
The Garcia Family
Baby Sophie
Scroll down to see updates as the Garcia family progresses in their CDH Journey! (All updates are written and given by parents with consent)
We are the Garcia Family.
We come from Venezuela and we are expecting our first little girl named Sophie. All our pregnancy was apparently going in excellent conditions until the 31st week when we were unexpectedly diagnosed with CDH in our baby, we were really worried because of this situation and the short time we had to investigate about it plan all necessary arrangements like finding the Best Doctor, Team and Hospital to treat her. Since in Venezuela there is no good care for this type of Diagnosis and there is no ECMO either.
We found out about Dr. Kays at Johns Hopkins Hospital and directly arranged everything to be here in a matter of 1 week.
Unfortunately, this situation made us stop working immediately, pack our luggage's and come directly to St. Petersburg. We started living on savings to cover for expenses in USA.
With your support we would be able to cover our expenses such as insurances co-pay and out of pockets expenses not covered by insurance, rent, plane tickets, food, transportation, etc. We will need to stay in the US at least for 4 months to be able to have all the exams and appointments prior the delivery, as soon as the baby is born she will go under surgery, NICU and after she is released from the hospital she will need to get enough time to recover before being able to flight back home hopefully without the need of oxygen.
We would really appreciate the help you could provide us :)
Thank you in advance for helping families like ours.
Update 12/31/23
December… A month full of emotions for our growing family, on December 11th we welcomed our little princess warrior, Sophie. Since the day she was born she’s been rocking it. She improves every day :) and only a few days after she was born she had her repair surgery on December 15, a very important and delicate day for us but, we always had the confidence and the trust that everything will go great and it Did!! The surgery was a success, we are so proud of her and the improvement she makes every time the doctors see her. It’s been 3 weeks already, We are still at the hospital, we know it’s a journey but she is worth it!! Sophie is so strong and we couldn’t be prouder. It's amazing to see how a little tiny body and human being can go through this journey and be so resilient.
We love you Sophie! ❤️
Update 1/31/24
This new year has come with many good news and advances for our baby girl Sophie, she is doing great and we are currently working on her feeds so she gains more weight because she is small. Her lunghs are working perfect.
We truly appreaciate the support your fund has granted us and to many others families in this important and delicate situation. We hope to be able to go back home to Venezuela soon with our healthy baby!
Update 2/29/24
This month we would like to thank to The Eden Calhoun Charitable Fund for the support given to our family throughout these months.
When we came here in October all the way from Venezuela we knew it was going to be a rocky road but, a road we will go through successfully and we Did. Thanks G-d our stay in St Petersburg has exceeded our expectations, we felt so much love and support from every single person and entity we’ve been in contact with. We couldn’t have chosen a better place to have our little girl’s surgery.
She’s been a warrior from the very first day she was born, every day improving more and more. Today, we are gratefull that she is with us in our temporary home in St. Pete and looking forward to be back to our home country with our healthy little girl very soon.
Thank you for what you do for CDH families, it really makes a difference.
