Surgery fund for Eva

My Name is Nayeli, and this is the life’s story of my 4-year-old, warrior named Eva. The name Eva, ironically, but most suitably means “Life”, whom she is a fighter for.

Her warrior story began when I was 5 months pregnant. At a routine ultrasound, Eva was diagnosed with Congenital Disease (CHD) called Double Ventricular Transition Arteries and Large VSD. At that moment the MD conducting the ultrasound gave us two options: Interrupt the pregnancy because Eva would not be born alive, or continue with the pregnancy ignoring the newfound facts.

I decided to continue with the pregnancy to join in Eva’s fight to live. By the grace of God, Eva was born on August 23rd, 2012.  At the time of birth, her vital signs were normal and continued normal until her fifth day of life. She had her 1st heart failure that day but thankfully was stabilized. On the 7th day, she experienced a 2nd heart failure and was emergency transported from UTMB Galveston ICU unit to Children’s Memorial Hermann NICU where she was stabilized and prepared her for 1st surgery at 9 days old!

Due to a newly diagnosed underdeveloped lung, the goal of the 1st heart surgery was to isolate the connection to her left lung, keeping it healthy to attempt to reconnect it when she turned 2.  All went successfully but six months after her 1st surgery she had a Heart Cath put in place to balloon stencil arteries in her heart that were narrowing as consequences from the 1st surgery.  Her second surgery was open heart surgery soon after her 1st birthday. The open heart surgery was to separate the arteries. Six-months post-surgery, Eva had yet another Heart Cath to reopen the stencil in her narrowing arteries. The third open heart surgery, at age 2, was to attempt re-connecting her heart to her left lung. Unfortunately, this surgery was unsuccessful and was forced to return a year later for a 2nd attempt at reconnecting it.  The latest surgery she underwent (her 4th surgery), was much more invasive and she had hemorrhaging for 48hrs after surgery. Her chest remained open until inflammation had decreased. It was a very challenging time for us but am so proud of her amazing strength pulling thru such an ordeal. Six months after the 4th surgery she had another Heart Cath to clean the previous scar tissue and balloon arteries. Her small arteries were burned shut to help decrease stress on her heart. By now, I am sure you have caught on to the pattern of what has been her life since birth.

Eva understands that she can’t yet run and play as much as she would like. Although it is very tough to limit our children, especially when it’s so much fun to be a 4-year-old kid, she knows what she needs to do when she has over-exhausted herself. She has truly grasped what her limits are at such a young age. We are so proud of the strength and maturity she has achieved. She is such a smart little girl with so much to offer with her smile alone.

Once again, this tiny yet mighty warrior prepares for another battle January 2017. We kindly ask for any kind of financial aid you could possibly help with to pay for her upcoming surgery. Our immediate family and church family has been great help during these years but we have exhausted our resources for further financial assistance. This page has been set up by the family to give an opportunity for anyone who would like to help us.  

For those reading this that cannot help financially at this time, we kindly ask for prayer, that the Good Lord give us strength and peace to be brave along with Eva through this process. It has been a long journey and each surgery gets more difficult to cope with. We hope we can soon, one day, no longer need to see her in a hospital bed and see her truly enjoy being a kid. We are very humbled by everyone who has come together in our efforts to get Eva the medical treatment needed.  Words are not enough to express our gratitude.