Hello everyone and thank you for visiting this fundraiser created on the behalf of Gwen Kaminski, a two year old girl who is a miracle to our world. To make it easier to understand Gwen's journey, please click the link below this sentence to better understand the battle Gwen has gone through during the early stages of her life battling congenital heart disease (CHD).

 

https://gofund.me/abdd3a01

 

Since then, Gwen has been able to live a semi-normal life thanks to the CHD specialists/ surgeons at the University of Minnesota; not to say there weren't any road bumps along the way. The placement of a feeding tube to make sure Gwen received proper nutrition from being so behind due to prolonged hospitalization for the first 6 months of her life, stringent medication regimens, multiple doctor's visits, ER trips, a recent cardiac cath to assess the function of her heart all during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, Gwen's Heart of Gold remains as strong as ever.

 

 

 

 

The last GoFundMe fundraiser was created to help ease the financial burden of having a critically-ill newborn with a very rare condition requiring the the family to live in the hospital for 6 months alongside Gwen during the life-saving care she received. Monetary donations were also saved for the known upcoming procedures/ surgeries that Gwen would undoubtedly require as she got older and stronger so she could tolerate a more permanent fix. The goal of each surgery thus far was to give Gwen a change to grow and become stronger so she could tolerate the last major heart surgery which, undoubtedly, will change the course of her life, forever; and that time is now.

 

Eric and Mandy, the parents of Gwen, were offered a true blessing: the opportunity for Gwen to undergo the best and most complex surgery for her heart condition that will give her the best long-term chance at living a good quality of life with less long-term cardiac complications.

 

The procedure Gwen that is candidate to receive is the best surgery, at the best hospital, performed by the best pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon in the United States at Boston Children's Hospital, which is a subsidiary of Harvard Medicine. The procedure is a variation of the classic "double switch" which is well-known procedure in the CHD world. The customized variation of the surgery proposed is so rare, that even the nationally recognized University of Minnesota who operates one of the best hospitals nationwide for CHD patients has not done the surgery in over five years. It should be the final structural (anatomy altering) heart surgery that she will require (besides conduit exchanges as she grows bigger and requires larger vessels to transport blood). There even is a 50% chance she will require an implantable pacemaker for the rest of her life. The specialists at the University of Minnesota agreed that Gwen is strong enough and her heart is mature enough to be a candidate for the best surgery that modern medicine has to offer. This is great news, but...

 

Unfortunately, the blessing and opportunity Gwen and her family have been presented with comes with a few stipulations that will be difficult for the family to overcome financially in the short term:

 

1. The supplemental insurance that was provided to Gwen by the State of Minnesota will not cover any procedures or treatment out of state. This coverage has been a Godsend thus far which helps pay for Gwen's medications and other related medical bills not covered by her primary medical insurance.

 

2. The availability for the operation and time-frame is extremely limited and expedited. The Kaminski family was offered this opportunity of a lifetime for Gwen in mid-August 2021, but they basically need to leave their whole life behind in Minnesota, fly to Boston at the drop of a dime whenever the surgeons are ready for her, and do what's best for their daughter: to make sure she gets the best surgery they can possibly get her, no matter the cost. Due to the urgent and expedited nature of the surgery, they've been unable to plan or save money for travel, housing, living expenses, and a rental car in Boston. This originally would not have been an issue if the surgery was to be completed in-state due to their supplemental insurance. Cheap or free patient housing that is offered by Boston Children's Hospital is booked up multiple months in advance and will not be available for Gwen and her parents.

 

3. The family will incur living costs during Gwen's recovery in Boston after open heart surgery and must wait until her doctors clear her before she can safely fly back home.

 

 

If you are interested in Gwen's cause, please share with family and friends to help the Kaminski family make this opportunity seem more like a miracle than a financial burden for years to come. If any one has any resources close to Children's Hospital in Boston that the Kaminski family, please contact me and I will do my best to coordinate anything anyone has to offer with the family.

 

Pictured below are updated photos of the Kaminski Family:

Eric, Mandy, Rosie and Gwen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kaminski's are a God-loving family who would never ask anyone for a dime. In fact, they didn't in 2019 and they didn't again in 2021. After a personal conversation with the Eric, the family reluctantly agreed for another fundraiser as a last resort realizing the difficulty of coming up with much-needed funds in such a short amount of time. Eric and Mandy thanks everyone who prays for them, everyone who reads this page who understands Gwen's struggle, and everyone who donates to help them through this both very exciting and pivotal time in their daughter's life.

 

Thank you for your time and interest in helping out Gwen and her family.

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: This fundraiser was created by myself, Steven Rogers, a life-long best friend of Gwen's father, Eric Kaminski. On the behalf of Gwen, Eric and with his wife, Mandy, are the sole beneficiaries of all the donated money to help pay for the medical costs associated with Gwen's surgery, treatment and costs incurred for travel to and living expenses in Boston (as stated above).