The Community for Catholic Moms

A Request for Prayers and Ideas

Prayer Request: A little girl in my parish is set to undergo her 4th open heart surgery on Nov. 18th. Breckyn was diagnosed with 3 different heart defects at 5 weeks old. By 18mos old she had multiple heart catherizations and 3 open heart surgeries. Her heart conditions has caused pulmonary issues as well. Her heart is enlarged and beating so hard that it has crushed her left lung. Long story short she still has multiple problems and needs another surgery. She has multiple aneurisms in the bottom portion of her heart that are very hard to reach. We live in Kansas and the surgery will be in Boston. The family has to arrive on the 11th for tests and procedures that will lead up to the surgery. The family has been told to expect to be there 2 weeks to 2 months after the surgery. The parents will leave their 8 and 10 year old daughters at home with friends and family during this time. Needless to say there are a lot of emotions for this family. This little girl needs a miracle. Please pray for them.

Idea Request: I'm heading up a couple of fundraisers for the family and coordinating meals to be brought to them leading up to their departure time. I'm wanting to get a care package put together for mom, dad and Breckyn to take to Boston for their long stay. Any ideas you have on what to include would be appreciated. If you or someone you know has been through something similar, what did you need or wish you had?

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Nicole Barousse on October 16, 2010 at 8:50pm

For the dinners: Lasagna is always so yummy.
For the fund raising: Maybe your local Knights of Columbus can help you? You could host a garage sale or sell food (a bake sale, breakfast, lunch or dinner).

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Permalink Reply by Kristin Detloff on October 17, 2010 at 12:06am

I'm scanning your post again but did you say how old the little girl is now? I see you mention 18 months having had 3 surgeries...is she still in that under 2 year old range? Just wondering if you are asking for care package items that would be helpful to an older child or if she's still a toddler.

For the parents one thing you could consider is finding out if there are cell phone regulations for the part of the hospital she will be in. If there are restrictions and they can't use cell phones, long distance phone cards may be quite welcome. Other thoughts would just be gift cards or visa gift cards to be used for food/supplies.

As far as something more personal, even though it seems trivial probably now given the seriousness of the situation, there will likely be a lot of down time and waiting. It's sometimes nice to have mindless distraction type activities like crossword puzzles etc. Maybe some books if you know their likings, or even something like a pack of thank you notes or blank cards/stationary they can use with stamps included. I know those are things we've used/done when my dad was in the hospital for longer stints. Also if they are Catholic maybe a little religious care package with a statue of an appropriate saint or the Blessed Mother, a set of rosaries or copy of the chaplet, maybe a small bottle of holy water?

You're a good friend and they are lucky to have you behind them! Praying for little Breckyn and all involved.