Giving Ahmad a chance at Life

Ahmad is a 12 year old boy who is bright, funny, caring & easy going. He was born with a Congenital Heart defect, which required him to go thru x3 heart surgeries, at birth (Norwood), @ 5 months (Hemi-Fontan), and @ 3 years (Fontan Completion). He done well with those until this year. He developed a constant cough, which worried me so I took him twice within a month to the ER to get antibiotics for what the doctors thought to be pneumonia. The antibiotics never worked, so, after a 3rd trip to ER, his cardiologist requested to see him. We made an appt. for the following day. Within 10 min of the appt. I told the doctor that Ahmad had been coughing up solid white strings of Mucous, that looked like skin tissue. He responded by asking me if it looked like a picture he had on his phone, & it did! He told us that, it's a rare condition called Plastic Bronchitis, that can develop in patients who've had the Fontan Completion surgery, & there is no cure! With PB, the Lymphatic Fluid leaking from his heart valve, goes back into his Bronchual tubes, and forms what they call "cast", which can block airways, & cause major respiratory problems. I felt like someone ripped my heart out! He then went on to say since the condition is so rare they've only started a procedure in the last few years to treat this condition & it's only performed right now by a surgeon in Philadelphia! He said we could try some treatment meds to lessen the symptoms, so we did, and Ahmad could not tolerate the side effects of vomiting from them. So, we decided to move forward with trying to get him to Philadelphia for surgery. As this is the only real chance he has at fighting this condition. We will be required to stay in Philadelphia for up to a month for this surgery, this includes recovery, & post op visits. They do not want us to come back to Oklahoma until he is cleared. At this time we are trying to raise money for any out of pocket expenses that might come up before, during, & after surgery. Of course I'm going to make this journey, no matter if I have to spend my last dollar to do so, I just want to give him a chance at life! As a mother I've prayed, kept faith, & even wished I was going thru this instead of him, so he could just be a healthy little boy, without the pain, or limitations his body goes thru. His constant coughing and the forming of the cast, which he coughs up, breaks my heart each day!!!
I've always been an independent person, so it's hard for me to ask for help, but please know, I appreciate and thank everyone in advance who supports us on this journey. Thank you. Your kindness will never go unnoticed.