Our daughter, Tally, was born with a congenital heart defect that was discovered in 2008 when she was 1. We were told she needed open heart surgery. In a parental panic and at the urging or friends, we went to Children’s for a second opinion. Her cardiology team at Children’s thought she might be able to avoid the open heart procedure by having a less invasive catheter procedure.

We worked with them for 2 years waiting for her to grow enough to be able to have the catheter procedure. Unfortunately, she wasn’t doing well and she had the open heart surgery in 2010.  

The procedure was a success and she, literally, woke up a new kid. We’re happy to report that she is a strong, healthy 11 year-old.  

After about 2 years of scraping to pay our out-of-pocket maxim, we finally cried UNCLE and submitted a request for financial aid. Thanks to uncompensated care, we got help and were able to focus on caring for our daughter when she needed us most. We are forever grateful to the care she receive to make her body healthy, and the resources we received to avoid a financial trainwreck.

We vowed then to always do what we can to support Seattle Children’s. We’ve attended every Smooch and are honored to share our family’s story to help other families whose journeys are just beginning or ongoing.