Back in November, Finley woke up with a black eye and no recollection of how it happened. We took her to the doctor to be seen and while we were there the Nurse Practitioner heard a heart murmur and asked her actual pediatrician to come in and listen. They decided to send her to a pediatric cardiologist to determine if it was a cause for concern. December 21st we went and saw the cardiologist for the first time. She did a EKG and ultrasound and told us she had a LVOT tunnel and that we’d wait and watch for it to become a bigger issue before we talked about surgery, which is the ONLY treatment for her condition. Her condition is both MAJOR and RARE. I misunderstood the doctor when she said she’d seen 2 cases in her career and thought she meant Finley was #3. No, Finley is the second case she has seen. We had scheduled Finley to see the doctor again for March 25th during Spring Break. At the end of January, she complained of her chest hurting at school and the nurse called me. I left work and checked her out and we called the cardiologist who wanted us to go to the pediatrician. We went and saw the pediatrician who didn’t like how she sounded and he called the cardiologist who scheduled us to come in on Valentine’s Day for another EKG and Ultrasound. At that appointment, we found out that within the 6 weeks since we originally got her diagnosis, that her condition was worsening. The doctor had thought we’d have 6 months to a year before we saw that kind of change. She said she wanted her to wear a heart monitor for 48 hours, to have a CT within a month, and surgery within 3 months. We went 3 weeks ago to Birmingham to the Children’s Hospital for her CT scan. They called a little over a week ago to say her heart monitor data was good but we were waiting on that CT. Wednesday, I talked to the doctor and she said the CT confirms her diagnosis but the tunnel is NOT affecting her main artery at this time but that she still wants to repair the tunnel asap before the tunnel can cause bigger issues. We’re supposed to hear from the surgical nurse sometime next week to schedule her surgery. Her surgery will take place this summer. We’re pushing for beginning of summer so she has time to heal from surgery and doesn’t miss any school. Surgery will be open heart surgery. It scares us to death. Finley is only 8 years old and in the 1st grade. She’s so little. There’s so many what ifs, and we just don’t have answers right now. Her dad wants to be here for the surgery and there’s 4 other kids we have to take care of at the same time. Two live with me and Finley and two live with him halfway across the country. My stress level has been through the roof since we got the diagnosis and now that it’s a for sure thing I’m nauseous even thinking about it. We’re worried about the travel costs associated with her appointments and surgery, along with the medical bills that are starting to come in. Any help will be greatly appreciated but please keep her and all of us in your thoughts and prayers over the next few months. Thank you.