Ziva's Heart Surgery Fund

Just six short weeks ago, 4 year old Ziva began to suffer from severe chest pain. At first her mom Arica thought the chest pains were caused by an oncoming cold. But as the chest pains increased in frequency Arica became increasingly concerned. She took Ziva to the pediatrician, where they right away noticed that Ziva had an irregular heart beat and referred her for an ultrasound.

The ultrasound revealed that little Ziva had a large hole in her heart. A birth defect known as Atrial Septal Defect or ASD.

ASD is defined by the American Heart Association as; A "hole" in the wall that separates the top two chambers of the heart. This defect allows oxygen-rich blood to leak into the oxygen-poor blood chambers in the heart. ASD is a defect in the septum between the heart's two upper chambers (atria). The septum is a wall that separates the heart's left and right sides.
The treatment for Ziva's condition is immediate heart surgery to block/close the hole. The condition has persisted long enough that the bottom half of Ziva's heart is already grown large than the upper half due to deformity in the upper chambers. If the surgery is not preformed it will ultimately cause heart failure for 4 year old Ziva.

The surgery must take place within the next three months and has to be performed in Seattle. Unfortunately Ziva does not have any health insurance. And as you can imagine the family is going to incur incredible expense from both medical services and treatments as well as their travel and lodging expenses. The Ahart's are amazing people, doing their best to make it - just like the rest of us. We all know that everyone needs a little help every once and awhile. Any amount you could contribute to help this beautiful family would be appreciated immensely.