Let's get Ivy to Houston

Ivy was born Christmas Eve 2012 with trisomy 18 also known as Edwards syndrome. Due to this condition many doctors refuse to offer care for her. A surgeon in Houston, Texas agreed to help her. Without prayer and God's guidance she and her family wouldn't have made it this far. God has given the doctors the knowledge to know what avenues to take and we are forever grateful.

The funny thing is God brought Texas Ivy! She and her mother are in Cincinnati Children's now. Just so happens the two surgeons and some of the cardiac team are from the group in Texas that Ivy's mother wanted to get her to. They all transferred to Cincinnati within the past year. It's so wonderful how God redirects you and how and where he puts people in our lives. Ivy's mother didn't want to go to Cincinnati due to being turned down twice before. Those turn downs led her to call Houston. She had spoken with a fellow trisomy mom/friend from that area and she helped Ivy's mother with information for Houston. From what was understood the financial dept. wouldn't call the insurance company back to work on a contract due to being out of network. That was in March, when we started Ivy's page. We were going to try to raise the money to get her there. The cost was going to total over $100,000 for surgery and transport alone. Thanks to 3 special doctors, one of those being the cardiologist who made the call, Ivy was able to go to DC. After getting there they decided they weren't going to do the surgery, but she got her trach instead. So we could finally see her face without all the hoses from the Cpap. She was there 2 months, then transferred back to their home hospital's PICU at Cabell Huntington Hospital in WV. Her mother talked with one of the attending doctors and Ivy's cardiologist about trying for surgery again. Her cardiologist and the social worker made the appropriate calls and called insurance. They tried Houston, then Cincinnati, Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, Duke and Columbus. It was narrowed then to Ann Arbor and Cincinnati, because Houston's financial dept. was not calling back again. Ivy's cardiologist and one if the attending doctors were very confident with trying Cincinnati again. I remember right before the decision was made Ivy's mother praying to God to help her make the choice where to go. While we were waiting for a call back again from Michigan, Cincinnati kept popping up in the suggestion. Houston had already fell off the board so to speak and she asked God to choose for them. She said to Him that if Cincinnati was the place for Ivy then that's where she'd take her. The next day we heard Michigan would not agree on a contract with insurance. So her prayer was answered. ... Ivy and her mother are in Cincinnati with a team from Texas! Her surgeon was trained by the surgeon Ivy's mother initially tried to get her to! How cool is that? :)) God answered our prayers :)) Ivy received her heart surgery October 3 and is doing well. They are expected to go home in January. We fought for 9 months to get to this step. Her mother has been right beside her from the start and was recently let go from her job. Ivy is going to require a lot of care and special equipment when she gets home. Would you please help with the cost of these extra expenses by purchasing a t-shirt. Robin (Ivy's mother) designed it. It will be greatly appreciated. The front of the t-shirt represents Ivy's facebook page "Let's Get Ivy To Houston" and the T-18 is for the syndrome she has. Turquoise is the awareness color for trisomy 18. On the back is our answered prayer. Ivy found Houston in Cincinnati. Thank you for taking time to read our story. Have a great day and may God bless you.