Hi everyone

My name is Kristen and for anyone who may not know me, I have two young kids ( Nicholas 2yrs old & Louella 7mo old) both whom have a hole in the upper chambers of their hearts. This is called an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD). Both babies have larger ASDs that have caused some right heart enlargement and because of this, the holes will eventually need to be closed either via a catheter in the groin or open heart surgery. As you can imagine this is absolutely terrifying for me. Not only one, but both of the most precious beings in my world are in a fight to live a heart healthy life. Accepting that I have absolutely no control of the outcomes of my children’s heart progression, operations, or recovery is more difficult than I can express. I’ve decided that taking that anxiety and turning it into something impactful would be what I would do.

Our cardiologist/interventionist is the medical director of a beautiful nonprofit organization that provides heart surgery to kids from different parts of the world with CHD(congenital heart disease) who wouldn’t otherwise have access to intervention at no cost to their families. This organization speaks wonders to my soul. I am beyond grateful that our littles have access to intervention. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like for families who don’t. It takes on average between 5k-25k to fund a heart surgery. I am starting this GoFundMe in hopes to raise money for these beautiful deserving children. Louella has an appointment with said cardiologist at the end of May. I’d like to be able to give her a check written to the organization and an appreciation card for everything she does, not only for our children but for so many others who NEED her and the other members of this organization.

Thank you all from the deepest depths of my heart for donating. If you’ve also decided to walk the 100miles in May, thank you so very much. Every single penny/ every single step makes a difference. 1 in every 100 children are born with with some form of CHD. Every single one of them deserves the right to life saving surgery ❤️

We have until the end of May to continue to donate. I’ll post an update once we have given the check

Note: This GoFundMe is NOT for my kiddos