Help for Manalang family

Update 10/21/2016: Madyson had the 2nd heart surgery at the end of September in Atlanta. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support and prayers!!!! The surgery went great and Madyson arrived home from Atlanta on a Monday. We were so excited but we then got news of Hurricane Matthew about to come through our area. We waited the storm out, had no damage but lost power. Since Madyson needs to be in a temperature-controlled house and her mommy needs to have lights to monitor her through the night, the Manalangs had to return to Atlanta on that Saturday evening until power was restored in their house. Madyson's father missed almost three weeks of work without pay due to the surgery and hurricane. I am therefore asking if you would please re-post this once again to your pages in case there is someone who would like to donate to this PlumFund and help them out financially. Your continued prayers and support through this have been a tremendous blessing to us. Thank you!

Update 09/17/2016: Madyson is now 5 months old and is scheduled for a 2nd heart surgery this month. Please share this again on your walls as the family would be most appreciative of prayers and any financial gift someone could contribute on the Plumfund page. God bless and thank you so much! If you have not read about Madyson from the start.... below is her story. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Madyson Manalang and I was born in April 2016 with Tricuspid Atresia. I had heart surgery on May 10th and I am finally home from the hospital and doing well. My Grammy is helping me write this and before she gets too far ahead of herself, let me back up a little. ;).

We live in the Savannah area but I had to be delivered in Atlanta because I needed specialized care that the Savannah area does not offer. I got to go home to Savannah after about 6 days post-delivery. Yay! However, one month later I had to be transported by ambulance from Savannah to Atlanta because I needed emergency heart surgery. Mommy and daddy came quickly after but by the time they arrived, the surgeon had already started my surgery. Mommy and daddy stayed with me in Atlanta for 2 weeks after the surgery while I recuperated and so that they could receive training on how to care for me when I got home.

As I said, I am finally home now but still on a feeding tube and several medications, and still having to go to several appointments with different doctors and medical people to make sure everything is going smoothly. Mommy said the doctor plans on doing a catheterization in August to see what the next step is so we will once again be traveling back to Atlanta. She said the doctor told them that once the catheterization is complete he may be recommending two more surgeries over the next three years. It seems that it will be a long road but we are standing strong and trusting God. Speaking of standing strong, my Grammy gave me a nickname; “Kia Kaha” which means Forever Strong. I love it!

I told you my story to help you understand why I wanted Grammy to start this page. It wasn’t for you to feel sorry for me or my family but to let you know that mommy and daddy are the best parents that I could ever ask for. They have sacrificed a lot to get me the care I needed, and they continue to sacrifice for me. I write this to let you know that mommy and daddy sure could use help paying their bills. I do have medical insurance but I heard daddy say that since he was just shy of being at his job for one year when all of this started, he has been off work all these weeks without pay for the most part; and we are a one income family. His employer has been working with him to be off but still, not much money coming his way from there. Daddy even sold his car recently to help pay bills.

So, I write this letter asking if you would make a contribution to help lighten the financial load that mommy and daddy have right now. Would you? I would appreciate it very much, and I know mommy, daddy, my brother and sister would too.

Thank you so much. Have a great day!

Warmly,

Kia Kaha/Madyson

P.S. Mommy has started TWO groups that you can find on Facebook. One is called Cardiac Stitches which collects knit & crocheted items for hospitalized cardiac children. Items include in any size, style or theme: blankets, hats, socks, stuffed animals. The other one is called Tricuspid Atresia Savannah/Atlanta Support Group. It’s a group to share your journey and build friendship with families who know exactly what you are going through or will be going through with the diagnosis of Tricuspid Atresia.