My name is Adriana Ward and I've created this GoFundMe on behalf of my ten year old nephew, Louis Tremblay. Louis will undergo a critical open heart surgery in Boston on October 1st, which will require his family of four to reside there for one month. Unfortunately, at the time of Louis’s upcoming surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital, all medical housing options affiliated with the hospital are fully booked. As a result, they are facing the difficult task of securing safe, affordable, and suitable accommodations for their family of four. This unexpected burden comes at a time when their focus should be solely on Louis's surgery and recovery.

A comfortable, fully furnished apartment for the anticipated one-month stay is expected to cost approximately $8,000, a substantial expense on top of their already overwhelming medical costs. Any assistance in helping them navigate this situation would be deeply appreciated. My hope is to alleviate as much of this financial burden as possible so that Alicia and Christian can focus their energy entirely on supporting Louis through this critical surgery and his recovery.

I've included his medical history below:

Louis is a 10 year old boy with Singleton Merten Syndrome, which is an ultra rare auto-inflammatory condition. This condition has affected his eyes, vascular system, mobility, caused calcification throughout his body, and has most recently caused his mitral valve regurgitation to progress to severe in the span of just a few months, now requiring surgical intervention. Louis’ mitral valve repair surgery will be on October 1st at Boston Children’s Hospital. We have been asked to arrive for testing and consultations in Boston beginning September 24th, and have been told that we will likely be needing to remain in Boston for about a month. Louis’ case is complex and the route and rate of recovery is uncertain.

Louis has undergone 30 corneal transplants since the age 2 years old, and is currently visually impaired. He has also undergone additional ocular surgeries, amounting to upwards of 50 procedures. This past fall, Louis had knee surgery, which has allowed him more ease in mobility. Post knee surgery, Louis had an inflammatory response that caused him debilitating headaches, which he was hospitalized for.

There is a lot of uncertainty going into Louis’ mitral valve repair surgery, as there is no record of any patients with Singleton Merten Syndrome undergoing this surgery. Boston Children’s Hospital has been very thorough in their preparation for Louis, arranging consultations with infectious disease, neurology, and rheumatology for his post-operative care. We were initially hoping to be able to undergo the surgery at Johns Hopkins, which would allow my husband and I to continue working during recovery. However, there is no surgeon at Johns Hopkins that has the experience to manage this surgery, and we have been advised by Johns Hopkins to explore hospitals elsewhere. Louis has a 7 year old brother that will also be coming with us to Boston for the duration of pre-op testing/consultations, surgery, and post-op recovery.

Louis is a loving and creative 10 year old boy. He loves singing in choir, playing the cello and piano, cinematography, and immersing in all sorts of art projects. He has shown so much resilience and bravery through the years.