Childhood memories of doing fun things like playing on a playground, building a sand castle, sliding down a slide, sharing chocolate chip cookies, or just laughing with friends are fond memories for most people. However, for a chronically ill child, such happy memories are few and far between.

Allyssa Hoppins, a preschool girl in Independence, Missouri, has spent much of her life lying on a hospital bed with tubes and sensors enveloping her body. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis, among other things. While other children her age were out building happy memories, Allyssa was in a battle that dominated her daily routine.  Her parents too were in a struggle to give their daughter the very best chance at life despite a challenging health circumstance.  After what had been a long uphill climb, Allyssa began to show signs of improvement:  She no longer required a feeding tube and could attend school, although she visited the hospital every other week for painful injections and infusions due to liver complications.

Unfortunately, on a cold day in November 2017, Allyssa’s parents discovered that their health insurance provider would no longer cover the medication that Allyssa needed to take three times a day. The family had to pay out-of-pocket to continue the medication. To make matters worse, Allyssa required constant monitoring of oxygen levels in her blood – termed SpO2, or oxygen saturation. Given the years of financial hardship associated with Allyssa’s illness, Allyssa’s parents were finding it difficult to afford all of the health care devices and medications Allyssa’s condition required.

Allyssa’s mother reached out to CMI Health’s management team to see if we might be able to help them in their time of need. As CMI Health manufactures a clinical grade pulse oximeter (PC-66H), we were able to provide Allyssa with a new device to monitor her SpO2.  The PC-66H device, which features an alarm function that alerts when vital signs fall outside a pre-determined norm, enables the Hoppins family to monitor Allyssa’s progress and detect whenever Allyssa needs closer observation.   The peace of mind the device provides the family is a very important part of their daily life.  CMI Health is pleased to be a small part of assisting Allyssa and her family. We are happy that Allyssa is now free to live a more normal life.

CMI Health’s clinical-grade PC-66H Handheld Pulse Oximeter has proven popular with nurses in pediatric and neonatal units at children’s hospitals throughout America.  To learn more about CMI Health, or to order our products, please find us at:   https://cmihealth-inc.com/product/pc-66h/