Help Sammy's Family Fight TAPVR
Donation protected
On Friday, March 27th, my sister gave birth to the most beautiful little baby boy. He was excited to snuggle up with mom right away and very alert! There had been a concern with one of his kidneys during pregnancy, but everything looked fine.
By Saturday, that started to change. Sammy wasn't latching right and wasn't getting enough milk. Later in the day, he started to get paler. His fingers and toes were a little purple, but everyone thought it was normal.
Late Saturday night, a nurse ran some tests and found that Sam wasn't getting enough oxygen. They took him to the NICU to run further tests. At one point his oxygen levels were down in the 50-60% range, when a healthy newborn should be between 90-100%.
It was determined that he has TAPVR, a type of Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) which will require open heart surgery. He took a med flight to a nearby children's hospital. Even though it's nearby, the hospital is an hour away (with minimal traffic) from where my sister and her family live.
Back in December, my sister lost her job due to an accident at work and so money was already tight. She, her husband, and their 2-year old daughter live with the husband's dad and grandma. They're amazing and incredibly helpful, but Sammy's medical condition will put more strain on a tight budget.
While Sammy is on MediCal, it is likely that everything connected with his care will not be covered. To add to that, having to leave Sammy at the hospital and take the long drive home is really upsetting for my sister's family. The hospital has a few lodging options for families, but there is a waiting list and there are many deserving families on that list.
Families need to be together in rough times like this in order to help Sammy not feel alone. I know it would help immensely if my sister and her little famiy could stay closer to the children's hospital or at the very least not have to worry about expenses for the drive back and forth every day.
If you can help at all - even a few dollars - to help my sister and her family out, I would so very much appreciate it - and I know she will too.
You can follow on FB: https://www.facebook.com/SuperSammysBattleAgainstTAPVR
By Saturday, that started to change. Sammy wasn't latching right and wasn't getting enough milk. Later in the day, he started to get paler. His fingers and toes were a little purple, but everyone thought it was normal.
Late Saturday night, a nurse ran some tests and found that Sam wasn't getting enough oxygen. They took him to the NICU to run further tests. At one point his oxygen levels were down in the 50-60% range, when a healthy newborn should be between 90-100%.
It was determined that he has TAPVR, a type of Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) which will require open heart surgery. He took a med flight to a nearby children's hospital. Even though it's nearby, the hospital is an hour away (with minimal traffic) from where my sister and her family live.
Back in December, my sister lost her job due to an accident at work and so money was already tight. She, her husband, and their 2-year old daughter live with the husband's dad and grandma. They're amazing and incredibly helpful, but Sammy's medical condition will put more strain on a tight budget.
While Sammy is on MediCal, it is likely that everything connected with his care will not be covered. To add to that, having to leave Sammy at the hospital and take the long drive home is really upsetting for my sister's family. The hospital has a few lodging options for families, but there is a waiting list and there are many deserving families on that list.
Families need to be together in rough times like this in order to help Sammy not feel alone. I know it would help immensely if my sister and her little famiy could stay closer to the children's hospital or at the very least not have to worry about expenses for the drive back and forth every day.
If you can help at all - even a few dollars - to help my sister and her family out, I would so very much appreciate it - and I know she will too.
You can follow on FB: https://www.facebook.com/SuperSammysBattleAgainstTAPVR
Organizer and beneficiary
Kirsten Schultz
Organizer
Vacaville, CA
Kelsey Rodrigues
Beneficiary
