Makenna's Open Heart Surgery

Makenna was born in August, a tiny 5lb pound beautiful little girl. She was small but healthy, and everyone was so excited to meet her. But at her 5 day check up with her pediatrician a heart murmur was heard.. Makenna was sent to see a pediatric cardiologist, the first of many appointments she would have. It was discovered she had a large Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), AKA a hole in her heart. The cardiologist wasn’t too concerned, typically these close on their own over time.. so everyone was sent home to live life and hope the hole would close. Around 4.5 months old Makenna was still very small for her age (a side effect of the VSD) so she was sent to Rainbow Babies & Children hospital in Cleveland for a sedated EKG to get some really good images and determine if surgery was needed. After only a few minutes they saw the hole was actually larger than they first thought, and surgery was a must. That day surgery was scheduled for Makenna at one of the best children’s hospital in the country with one of the best pediatric heart surgeons.

 

They received a call from the Rainbows a few days later, informing them Rainbows is out of network for their insurance company.. Rainbows is fighting for them to get it approved to be in-network, but it appears the costly surgery is going to be even more costly now. The last thing Makenna’s parents should be worrying about as their baby recovers from open heart surgery is large hospital bills.


If you could find it in your heart to help out this new family, in any way you can, it would be so appreciated.