Our baby needs a “bloodless” open heart surgery

Hello, my name is Lukasz and I have 2 wonderful boys named Romeo and Nikolai, ages 9 and 2, and a beautiful wife named Neeka, who is currently 31 weeks pregnant with our 3rd son, Hansel. We are the Kwaczynski family and this is our story.

We started off the year with our hearts broken after losing a child due to a miscarriage. Our prayers were then quickly answered after becoming pregnant again with our little rainbow baby. After months of being pushed off for in-person clinical care due to the pandemic, we were finally able to receive our first ultrasound, which we highly anticipated, curious to see if we were going to be welcoming a baby girl or another baby boy into our world. With the joyful announcement that we would be having another baby boy came some extremely devastating news. The doctor explained to us that our baby’s heart is developing abnormally and then diagnosed him with a very serious and rare congenital heart defect (CHD) called d-Transposition of the Great Arteries (d-TGA) and told us that he is going to need immediate open heart surgery after he is born. Without this surgery, he will not survive. To make matters worse, we were told that this procedure would require a blood transfusion, which as faithful servants of Jehovah, we cannot accept.

Since that moment, we have searched high and low for a surgeon who is capable and willing to do this surgery in a bloodless way. Many surgeons have told us that a new born infant open heart surgery is impossible to do without a blood transfusion. Despite the discouragement, we have refused to give up and have continued to press forward. Finally, with the help from our Hospital Liaison Committee and some very helpful leads thanks to our fellow brothers and sisters, we were able to find a hospital and surgeon in Columbus, Ohio that specializes in bloodless surgeries for children.

Unfortunately, because we live out of state, Nationwide Children’s Hospital cannot accept our insurance. In order to receive the Ohio state insurance acceptable,  we must obtain a local residency in Ohio. My wife has also been scheduled to be induced by the end of November, so time is of the essence. This means I need to quit my job, who unfortunately is unwilling to work with us, terminate our current lease here in North Carolina, sell/donate all of our things, find an apartment willing to work with our situation,  and obtain an Ohio residency as quickly as possible.

We now find ourselves in a very difficult situation and are in humble need of financial assistance to help us get our baby boy Hansel the life saving surgery he needs in a way that honors our God Jehovah. The funds raised will be used to help with this huge life transition. We will need help with transportation costs and temporary living expenses so that I can be there to to fully care for and support my  wife, our two older boys, and our baby boy Hansel until he heals from his surgery. We are also preparing for any out of coverage expenses that our baby will need because our insurance still may not cover everything, as well as funds to help us get back on our feet again after this is all over.

We understand these are unprecedented times for everyone and we know how it feels to want to help and not be able to. If this is the case, please know your heartfelt thoughts and prayers mean just as much to us. We are ready and willing to make any sacrifices necessary for our baby and have no doubt that our God Jehovah will provide us with everything we need. Thank you so much for taking the time to hear our story. If you could kindly share our story with others, we would greatly appreciate it. ❤️