McKinlee Fund
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On December 19th, our family welcomed our newest member, McKinlee Ann. We had a very short period of celebration before learning that McKinlee was gravely ill. She had a congenital heart defect which required open heart surgery.
Since then, McKinlee has had 5 open heart surgeries, 4 heart caths, a diaphragm plication, a Nissen procedure, a trach and a g-tube, and numerous smaller surgeries such as chest closures.
Her parents struggle to manage their time and resources to care for their home and McKinlee’s older sister, Madelyn.
My stepdaughter, Haley, has not been able to return to work since McKinlee’s birth as she spends most of her time at the hospital.
McKinlee will continue hospitalization for the foreseeable future, but when she is well enough to come home, she will require around the clock care.This means Haley will not be able to return to her social services job any time soon.
Haley and her family were not prepared to lose her income. Not only have they lost Haley’s income, but they have the added expense of a daily 90 mile commute between their home and the hospital.
Haley, and McKinlee’s father, Dan, have a daunting task to see to McKinlee while trying to maintain as normal a life as possible for Madelyn. The last thing Haley and Dan need is to worry about is utilities being disrupted or the ability to make mortgage and car payments.
We can’t solve all their financial problems, but would you consider kicking in a few dollars to help them while their lives revolve around trying to find some sort of balance between their home and the hospital?
Haley sent me a link to an article about heart defects. She hopes that by sharing this article will help raise awareness about congenital heart defects in babies and how grossly underfunded the research is for this issue.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-chd-robs-from-families_us_58e83361e4b06f8c18beebfb
What struck me about this article, is the accurate description of how brutal and wrenching it is for the families dealing with their gravely ill children.
My hope is to ease the burden, even just a little, and hope they can catch their breath for a moment before moving on to the next day. Or the next hour.
Thank you
Michelle
Since then, McKinlee has had 5 open heart surgeries, 4 heart caths, a diaphragm plication, a Nissen procedure, a trach and a g-tube, and numerous smaller surgeries such as chest closures.
Her parents struggle to manage their time and resources to care for their home and McKinlee’s older sister, Madelyn.
My stepdaughter, Haley, has not been able to return to work since McKinlee’s birth as she spends most of her time at the hospital.
McKinlee will continue hospitalization for the foreseeable future, but when she is well enough to come home, she will require around the clock care.This means Haley will not be able to return to her social services job any time soon.
Haley and her family were not prepared to lose her income. Not only have they lost Haley’s income, but they have the added expense of a daily 90 mile commute between their home and the hospital.
Haley, and McKinlee’s father, Dan, have a daunting task to see to McKinlee while trying to maintain as normal a life as possible for Madelyn. The last thing Haley and Dan need is to worry about is utilities being disrupted or the ability to make mortgage and car payments.
We can’t solve all their financial problems, but would you consider kicking in a few dollars to help them while their lives revolve around trying to find some sort of balance between their home and the hospital?
Haley sent me a link to an article about heart defects. She hopes that by sharing this article will help raise awareness about congenital heart defects in babies and how grossly underfunded the research is for this issue.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-chd-robs-from-families_us_58e83361e4b06f8c18beebfb
What struck me about this article, is the accurate description of how brutal and wrenching it is for the families dealing with their gravely ill children.
My hope is to ease the burden, even just a little, and hope they can catch their breath for a moment before moving on to the next day. Or the next hour.
Thank you
Michelle
Organizer and beneficiary
Michelle Poston Combs
Organizer
West Chester, OH
Haley Combs
Beneficiary
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