One handsome one year old baby boy, Parker Robinson, has demonstrated just how strong he is since he was born. He has already had multiple surgeries to fix various problems, but he still has more to overcome. His parents, Kaiden and Zoie Robinson, are doing everything they can to make sure he is well taken care of and are now looking after him as he heals after another surgery he endured on Friday, May 8.
Since he was born, they have become accustomed to extended stays in the hospital, surgeries, and trips to the emergency room.
“On April 11, 2025, we gave birth to the most precious baby boy. Parker was born with a very rare condition called Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome. We didn’t know anything about it until after he was born,” stated Zoie. “We were told that he may be blind, deaf, and not able to meet milestones such as talking, sitting, or walking; however, he is a fighter and can see, hear partially, and sit for short periods. He has had surgery to place ear tubes in to help with fluid that was there since birth. His ear tubes ended up infected, so we fought an ear infection for about two months.”
Having tubes placed in his ears isn’t the only thing he has had in the past year. He has had other surgeries as well.
“At two weeks old, we learned that he has a coarctation of his aortic valve,” explained Zoie. “Once he was able to withstand surgery, they had to go in with a balloon and catheter and repair it. During the surgery, the first balloon they put in did not stay inflated correctly, so they had to deflate it, take it out, and put in a new one and inflate it. That one worked, and he does pretty well with it. The only thing is he has different blood pressures in his extremities. His blood pressure on his bottom half is a little higher than his top half. They said he’ll probably have to have another balloon or catheter as he grows and hits a growth spurt. He was also born with a fused scrotum and had to undergo another surgery for that. He seemed to be doing well, but after some time, not only was he not gaining weight, but he started losing weight. He was placed on a very high calorie formula to help. At the young age of one and only weighing around 15 pounds, the decision was made to place a g-tube in. Since his little body is already prone to infection, he did begin to get cellulitis and still has a few hematomas and has had to have granulated tissue around the port cauterized twice.”
Of course, there are other challenges that he handles each day.
“Although it is not noticeable on the outside, he has a cleft palate on the roof of the soft palate in his mouth. They won’t do a cleft surgery yet until his airway is a little more protected. He had an extra digit on his hand, which came off on its own, and his toes are webbed,” informed Zoie. “After some tests, we learned his little body does not make cholesterol, and he has to take two medications for that. Parker sees an occupational therapist and physical therapist weekly, along with trips to Batson to see heart doctors, specialists, and surgeons.”
Now, they are about to work on correcting another issue that he is facing.
“Over the past couple of months, we learned what we thought was only sleep apnea is actually a collapsed airway, collapsed trachea, and obstructed sleep apnea,” declared Zoie. “Parker was scheduled on May 8 to have a very extensive jaw surgery to hopefully correct some of these issues. They broke both sides of his jaw and placed plates and screws that will be tightened daily. He’ll have a little underbite until he grows into it. The doctors said they are going to keep him in a coma-like sleep for at least five days to help with the pain and healing process. We were told to expect to stay in the hospital for two weeks, and possibly longer. If this doesn’t work, they won’t be able to do the cleft palate surgery. They’ll end up having to do a tracheotomy, and he would have that for the rest of his life.”
Although they don’t usually ask for any assistance, the cost for travel, food, supplies, time away from work for surgeries, and other expenses can become overwhelming for the family.
For anyone who may want to help out a little to make the extended stay in the hospital a little easier, there are different ways to give. Money can be sent electronically to either Kaiden on cashapp at $kaidenjace17 or to Zoie on PayPal at @zoigrace1016 or Venmo at @Zoie-Robinson-1. Any gift cards, door dash or Walmart delivery to help ease some of the burden can also be handed to Kaiden, Zoie’s mother, Coty Freeman, or her sister, Emmalee Simpson.
They appreciate any assistance that can be given to them.
Through this process, there is something else they would appreciate as well.
“We know that not everybody is able to give something financially,” expressed Kaiden. “We would also appreciate prayers as well. People can always pray for Parker.”
