Lyric’s life saving heart surgery

THE BACKSTORY: This little angel is Lyric Ivy Spracklen. She is my age "3 going on 23" year-old niece. Early on in my sister's pregnancy medical staff informed her Lyric has a very rare congenital heart defect called Ebstein's Anomaly.  The neonatologist advised her to terminate the pregnancy because if she didn't, Lyric would likely die in utero before she would carry to term. Lauren and her fiance Edgar chose to pray and keep hope alive as they continued the pregnancy with the intention to have as much time as possible with their little girl, even if the outlook was grim. Lyric Ivy Spracklen was born July 28, 2014, a heart warrior. Medical staff was ready and waiting at birth in case she had to be rushed into surgery.  Lyric did so well at birth and she was released after 5 days without intervention to her new home to continue outpatient following.  In the coming years, Edgar and Lauren were pleased to see their little girl defying odds and shining brighter than ever. Despite the severity of Lyric's diagnosis, she shared almost 4 miraculous years of a semi -normal life with family and friends before the inevitable terrifying news came.  On April 2, 2018, Dr Dearani indicated Lyric's heart had enlarged to a magnitude where she would require open heart surgery in order to continue a normal life and avoid Irreparable damage to her heart.

DR JOSEPH DEARANI: Lyric’s home team at Rady Children’s Hospital of San Diego, CA have almost zero experience with Ebsteins Anomaly, so Lauren educated herself through online support groups, blogs and even YouTube in search for any hope for her daughters longevity. After much research online, one surgeon stood out amongst the rest: Dr Dearani at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN has thousands of Ebstein's procedures under his belt and a 98 percent success rate.  He is one of the very very few Ebstein's specialists in the country and is a top surgeon. Patients fly and drive in from all over the country to see him for this extremely rare defect and very new procedure called "the cone". He began following all of Lyric's doctor notes and imaging for the years to come with the knowledge that one day she would need surgery and he would be her best chance of surviving.
 
FINANCES: The Spracklens are currently waiting for an open enrollment window in attempts to obtain private insurance that will cover out of state care for Lyric so she can be treated by Dr Dearani in MN. Although nobody can cure Lyric of her condition, anybody can help relieve the financial stresses that are to come for the family which include: the cost of surgery, travel back and forth from MN to CA, household bills, lodging, meals and childcare for their son. 

Lauren and Edgar saved as much money as they could since learning of Lyric's condition but were devastated by a house fire in late 2017 which cost them thousands of the only savings they had. 
 
THANK YOU: Anyone who has ever crossed paths with this precious child knows how beautiful, joyful, funny and perfect she is. She has enriched so many lives and brought joy to so many others around her.  My life is so much better with her in it.  
Your support is greatly appreciated even if in the form of prayers. Thank you for considering donating to this cause