Friends of #ZazaTheStrong
Donation protected
Eliza "Zaza" Fitz is a 2-year-old girl that lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with her family.
On December 30th, 2015, after a brief illness, her breathing became labored enough to need to go to the ER and then be admitted to the hospital. The next day, her breathing had become so bad that she was moved to the PICU. She was intubated, received 3 chest tubes, and spent many days on a conventional ventilator, and then on a special ventilator called a High Frequency Oscillating Ventilator.
She battled through everything, with the efforts of the amazing doctors and nurses at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. On January 16th, 2016, her breathing tube was removed. We still have time in the hosptial in front of us, mostly for physical therapy and weaning from the meds, but the scariest things are surely behind us.
Many people have reached out wanting to help in some way, some have even generously offered monentary support to help with the medical bills. Two things are true at the same time:
1) We could not be more grateful for the outpouring of support-- through messages, prayer, food, and gifts for Zaza. We appreciate every offer, so much.
2) We recognize we are very fortunate. We have an amazing support system of family and friends, have good health insurance, and we have funded an HSA over the years-- these savings should pay for the insurance deductible we will owe.
We are so grateful for the love and wishes to help, and we simply would not feel "right" accepting money for something that we have the ability to pay for ourselves. But we also understand this support can be turned into something bigger to help other families that find themselves in this unfortunate situation.
Since the very first day we arrived at Blank Children's Hospital (BCH), we have been visited daily by therapists from a service called Child Life. Child Life is a part of BCH that runs on donations. They have a huge fundraiser every fall, but otherwise rely on donations from the community.
What they basically do, is they take a scary/stressful situation of being in the hospital and make it a little less miserable. They combine play and education to help kids and their families understand what's happening and cope with the fear and anxiety that can come with hospitalization.
They provide a care package to each kid that is admitted, and also have a play room that is for play only- no tests or therapy there. Just fun. Everything in the care packages and in the play room is donated.
They do much more than what I've listed here. You can read more about Child Life, their work, funding and resources here: Child Life at Blank Children's Hospital
Since Zaza has been awake, they have been here playing with bubbles, bringing her an iPad that I asked for and knew they could provide, and if you've seen the Facebook updates-- the music therapist. She's with Child Life, too.
The music therapy program is brand new at BCH. Right now, there is only one music therapist, and she has only been hired part-time.
The music therapy brought more joy to Zaza than anything else since she's been here. If that doesn't help with healing and feeling better, I don't know what does.
There is absolutely no pressure for anyone to give, but if you are feeling a need to help us or help Zaza, we just want to ask you to consider dontating to Child Life in her honor. We want to pay it forward and support a service that has helped us and will help so many other kids and their families.
There are two ways you can donate:
1) With a monetary donation on this GoFundMe page. Zaza will deliver the full amount to Child Life in person once she is strong again and can bring it herself. We will request that the funds be used for the music program specifically, if possible.
2) By purchasing a specific item off of their wishlist and mailing it directly to Child Life: Child Life Wish List
You can alternatively visit their Amazon registry and buy an item that will be sent directly to Child Life: Amazon Registry
Zaza is finally out of the woods. We have relied on the generosity of family and friends to keep us fed and rested and (mostly) sane. We appreciate all offers for help, but it just wouldn't be right to accept money to pay for something that we have saved for.
While we have no expectations for this, and do not want anyone to feel any pressure to contribute, we will be honored to pass along any donations we receive to Child Life. We know that whatever we receive will be a wonderful tribute to Zaza and the support she has received from so many people.
On December 30th, 2015, after a brief illness, her breathing became labored enough to need to go to the ER and then be admitted to the hospital. The next day, her breathing had become so bad that she was moved to the PICU. She was intubated, received 3 chest tubes, and spent many days on a conventional ventilator, and then on a special ventilator called a High Frequency Oscillating Ventilator.
She battled through everything, with the efforts of the amazing doctors and nurses at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. On January 16th, 2016, her breathing tube was removed. We still have time in the hosptial in front of us, mostly for physical therapy and weaning from the meds, but the scariest things are surely behind us.
Many people have reached out wanting to help in some way, some have even generously offered monentary support to help with the medical bills. Two things are true at the same time:
1) We could not be more grateful for the outpouring of support-- through messages, prayer, food, and gifts for Zaza. We appreciate every offer, so much.
2) We recognize we are very fortunate. We have an amazing support system of family and friends, have good health insurance, and we have funded an HSA over the years-- these savings should pay for the insurance deductible we will owe.
We are so grateful for the love and wishes to help, and we simply would not feel "right" accepting money for something that we have the ability to pay for ourselves. But we also understand this support can be turned into something bigger to help other families that find themselves in this unfortunate situation.
Since the very first day we arrived at Blank Children's Hospital (BCH), we have been visited daily by therapists from a service called Child Life. Child Life is a part of BCH that runs on donations. They have a huge fundraiser every fall, but otherwise rely on donations from the community.
What they basically do, is they take a scary/stressful situation of being in the hospital and make it a little less miserable. They combine play and education to help kids and their families understand what's happening and cope with the fear and anxiety that can come with hospitalization.
They provide a care package to each kid that is admitted, and also have a play room that is for play only- no tests or therapy there. Just fun. Everything in the care packages and in the play room is donated.
They do much more than what I've listed here. You can read more about Child Life, their work, funding and resources here: Child Life at Blank Children's Hospital
Since Zaza has been awake, they have been here playing with bubbles, bringing her an iPad that I asked for and knew they could provide, and if you've seen the Facebook updates-- the music therapist. She's with Child Life, too.
The music therapy program is brand new at BCH. Right now, there is only one music therapist, and she has only been hired part-time.
The music therapy brought more joy to Zaza than anything else since she's been here. If that doesn't help with healing and feeling better, I don't know what does.
There is absolutely no pressure for anyone to give, but if you are feeling a need to help us or help Zaza, we just want to ask you to consider dontating to Child Life in her honor. We want to pay it forward and support a service that has helped us and will help so many other kids and their families.
There are two ways you can donate:
1) With a monetary donation on this GoFundMe page. Zaza will deliver the full amount to Child Life in person once she is strong again and can bring it herself. We will request that the funds be used for the music program specifically, if possible.
2) By purchasing a specific item off of their wishlist and mailing it directly to Child Life: Child Life Wish List
You can alternatively visit their Amazon registry and buy an item that will be sent directly to Child Life: Amazon Registry
Zaza is finally out of the woods. We have relied on the generosity of family and friends to keep us fed and rested and (mostly) sane. We appreciate all offers for help, but it just wouldn't be right to accept money to pay for something that we have saved for.
While we have no expectations for this, and do not want anyone to feel any pressure to contribute, we will be honored to pass along any donations we receive to Child Life. We know that whatever we receive will be a wonderful tribute to Zaza and the support she has received from so many people.
Organizer
Jazlyn Fitz
Organizer
Des Moines, IA