Basti's battle

This is our eight-month old son Basti. He is our family's little bundle of joy. He's smiling as much as possible and his laugh is contagious. But deep within those precious smiles and laughs is a heart with a defect, fighting against all odds to live.

Basti was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, which includes 4 defects. Some of the symptoms that occur with this condition include, bluish discoloration of his lips, hands and feet when he cries, constant rapid breathing, he gasps rather than breathes like a normal infant. Babies born with TOF are expected to require open heart surgery at some point between birth or after 1 year. He's been fighting TOF for 8 months, and last June 16, 2017 he was admitted in the pediatric ICU due to a high level of hematocrit in his blood. The doctors did a phlebotomy to lower its level, after 9 days of hospitalization he was discharged and successfully decreased the level of hematocrit in his blood. However, Basti's pediatric cardiologist is worried that if it will happen again there might be a need to do temporary correction called Blalock-Taussig Shunt or BT Shunt before he turns 1 year old.

There is no medical insurance that can cover the operation. Over the past eight months, this extra financial responsibility has become more difficult for me and my husband to manage on our own. Basti's latest 2D Echocardiogram shows confluent and small-sized pulmonary arteries that gives him insufficient oxygenated blood throughout his body. I am starting to raise funds in preparation for Basti's upcoming operation that will be done in Philippine Heart Center, here in the Philippines where we are currently residing.

These past few months many generous friends and family members reached out and gave us support. Now, the time has come for us to ask for your help and kindness. We would greatly appreciate everything, and be forever grateful in helping us mend the broken heart of our precious little angel.