Lucia Torres

Lucia Needs Our Help!

As most of you know Lucia Marie Torres was born December 8th, 2017, and with those of you who know our family….understand the significance of this being the Feast of the Immaculate Conception…and it’s not a coincidence 🙂 Only a few days prior to that, did Annie and Victor learn just how serious her hypertropic cardiomyopathy was and that she may have Noonan Syndrome. As it turns out, our little LuLu’s heart condition was in fact quite serious. She spent the first six days of her life in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Joe DiMaggio Hospital in Hollywood, FL.

We all had to wait several weeks before finding out the results of her genetic testing. Lucia does have Noonan Syndrome. Lucia may exhibit several serious symptoms with Noonan Syndrome, but presently she has been exhibits the following:
·      pulmonary stenosis
·      hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
·      congenital heart defects

Lucia has a wonderful team of doctors advocating for her, this includes her pediatric cardiology and transplant teams at the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. However, this specialized care does come at an added cost for Annie and Victor, who currently live in Naples which is about a 2 hour drive. With only the best as an option for their Lucia, they continue to travel to and from for hospital visits and will need to continue this pre- and post- transplant.

Please help us raise money for this beautiful family that is so much need of our help. This may be a lifetime struggle where Lucia will need to meet with several doctors for the rest of her life. Doctors that may include: pediatricians, surgeons, dermatologists, cardiologists, orthopedists, endocrinologists, and audiologists.

However, at this time, the immediate concern is if Annie’s health insurance will cover the cost of the transplant that Lucia so desperately needs. In addition to that, there will be medical expenses with the aspects of care and recovery (including copays, medications, transport, and much more) which are  not covered by insurance. For less than a week in the NICU they have received a bill for over $149,000.

For the first year after a transplant, a patient remains at high risk for rejection, and there are many costs associated with monitoring and guarding against this, as well as with recuperation in other ways. 

No parent should have to worry about the financial stress while dealing with this. My hope is that we can take some of the financial burden off of their family so they can focus solely on taking care of their precious baby girl. Annie has been out on maternity leave and Victor was laid off from his job right before Christmas. They need our help more than ever.

That’s where we can help! I’m setting up this fundraising campaign to help make a difference! Please give what you can and spread the word.  All donations will help the Torres family.  If you have questions about this process or about the campaign, feel free to email me using the contact link on the campaign page.

Our whole family thanks you for your continued LOVE and SUPPORT! Whether its a monetary contribution, one of prayer…or both…THANK YOU!

***If you are interested in wearing a bracelet to support Lucia please contact Liz Vargas or copy and paste the link below:

http://etsy.me/2o2QO03