This is baby Sara.

This is baby Sara.

Sara is a miracle baby who needs your prayers and support as she fights Congenital Heart Disease at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto.  Sara’s family lives in Newfoundland, but Sara has never been to her home because she has needed to stay close to the Janeway since her birth on September 18.  Sara’s Mom and Dad are Danielle and Dave, and they are living through the hardest days any parent will ever endure.  Sara is a Heart Warrior – she has Double Outlet Left Ventricle, Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome, Transposition of the Greater Arteries and Pulmonary Stenosis with a large Ventricular Septal Defect.  Quite a mouthful of terminology for such a tiny little person.  Sara’s complicated heart can be put into layman’s terms by stating that she has essentially half a heart.  This statement is oversimplifying a heart that is incredibly complex, but it allows those of us who are not doctors to have a general sense of what Sara is facing.

Sara’s family has been preparing for her to have her first open heart surgery in Toronto, a procedure called the Bidirectional Glenn which was expected to be in January 2014.  At her Echocardiogram in early November however, Sara’s heart situation had gotten worse and she needed to be immediately sent to SickKids by air ambulance.  Sara had her first open heart surgery much earlier than planned, at less than 2 months old and weighing only 8 pounds.  3 weeks after her open heart Sara is still in Cardiac Critical Care, but each day brings her new strength and progress.  Danielle and Dave are fortunate to be staying at Ronald Mcdonald House in downtown Toronto, but are facing an extended stay because Sara is unable to return to her home province until after her Glenn procedure and it’s recovery period in early 2014.  Sara’s first Christmas will be in Toronto, either at SickKids hospital or at Ronald Mcdonald House.  At the most recent update, Danielle is hoping that Sara will move out of Cardiac Critical Care this week and up to the heart ward on 4D.

An extended stay away from home for life saving medical care, with two parents who are unable to work because they need to be with their baby each day – it’s an incredibly tough financial situation.  Danielle and Dave need to be able to focus all of their strength and energy on Sara to help her heal, and they do not need the constant worry and stress of money issues adding to their burden.  As a heart Mom myself, I know that the money that our community gave us took one enormous burden off of our shoulders and allowed us to focus on our son’s lengthy healing process.  Danielle and Dave have not asked for any donations, but a group of fellow Heart Mom’s know what a difference a little help can make in an impossible situation.  A donation of $10 can make all the difference when it provides a meal for Mom or Dad, or a cup of coffee and a muffin during a long afternoon spent in critical care.    If you would like to help this sweet family stay strong during their time in Toronto, you can send an email transfer directly to Danielle at galgayd@gmail.com.  If you don’t use the etransfer tool, donations can be given to fellow heart Mom Krista Spearns and she will etransfer them to Danielle.  Krista can be contacted at kspearns@hotmail.com .

Most people never get to meet their hero.  I gave birth to mine!