Please help Baby Tehya and her family with medical expenses.

This is our son James, his wife Victoria, and their newborn baby girl Tehya. Every moment of life for Tehya since her birth two weeks ago has been spent hooked up to machines in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Sister Hospital in Buffalo. This is believed to be due to a medical condition called Chylothorax. At this point, her doctors have no idea what is causing this illness and have been working with the Buffalo Children’s Hospital and the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHoP) to diagnose her medical condition and formulate a treatment plan.

Today, little Tehya will have more tests, including multiple blood work ups, one for genetic testing and one to test her immune system. She is also getting an ultrasound of her brain, x-rays of her chest, and an ultrasound of her abdomen. She is scheduled for a CT of her lungs tomorrow.

It looks like at a minimum Tehya will be transferred to Buffalo Children’s hospital under the guidance of CHoP in Philadelphia. The preference is she be flown directly to CHoP to be under their direct care, but they are not sure Tehya can survive the flight to Philadelphia. Her team of doctors at CHoP are working with Sisters and Buffalo Children’s to try to stabilize her in case the trip becomes absolutely necessary.

I tell you this with one request in mind, please pray for healing for our granddaughter Tehya. The toll it is taking on our son James, his wife Victoria, and Tehya’s older sisters, Addy and Grace is significant. Tehya’s condition has become too heavy of a burden for them to bear alone, even with the help of family on both sides.

Those of you who know us know we are not very good at asking for help. Unfortunately, we have passed that trait down to my oldest son. What started as a normal birth with its normal medical costs has rapidly grown into a major medical emergency with costs beyond what this little family can bear. James and Victoria received their determination from their insurance company that they would only cover 5 days of NICU treatment. Needless to say, that will not come anywhere close to meeting the medical needs Tehya is facing right now. With the very real possibility of having her transferred to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, costs are rapidly spiraling out of control. They will need some significant financial help to make it through this. This is where I am hoping those of you who can help meet their needs in this time of uncertainty can donate what you can to help alleviate some of their already overwhelming burden.

Any dollar amount is greatly appreciated. One additional request we have is if you would please share this request with as many of your friends as you can. As a good friend of ours is prone to say, “many hands make light work” and the more caring and compassionate friends we have to share this burden with, the greater the relief for our family.

Thank you all for your prayers, and we look forward to God’s mighty hand performing a true miracle in Tehya’s life.

Richard & Sandy Meyers