Supporting the Satmary Family this Thanksgiving Holiday

It saddens me to be updating this GoFundMe but here we are, Thanksgiving 2024 and The Satmary Family needs our support once again.

Opal, Shay and Bobby have been in medical care since yesterday due to a mass in Opal's neck resurfacing likely due to a bacterial infection. They waited all day at Northern Nevada for transport to Renown, which is also a large ambulance bill coming :(

Today they are at Renown Children's Hospital and are awaiting an ENT to determine next steps.

Opal, Shay and Bobby are tired and scared. Let's come together and help support them during this terrible time.

Any financial contributions would be welcomed to help prepare for the medical costs.

During this grateful season, look into your wallets and help support this sweet family.

We love you Satmary Family, we've got your back :)

Join me in supporting Shay, Bobby and Baby Opal Satmary in their return home after a long, arduous journey to become a family. They’ve had a long, expensive road and are both public school teachers who’ve dedicated their careers to the community. Let’s come together now as their community and help them to recover from this ordeal financially. If you are a friend, family member, fellow teacher, parent yourself, or a caring and giving person, their story will motivate you to contribute!

On May 17th, At 33 weeks pregnant, Shay was referred to the High Risk Pregnancy Center where doctors discovered a 3x2 cm cyst on the baby’s neck which was making swallowing difficult. Unable to determine with an ultrasound, doctors in Reno referred them to a specialist in Denver for the following week. Shay and Bobby are both teachers and had to scramble to get flights, cover their classes and prepare to leave home and their two dogs for an unknown amount of time. At this point, Shay was over surprises and finally found out the baby’s sex, a girl, and her name-Opal!

Upon arriving in Denver, Shay had to undergo an MRI and back to back tests before meeting with their team of doctors at Children’s Hospital. The positive news was that the cyst was behind the larynx and internal and wasn’t obstructing the esophagus or thorax so her lungs and stomach were working. Doctors however, feared changes and interference with Opal’s bodily functions; Shay was also at risk of her water breaking early.

Bobby and Shay were instructed to remain in Denver for the next two weeks and undergo close monitoring twice a week until Shay’s scheduled c-section on June 14th.

At this point, Bobby flew home to Reno, collected their dogs, baby goods, and Shay’s brother for moral support and drove back up to Denver.

After two very long weeks of continued appointments, Opal was delivered via c-section at 9:03 am on June 14th, 2022. Opal needed a breathing tube, continued NICU monitoring, and a CPAP mask to assist her breathing. Shay and Bobby were able to hold their sweet Opal and have skin-to-skin contact with her. The following day Opal, at one day old, had to undergo an MRI and then wait on the results. Doctors on June 16th had to have a tube put into her neck to drain the cyst and samples were sent off to the lab for the weekend. She was breathing well and feeding well but still using a feeding tube.

Meanwhile, Shay is recovering from her surgery, Bobby is in and out of the hospital to walk the dogs, staying at a nearby hotel, and everyone is getting zero sleep while waiting for news on Opal’s surgery.

Doctors decided on surgery- a procedure to go in through her mouth to the back of her throat to cut out a small chunk of the tissue and stitch it in so it will heal open and eliminate future build-up.

On June 22nd Opal’s surgery was scheduled and the poor baby wasn’t able to eat from 5 am; surgery was delayed and didn’t begin till 3pm. The surgery went well, and she was intubated overnight. Shay and Bobby slept in the NICU with Opal and were hopeful to get her off all the wires and back onto feeding and to hold her again. By the following day Opal was able to be held by her parents while still on breathing and feeding tubes.

On June 27th, The Satmary Family was finally discharged from the NICU but had to stay in Denver for another week to make sure Opal was breathing well and gaining weight. Bobby and Shay began their journey as parents outside of the hospital but states away from their support networks. Necessary items like the baby’s bassinet and a new breast pump recommended by doctors had to be purchased in order for Bobby and Shay to take care of Opal as they were released from the hospital.

Finally, after Opal was successfully gaining weight, they were given the go-ahead to plan on returning home. On Friday, July 8th, also Shay’s Birthday, they will have one last appointment, then Shay will fly home with baby Opal and Bobby’s mother, and Bobby will drive home with his dad, their two dogs, and a car full of baby supplies. Nine weeks of their lives have been tied up in this journey, and a whole lot of bills are piling up!

We need support to help Shay, Bobby, and Opal pay for their travel expenses to Denver, hotel costs, food, new baby supplies, unpaid time off, and of course, immense medical bills. Opal’s NICU bill was $43,799.50.

Be generous! Anything you can contribute will help!

Let’s get this sweet little family off to a good start and help them to enjoy these early days, not suffer under a mountain of debt!