Story Project
Our early Christmas gift
Tell us your story.
Zach has seen his ups and downs this year. Fortunately
mostly ups, but this has meant appointments, and more
appointments, and even more appointments. Between
specialists, procedures, tests, and therapy his medical bills
climbed.
We consider our family the average American family with
"good" insurance that covers most of the basic medical
expenses, but one that does not include any of the extras.
Our income is also barely above the limit for a family of 4
to qualify for any state assistance. The ironic thing being
every department considers him to be disabled!
Children's Hospital is where the bulk of Zach's medical
has been done since birth. Including his clubfoot treatments,
castings, procedure, and the provider of his orthopedic
shoes. He's also undergone MRIs, several panels of labs, and
most recently surgery to repair a hernia and to obtain a
muscle biopsy- again all done at Children's. So, in September
when we fell more and more behind we finally applied for
charity help.
Less than two weeks after sending in our application we
were notified that not only had we qualified , but that all
of his accounts had been cleared leaving us with NOTHING to
pay. All because of donations from strangers! Our even bigger
shock came about 10 days later when another piece of mail
arrived from Children's. Right away we grew curious knowing
it was not another appointment reminder. I pulled an actual
check out of the envelope and as I read the included letter,
tears filled my eyes. The letter informed us that Zach's
accounts were now considered over-paid and they were
refunding us the payments we had been making on his accounts.
The emotion I felt reading that letter is unexplainable!
What does Children's mean to you, your child and your family?
We have been so overjoyed with the generosity of this
hospital that I wanted to be sure to spread the word to
everyone before the holidays!
I know we can all agree, that during this time of the year
our hearts somehow grow even bigger for others. When this
happens this year for you, our family would like to urge you
to please be sure to keep Children's Hospital at the top of
your list of charities to donate to. This is our own personal
reason why this hospital should not go unforgotten when you
make your donations!
Now-a-days with so many charities and organizations being
under review as to where money actually goes, Children's yet
again proves every penny counts! Zach is a real patient and
we are a real family who has been touched by these
donations.
Our biggest gift is our children! To protect as best we
can their health and well being. To allow them every benefit
possible to grow and to learn to the best of his/her
abilities. As a parent faced with any type of extra burdens,
you can't always help but to question, am I doing this
well?..... We will forever be grateful to Children's for
opening our eyes a little wider and helping us to answer that
question....... needing help doesn't necessarily mean we
aren't doing it well, it is in how we accept it that we will
do even better! This early Christmas gift will not be
forgotten and we will continue to remind others how much it
has meant.