Matthew Horvath Medical Expenses

My name is Mayela Marquina, I moved to the United States on December 98 to study at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio. This is a long story; I was full of hope together with some of my best friends when we moved to the States. We all went with the idea of ​​learning English, some of us with plans to return to Venezuela
after completing studies, and the others wanting to stay.
In my particular case I had planned to return to Venezuela when I finished school, I wanted to study and then go back to my family because I missed them so much. I do not know what happened or when everything changed...All I know is that I met someone, I got married and from that union was born my son Matthew, his name means a gift from God, because that's what he is, a gift, a miracle.  
Matthew was born with a complex form of tricuspid atresia with transposition of the great arteries and hypo plastic aortic arch, cardiac condition that merited right after his birth and during the first four years of his life different procedures among which three open heart surgeries and several catheterizations to partiallcorrect this condition and provide a better quality of life to my little boy, fortunately this was possible because of the experience and excellent health services that exists in the United States and were provided for him.
I know God has a plan for my son, he is a very special young man, nothing was easy during his growth, he lived a long time in the hospital and of course I was by his side. Those who know me well know that I never left him alone, even when I needed to go to the bathroom I used to run... I could not allowed myself to be away from my baby. The nurses always smiled when they were assigned to take care of Matt. They always joke around saying that they had the night off because they knew that I was next to him and never left his side.
My son needed medical treatment from the Columbus Children's Hospital Department of Cardiology since he was born. When Matthew had surgery for the third time, his cardiologist Dr. John Wheller and surgeon Dr. Mark Galantowicz allowed my son Matthew to travel to Venezuela, they helped me to locate a
children cardiologist in Merida Venezuela, my hometown. His name is Dr. Justo Santiago in Unicardio (Center of Cardiology Specialties of the West). This
happened because unfortunately I could not continue living legally in the United States and despite all my attempts through different lawyers I was told that there
was no other way to stay legal, and since I never wanted to stay that way I decided to return to Venezuela.
Until about a year ago, everything was going well, and Matthew was receiving the necessary care and all his medications. Since then and until now many things have
happened, the situation in Venezuela has gotten worse and now I am really worried about my son´s health. Dr. Justo Santiago left Venezuela, which leaves my son without the opportunity to be attended in this city by a children cardiologist with such experience in cases like his. In addition to this situation, the medications that
Matthew needs, especially enalapril, is getting harder and harder to find every day. We have had to use different dosages and try to give him what he needs. Also, Matthew has presented for almost two years now, a condition in his eyes, which has had to be treated by a specialist in retina, however, the eye drops that he needs to correct the condition it is also very hard to find.
Every day the situation gets worse, it is for this reason that I find myself in the urgent need to travel again to Columbus, Ohio with my son. I have already contacted the Hospital and they are waiting to give my son the treatment that he needs, unfortunately this treatment is very expensive and that’s the reason why I dare to ask you to please help us, so Matthew can receive his treatment, because if my boy needs an emergency procedure, I do not think that it can be done in
Venezuela with the current conditions that we are experienced in this country. To cite just one example, a little over six months ago, Matthew needed a specialized
tomography with contrast in a tomograph of 64 cuts and this equipment was not operative in any city of Venezuela, it had to be done instead of this, one Magnetic resonance, and the images could not be observed in the same way because Matthew has a stent that is made of metal which did not allow to see everything that the specialist needed to see to make the most accurate diagnosis possible.
However, from the observations derived from this study, the doctor highlight the presence of aorto - pulmonary collateral connected at the level of the proximal segment of the ascending aorta to the trunk of the pulmonary artery, a condition that should be monitored periodically and that can be corrected only through a specialized heart catheterization.
I know that many of you who are reading this story know me, and know that I am capable of giving my life for my children, many of you have also children and
likewise would do everything that is in your hands to take care of them and give them a better quality of life, this is why I attend to your good will, and I beg you to
help me with what you possibly can, your contribution even if is small will help us and help Matthew to receive the treatment that he needs.
I have attached to this note, the letters from Dr. John Wheller and the Columbus Childrens Hospital so that you are able to know more about Matt’s condition, this will probably help you to better understand our situation and to know that we need a lot of money for Matt to be able to receive his treatment. Thank you all in
advance and May God bless you for your generosity and support.

Best regards,

Mayela.