The little heart is getting weaker! Help!

My hands are shaking when I am writing these words. I never knew it is possible to be so scared. I have never known the fear about my child's life, which is painful to the bones. And although as a mother of three sons I know what the sleepless nights taste like, today all of these seem like a trifle. My half-a-year daughter is having a very serious heart defect, which is not possible to be treated in Poland and the only hope for saving Aleksandra is a surgery in the USA which costs a fortune. The priceless life of my child was valued for over 7 mln polish zloty (1,6 M $)... Please, help!

The fourth child was supposed to fulfill our family. When we found out it was going to be a girl, we felt like we were on top of the world, also because of our three older sons!  And so, Aleksandra was born prematurely in the 35th week of pregnancy getting 10 points in APGAR scale. From that time on, everything was supposed to be beautiful...

Though, our happiness did not last long… In the second day of Aleksandra’s life the Physicians from the local hospital started noticing alarming symptoms and instead of going back home with our newborn we were referred to the Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Diseases for further examination. As a result, our daughter was diagnosed with pulmonary valve atresia – congenital heart defect with ventricular septal defect and aortopulmonary collaterals collateral. The only rescue for her is the cardiothoracic surgery. Unfortunately, nobody is keen on doing the surgery - that complex - in Poland… 

Our pure happiness suddenly turned into dust. After the series of many different kinds of studies – we had been informed that besides the heart defect Aleksandra also has the DiGeorge syndrome. It is a syndrome caused by the deletion of a small segment of the chromosome and as a result Aleksandra is missing about 50 of genes. While the symptoms of DiGeorge can vary, in this case they include congenital heart problems, potential specific facial features, frequent infections, developmental delay and learning problems. Though for now the baby is growing rather correctly the syndrome is growing with her as well. Without taking the decisive steps Aleksandra will not be able to live normally in the future.

Additionally our daughter was born in unfortunate circumstances, since the world wide pandemic situation is not making anything easier with seeking for the help. We became experts in anatomy of the heart rapidly. All the best professionals in a radius of hundreds of kilometers were noticed about Aleksandra's case, including Dr Malec from Germany and Prof. Carotti from Italy. Only Specialists from Stanford offered the help and gave the positive recommendation for the surgery.

In the document concerning the cost estimate we got from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford - there is an amount of over 1.6 mln US dollars for the treatment. As for people from a small village in northern Poland the amount is way beyond our financial capability and imagination. We probably would not be able to earn this kind of money within all our lives and we need them really soon. The surgery needs to be proceeded before Aleksandra will be one year old. The good condition of hers can easily get worse and then our fragile world would collapse.

Aleksandra is being rehabilitated, but for now the crucial goal is to save her little heart! We cannot let money prevent saving our daughter's life and that is why we kindly ask you for help. Please, donate and help us save our baby. Her little heart wants to beat very badly...

Aleksandra's parents