Oakley's Team

Greetings,

As many of you know, the youngest member of our family, MaryEllen's 11-month-old son Oakley, was born last May with several heart defects, including a double outlet right ventricle where his aorta and the pulmonary arteries are coming out of the same right ventricle. He also has a significant hole between the right and left ventricles as well as an enlarged pulmonary artery. Shortly after birth, Oakley had his first heart surgery where a stint was put on his artery, which was a temporary fix to give more time for his heart to grow bigger and stronger. He has now outgrown this stint and underwent his second open heart corrective surgery on May 25th at Boston Children's Hospital (a few days shy of his 1st birthday on May 31) in order to reroute the arteries and patch the hole. Early signs are that the surgery was successful and he is now beginning a long recovery process which will include an extended stay at the hospital for up to a month.  It has been an emotional and trying time for MaryEllen and her husband Shant, but they are doing their best to remain optimistic and praying for the best possible outcome.

In response to the outpour of concern from many family and friends asking "How can I help?" knowing the amount of surgical expenses from little Oakley's first surgery still piling up and the inevitable amount of bills that will continue to come in that are not covered by insurance, we wanted to provide you all with this path to direct your love and support.


In addition to your donation, we would love to offer you the opportunity to purchase "Oakley's Team" T-shirts to show your loving support in a fun and more visual way. If you are interested, please contact Johnny Gianino Jr. at [phone redacted] or [email redacted] .

Our family continues to be overwhelmed by all the love and support directed towards Oakley and his family over the past year, and we ask that you please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Your contribution as a member of “Oakley’s Team” will go a long way to ensure this very difficult health and financial situation has the best possible outcome. Welcome to Oakley's Team!

With thankful hearts,
The Gianino Family