and has weekly weight checks at the pediatricians office. She also travels back and forth to New Orleans for doctor appointments. Brielles third surgery will take place at twelve months old to repair her cleft palate.

Below is the official flyer for the benefit event for Brielle:

Brielle Benefit Flyer