Support Llana's Journey to Heart Health

Dear Family Friends and Community,

My name is Tammy Salls and and I am reaching out to you in hopes to help support my daughter, Jasmin and son-in-law, Tyson Draper, and their daughter, Llana. When Llana was 3 years old, it was discovered that she has a heart condition where one of her coronary arteries grew in an abnormal spot. At that time, they were sent to Boston to see how invasive open heart surgery would be to correct it. The team at Boston gave them positive news that she would not in fact need surgery and the risk was very low. They have since been monitoring Llana with regular check ups and tests. In mid December Llana went back to Boston for a full day of testing and this time, the results were different. The testing showed that her artery is narrowing and she has some irregular heartbeats. At this time, surgery was now not off the table but with a few extra precautions in place, Llana could continue to be the active basketball player that she is and continue on as normal. On December 26th, Jasmin, Tyson, and Llana met with the team at Boston Children’s Hospital via Zoom where they were told that Llana does in fact need open heart surgery and it’s urgent that it happens within a few weeks as she is actually very high risk. After a lot of what seemed like waiting forever, a lot of back and forth calls between the team at Boston and her cardiologist here in Vermont, Llana has been scheduled to go in for surgery on the 23rd of January. The expected hospital stay is about 2-4 days in the ICU, and then another 5-7 in a regular hospital room.

During this time, only one parent can stay with Llana so they will need a hotel for the duration of her hospital stay. Both Jasmin and Tyson will be out of work during this time to be there caring for Llana and then they will need additional time off from work at home for her full recovery. The funds raised will go directly to the family to help cover medical costs from the surgery and the follow up care that Llana will need, as well as the cost for hotel stays, food, gas, etc. that they will need for their long term stay in Boston. Every donation will make a difference and help take the stress of finances off from Jasmin and Tyson while they focus on Llana’s treatment and recovery.

We understand that times are tough and even if you are unable to donate a monetary amount, please share our link to spread the word and as always, words of encouragement to Llana and her family are always welcome and so appreciated.

Thank you all for you kindness, support, and generosity during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Tammy Salls