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Hello! With permission of her family, I want to introduce you to baby Evelyn. She has an infectious toothless smile, enough hair on her head to make your grandpa green with envy, and she's one of the strongest newborns I know.
She was born on May 11th, 2020 with congenital heart disease. Just before her birth, her doctors were able to specify her diagnosis to Atrioventricular Septal Defect (AVSD), which means that Evelyn's heart formed with a hole between the left and right chambers. When she was born, the doctors informed her parents, Kelly and Ross, that Evelyn would eventually need surgery to close up the hole in her heart, but that as of right then she was developing as most babies due. Kelly and Ross prepared for the eventual surgery that their baby girl would have to overcome when she was bit older, but were able to bring Evelyn to their new home.
On July 27th, Kelly and Ross brought Evelyn to the doctor for a check up and discovered that she was not putting on enough weight. The doctors ran tests and determined that Evelyn was struggling to absorb nutrients the way other babies her age were because of her AVSD. The surgery that the doctors had mentioned to Kelly and Ross needed to happen much sooner than anyone had hoped. Evelyn's surgery was performed on August 14th, 2020. The surgeon successfully sutured the hole in her heart shut and her parents were allowed to hold her the following day. Evelyn was expected to stay in the hospital for at least a week longer as the surgeon and doctors monitored her nutrient absorption, heart healing, and how much leakage was occurring at the suture site. Slight leaking is normal after heart surgery.
As of August 24th, ten days later, Evelyn is still in the hospital. The doctors have informed her parents that her heart is still leaking and that they would classify the leakage as "severe". Kelly and Ross have not been updated what will happen next. While they are waiting for more updates and treatment plan route from Evelyn's care team, they spend every day at the hospital. Kelly has been on medical leave since July to be in the hospital alongside Evelyn while Ross works as much as he can to cover their expenses.
Due to the loss in income, those expenses will very soon drain the little savings they had put aside pre-Covid. At this point, their family is in need of financial support from the Village. They have no idea what the medical bills from Evelyn's fight will be, but more pressingly have bills due in the coming weeks that will be difficult to cover without support.
Please share and consider donating what you can to support Baby Evelyn and her family in this incredibly difficult and uncertain time.
