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COMMUNITY
TheMesaTribune.com |
THE MESA TRIBUNE | JULY 24, 2022
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How Mesa twins beat odds of survival BY MELODY BIRKETT Tribune Contributor
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shley and Matthew Yancey of Mesa received the exciting news in early 2020 they would become parents for the first time and their joy doubled when they learned eight weeks into her pregnancy she was expecting twins. “To say it was a surprise is probably an understatement because twins don’t run in my family or my husband’s,” said Ashley. “It was an exciting time for us.” They were planning to share the joyous news at 11 weeks but the couple’s enthusiasm soon turned to fear and sadness. Yancey started having complications and thought she was having a miscarriage. “It obviously was a very scary time,” she said. More than a little scary, in fact: It was March 2020 on a Friday, at the beginning of COVID, so doctors didn’t want to admit her to the hospital. “I just prayed and cried out to God, ‘Save my babies,’” Ashley recalled.
Ashley Yancey holds on tight to her twin daughters, who encountered a dangerous medical condition after their premature birth during the pandemic. (Courtesy of the Yancey Family) On the following Monday, she went to see her doctor and was relieved when the physician heard two heartbeats. But it was recommended she go to a more skilled doctor. At 16 weeks, Ashley was walking to her car after a routine appointment when a
medical technician ran out after her and told her to go back inside. “At that moment, my heart dropped because you know something is wrong when someone’s running after you and saying to come back so they can get some more
ultrasounds,” said Ashley. This went on for an hour while her husband was sitting in the car, unable to come in due to COVID restrictions. Ashley was told she had Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) and needed to fly the next day to an out-of-state . specialist. “My mind at this point was spinning,” said Ashley, who didn’t know anything about TTTS. “I was overwhelmed.” Ashley was told no one in Arizona knows the procedure for treating the syndrome and only a few doctors in the country do it. Ashley got connected to Dr. John Elliott in Phoenix, a maternal-fetal specialist known around the world for delivering multiple births. He referred the Yanceys to Dr. Henry Galan, a fetal surgeon and maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, one of a few doctors in the nation who can perform the in-utero surgery needed to save her babies’ lives.
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Mesa kids choir registering as rehearsals set TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
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ing School Children’s Choir is registering kids 5-14 for its fall semester. No audition is required at this time and rehearsals are slated to begin in August. Rehearsals will be held on Mondays after school at Love of Christ Lutheran Church, 1525 North Power Road, Mesa. Sing School Children’s Choir is under the direction of Missy Lofgreen Gardiner and Allesha Hatch Shumway and is Mesa’s premiere children’s choral ensemble and education program. Sing School provides a quality choral and vocal arts program fostering healthy vocal production, sound musicianship and performance skills. Along with rehearsing a variety of quality music, a portion of each rehearsal will
Kids who join the Sing School Children’s Choir have a chance to perform before live audiences. (YouTube) focus on developing and strengthening music literacy skills as well as healthy vocal and performance techniques. Lofgreen Gardiner started the school in 2019.
“We feel strongly about providing an uplifting, musical experience for children in the Mesa area,” said Gardiner, the mother of nine, at the time. “There are so many wonderful benefits from being a part of a
choir, and we truly want to share our love of music with these children. It is something about which we are very passionate.” She said she wants to develop a strong reputation for a quality music education program that not only produces successful choirs, but that strengthens individual musicians as well. “Our choirs focus on healthy vocal technique, musicianship and performance skills in a fun and uplifting atmosphere,” Gardiner said, stating their pupils will “gain confidence, develop friendships and learn musicianship skills that will help them thrive.” She added she wanted to “find and grow quality.” Register at MySingSchool.com or email MelissaGardiner@MySingSchool. com.
