One Breath at a Time 4 Tatiana

Hello, my name is Msgt Tom Ranftl (USAF-ret) and I'm trying to raise funds for my grandaughter Tatiana Ranftl for medical expenses. Tati is 10 years old and was diagnosed on March 15th, 2012 with Idiopathic Pulmonary Hypertension. Her care is done at New York Presbyterian Children’s Hospital in New York by Dr. Berman and her team of specialists.
Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) is a condition that causes increased blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries and the right side of the heart. The pulmonary arteries carry blood from the heart to the lungs, where the blood picks up oxygen. In people with PAH and IPAH, the small arteries become narrowed and constricted. Unfortunately, IPAH management and treatment are difficult. Management strategies are limited because doctors and medical researchers understand very little about IPAH and why it develops. Treatments aim to slow the progression of the disease and ease symptoms, not reverse or cure it.
Tati comes from an extended military family. She has family that has served our country from World War I to Operation Iraqi Freedom, but she is the greatest warrior among us. Tati has been home schooled for the last three and half years but insisted she wanted to go back to school to be with her fellow students as she seriously missed the social part of being part of the classroom.
Tati suffers on a daily basis of shortness of breath when she tries to be physically active, severe fatigue, dizziness, swelling and pain in her little extremities, chest pain and pressure along with a racing pulse; and these are her good days. Tati usually doesn’t make a full week of school, but never stops trying. Her daily life consists of medications, constant pain and trips to New York every four months for testing, cardio caths and medication review, but you would never know when you spend time with her.
Tati’s medications is in the hundreds of dollars each month and the trips from her home in Indiana to New York for her medical care is very costly, but very necessary to sustain her life. Why New York? New York Presbyterian Children's Hospital is the leading research hospital for this disease. Tatiana has been in intensive care 5 times, not counting her New York trips due to complications with her Broviac Line. This line transfers a constant life sustaining medication (Flonan) to her thru an IV line for the past 12 months. Her hospital stays and time in New York are growing longer in duration which is putting a severe financial burden on her entire family. Please help us get Tati back on track for her New York Hospital stays and to pay down some of her monthly pharmacy and medical bills. Currently, past due hospital costs exceed $20,000, monthly co-pays for prescriptions cost over $300 and each trip to her New York Hospital is approximately $1,500, and that is 3 times per year, not counting emergency trips. Now you can see what our family is up against. Any  amount would be helpful so we can ensure Tati gets the best  For more information about Tatiana, please visit her website at www.tatianaranftl.com. I would like to thank you in advance and may God bless all of you.