Please Help Kali Mae

Hi,

I'm raising funds for Kali Mae's parents. They can use the assistance as it has been difficult on them with money for gas and food since they travel from Elizabeth City, NC to Norfolk, Virginia daily to see their precious little girl. Her daddy is a farmer and her mom is a stay-at-home mom. Her daddy has been missing a lot of work because he has to be at Kali Mae's side. They are both great parents and are doing everything that they can for their daughter.

The beautiful little Kali Mae came into this world on January 10th, 2023 at 1:04 pm only weighing 5.8lbs. Kali Mae was diagnosed Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) when her mom was only 20 weeks pregnant with her. Tetralogy of Fallot is a combination of four congenital (present at birth) heart defects that affect infants and children. The defects occur together and change the way blood flows through the heart and lungs. TOF occurs in about 1 out of every 2,518 babies born in the U.S. each year.

In a healthy heart, blood travels through the heart to the lungs, where it picks up oxygen. Then oxygen-rich blood leaves the lungs, travels back to the heart, and then courses throughout the body. Infants with TOF have trouble getting enough blood to their lungs, so the body gets too much oxygen-poor blood.

The four heart defects of tetralogy of Fallot include:

Pulmonary stenosis: A narrowed or stiffened pulmonary valve means the pulmonary artery has trouble sending enough blood from the heart to the lungs.

Ventricular septal defect (VSD): VSD is a hole between the two lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart. The hole allows oxygen-rich blood and oxygen-poor blood to mix, so the body does not receive enough oxygen-rich blood.

Overriding aorta: The aorta, which is the artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to the body, is out of place and rises above both ventricles. As a result, the body gets too much oxygen-poor blood.

Hypertrophy (enlargement) of the right ventricle: The right lower chamber of the heart is bigger or thicker than normal, making it harder for blood to go through the pulmonary valve.

After Kali Mae was born, her parents were told that she was going to need surgery between 3 to 6 months for the TOF. Kali Mae's mom was able to go home January 12th, without Kali Mae as her oxygen levels weren't staying high enough and she wasn't able to maintain her body temperature. Finally, Kali Mae was able to get her numbers under control and was able to go home after 8 days in CHKD.

Kali went to her first doctor's appointment since going home on January 23rd and she was holding her oxygen levels in the mid 80's. It looked like she might be doing good enough to make it to the 3 to 6 months to have her surgery.

On January 26th, Kali Mae had Heart Echo and an EKG done. The doctors stated that her oxygen levels had dropped and sent her by ambulance to CHKD where they monitored her. The doctors were hoping to be able to keep things under control for a few more weeks to get Kali Mae closer to the time they were wanting to do the surgery.

On February 8th, Kali Mae had other plans and had to be rushed into surgery to have a Full Heart Construction done. Kali Mae made it through surgery with only one scare. Kali Mae is still in CHKD and is improving daily. They are hoping to have her come home soon.

Kali Mae will need continued care and monitoring for the rest of her life.

Please Help Kali Mae's mom and dad by donating what you can as they are enduring a lot of additional expenses and have many more expenses coming their way.