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Makes you want to smile back, right? |
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They have a great sign! |
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I know this was one of the balloon designs sent! |
After all that I had done throughout the day regarding helping out the children at ACH, an unfortunate turn of events occurred. It was one of those coincidences that you'd rather not run across, but things happen that we cannot control. The following day, my niece Maggie went in to emergency surgery at this very same hospital. She has had a swelling on her neck which was initially thought to be a salivary gland issue. Actually it was thought to be a lot of things along the way, from mumps to mono and other not so pleasant possibilities. In then end, after many go rounds with various doctors, she finally ended up with the ENT specialists as Children's. It came to light that the swelling was from a very infected cyst that had to be surgically removed. The core was the size of about half a baseball and it had about 21 mL of fluid surrounding it. Now don't quote me on the specifics, this was the last I heard before my brother went running to the hospital yesterday afternoon.
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This pic is from last Saturday, and it got much worse from there. |
The coincidence of me sending balloons to patients at Arkansas Children's Hospital, setting up a donation page for them, and then having Maggie go into emergency surgery there the following day when we had no inkling this would happen, like I said before, some coincidences you'd rather not have happen. But all is getting better, Maggie is receiving some of the best care in the nation, and all will be well in the end.
Here is where I'm going to ask you all for a small favor...
When I set up the fundraising page I started the donations with a small $25 one of my own. Now I am not asking for others to drop $25 into the pot. But if I could get everyone I know and everyone who reads this to donate just $1, I could reach my $1000 goal within a week, probably even sooner. I might even go over my initial collection goal. I didn't expect my act of kindness this week to turn around and hit so close to home, but it has and it makes it that much more dear to my heart. I hope I can encourage others to also make it dear to theirs and click on the link below which goes to my donation page, and make even a $1 donation today to help ACH continue to save children's lives and provide some of the best care available to children in this nation. If you can spare more than $1, that would be awesome, too. And just so everyone knows, the donations do not go to me and then onto Arkansas Children's Hospital. All donations go directly to the ACH. And just think, this could be your random act of kindness for the week!
UPDATE: It was just brought to my attention that the way the ACH has their donation pages set up requires a $5 minimum donation. I apologize for not realizing this sooner. They also only take credit cards online, no Paypal. I'm sure all of this is due to avoid unnecessary fees that would cost them precious dollars and end up as transaction fees, but I really wish I'd known this before asking for $1 donations. I sincerely apologize if I misled anyone due to my lack of information regarding this issue. Hopefully I will still be able to raise the funds, it might just take a bit longer. :)
So if you all would, please follow the link and help out if you can!
http://archildrens.kintera.org/singlemodernmom
I'll wrap up this entry with a great big thank you to all who have helped Maggie over at the ACH. Also, thank you to anyone who sends a donation their way or who simply send Maggie good thoughts for her recovery. I'm a believer in positive vibes, so vibe away if nothing else!
And to all those children who received a balloon from a stranger on Wednesday, I wish I had a picture of your smiling faces but I am fine just with the knowledge that your day was hopefully brightened a small bit. I wish you all the best of luck, and I'm sending positive vibes to each of you that you'll be up and out of the hospital in no time!
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Thank you ACH for all you do! |
And the spiel...
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