Only an urgent operation will save her life❗️We would give our hearts so that Jagódka's heart could beat

Doctors told us that we should enjoy the moment while it lasts and don't think about the future because nobody knows how long our child will live. Our daughter Jagoda was born with complex heart defect. Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries, large Ventricular Septal Defect, absence (Atresia) of a Pulmonary valve. In addition, after birth, the doctors also stated mitral valve regurgitation. 

A healthy newborn's saturation ranges from 97 to 100%. Jagoda's has never been more than 85%. It feels like breathing through a towel. The child gets tired faster, turns blue, gains weight worse and develops slower. An artificial tube, only 4 mm in diameter, implanted during the operation, does not grow together with Jagoda. Each gained gram takes slowly her life. Lack of another operation, when our child reaches the end of her body performance, is a death sentence for Jagoda by suffocation.

Until the 4th month of pregnancy, everything was book-like. We enjoyed and awaited our child. We planned our future like another parent. We chose clothes, argued about her name, and prepared a room for her. It all broke down on the half-test during pregnancy. The diagnosis completely changed our lives. Absolutely no one is ready for a situation when in a doctor's office the routine control begins to drag on forever. During an hour long ultrasonography, the doctor focused all his attention on our baby's heart. After a long silence, the diagnosis is made: "Your child has a heart defect". Nobody expects a story like this to happen to him. The feeling of helplessness and sadness and the question "why us?". During the pregnancy, we were already "a very interesting case" for many doctors. Some emphasized that they had never encountered such a combination of heart defect, not even in books or publications. 

After the first shock related to the diagnosis, we quickly got back on our feet and decided to act. After all, medicine is still developing. Certainly something can be done. We decided to fight for our daughter's life. Carefree waiting for our child, changed into visits to specialists and looking for the best center that would save our baby's life. We chose the Polish Mother's Health institute in Łódź, where a team of specialists was able to take care of our child immediately after delivery. A few weeks before the birth date, we moved to Łódź to be there if necessary.

January 8th, 2020 is the date of the birth of our daughter. However, this was not a typical birth scenario. The maternity team performed a caesarean section. After the birth of Jagoda, instead of being in her mother's loving arms, she was immediately taken to the second building of the hospital, where a team of specialists was waiting for her. She had to be connected to a medicament as soon as possible to keep the Bot's tube from closing. As a result, doctors had more time to plan treatment. Twelve days after her birth, Jagoda need to survive her first attempt - systemic-pulmonary anastomosis using the Bialock and Taussig method. It was a palliative surgery. It saved her life and gave Jagoda time to gain weight and prepare for the next surgeries.

The feelings that torment a parent who waits helplessly for several hours in front of the surgery room are remembered for the rest of their lives. We couldn't imagine how afraid you could be until we said goodbye to Jagoda before the surgery. When the door of the elevator leading to the surgery room slowly closed, and we had no guarantee that it was not the last time we see those little eyes staring at us. At such a moment we could give away our hearts just to save hers.

Now Jagoda is 7 months old and she is our happiness and miracle. She is a joyful child who only gets tired a little faster than other children. However, it could get worse at any moment and we must not let that happen. We will not give up in the fight for her life and health. We want normal life for our daughter. It is possible! Jagoda has a chance to live normally, breathe, play and run. The defect can be completely corrected by Double-Switch surgery with the insertion of an artificial vessel that will replace the pulmonary artery. It is an extremely difficult and risky operation. No cardiac surgeon in Poland wants to undertake it. We decided to seek help abroad.

Tornike Sologashvili from the hospital in Geneva will undertake the surgery to correct our daughter's heart. According to doctors, the optimal time to perform the operation is 9 months of age. Then her body will be developed enough to survive the colossal burdens of open-heart surgery, and the B-T anastomosis that keeps her alive now will not cause irreversible changes in her body.

We never thought we would have to ask for help. Neither parent expects this. It's terrible to talk about your child's illness. However, we have no choice. The clinic in Geneva estimated the cost of the operation at approximately 660,000 PLN (150 389 EUR). This is how much our daughter's life and health are worth. It definitely exceeds our financial capacity. Each complication, the necessary change in the operating technique, additional tests, and each subsequent day in the intensive care unit after the surgery are additional costs. In addition, There are still consultations and the costs of traveling to Switzerland with a sick child. After the surgery, rehabilitation will definitely be necessary. In the present situation, we are forced to ask you for help in raising money for the surgery of Jagoda in Geneva. Our only dream is to ensure her a happy life, to raise her into a wonderful girl who is happy at every moment. We believe that with your help, we will be able to save Jagódka's life and health.