About two months ago, I was forced to step away from full-time employment to care for my daughter’s ongoing heart condition and prepare for her next open-heart surgery. Since then, our lives have been filled with countless specialist appointments, tests, hospital visits, and around-the-clock monitoring at home.

Soon, we will spend approximately a month in a half at Seattle Children’s Hospital while she undergoes surgery and begins her recovery. During that time, I will once again be unable to work as I care for her medical needs. Between her appointments, hospital stays, and recovery, it has become impossible for me to work enough hours to maintain a stable income and keep up with our monthly bills.

My daughter is a happy, loving three-year-old who lights up every room she walks into. No matter the challenges she has faced, she continues to meet them with incredible courage and resilience. She smiles through everything life has thrown her way, from appointments, and the uncertainty that comes with living with a complex congenital heart condition. Her strength inspires me every single day.

Unfortunately, I was denied paid medical leave benefits because I did not meet the required 820 work hours over the past year. After welcoming my youngest child in April and taking time away from work to recover and care for my family, I had accumulated only 728 hours. Because of this, we have been left without the financial support we desperately needed during one of the most difficult seasons no mother or child should have to endure.

Within two months, my daughter will undergo another heart procedure, followed with a month or two months of recovery that will require us to stay in Seattle. As her mother, there is nowhere else I would rather be than by her side through every appointment, every procedure, and every step of her recovery.

Being a medical mom means finding the strength to smile, even when your heart is breaking, because little eyes are always watching. I do everything I can to stay strong for my children, but the weight of the financial burden has become overwhelming these past couple of months and I have really been struggling to keep up while still trying to provide. We have fallen behind on our bills while I focus on giving my daughter the care she needs.

Asking for help is very difficult for me, as I feel like I need to handle every with a smile on my face like nothing is wrong, After exhausting every resource available to us, I simply don’t know where else to turn.

If you are able to donate, no matter the amount, your generosity will not only help catch up on essential household bills, but it will also allow me to remain by my daughter’s side throughout her surgeries and recovery without having to choose between her care and our family’s basic needs.

Im still unsure if my youngest will be able to sleep on bedside with me while her sister recovers or if I’ll need to buy a hotel for the time being so I am not away from her for the month in a half while her sister is in the hospital. There is so many uncertainties that is yet to come.

If you’re unable to give financially, sharing our story with your friends, family, and community would mean just as much.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to read our story. Thank you for your prayers, your kindness, your generosity, and for standing beside my family during one of the most difficult journeys we have ever faced. Every act of support reminds us that we are not walking this road alone…