{"id":8994,"date":"2022-07-18T10:49:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T14:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gatransplant.org\/?p=8994"},"modified":"2022-07-26T16:04:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T20:04:20","slug":"assistance-for-aarian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/assistance-for-aarian\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming the Distance: Aarian Casey’s Road to Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In October of 2021, Marian Farley began living a mother\u2019s worst nightmare. Her two-month-old daughter Aarian always seemed tired. The pediatrician said it was just congestion and not to worry, but Marian knew that something wasn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy spirit told me something was wrong. She didn\u2019t seem just congested. In my spirit, that\u2019s not what it felt like. It was something way different from that,\u201d Marian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After taking her daughter to the hospital, Marian\u2019s fears were confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe had an enlarged heart. Her heart was way bigger than her body,\u201d Marian said. \u201cThey did all they could until the next morning when they contacted the nearest heart doctor. She got airlifted to Gainesville, Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At just two months old, Aarian was placed on an ECMO Machine and listed for a heart transplant. Doctors didn\u2019t know what would happen next. Marian and her family were terrified. From their home in Valdosta, Gainesville was a long way away and they had no way of knowing how long Aarian\u2019s hospitalization would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy heart was beating fast, my head was spinning, I thought I was gonna lose her because she was so sick,\u201d Marian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite how frightening her daughter\u2019s condition was, Aarian\u2019s parents had to keep working and caring for their one-year-old son, even though the family could only visit their baby every few weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[The hardest thing] was continuing our days when that\u2019s always in the back of our mind. Her father still had to go to work to provide even though she was miles away,\u201d Marian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The family did everything they could to be with their daughter, but travel and lodging costs were high, and they had a one-year-old son at home to care for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Options like the Ronald McDonald House weren\u2019t available to the family because their son would not have been able to stay with them due to pandemic safety restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe already had money saved up for the year, but we had to take everything out of our savings to travel back and forth to see her. We had to find babysitters for our other child,\u201d Marian said. \u201cSometimes we were able to see her every weekend, or every other weekend, or every two weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually the separation became too painful. Marian knew that Aarian needed her family to be closer, but with their savings emptied, long term lodging was going to be a challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, after applying through her daughter\u2019s transplant social worker Georgia Transplant Foundation (GTF) was able to help by providing Marian and her family with Lodging Assistance. Through the financial grant GTF provided, the family was able to stay near their baby for the next several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were just like, \u2018Ok, we need to be closer to her.\u2019 Maybe that will make her get well faster. So, we just packed all our clothes and GTF helped us out with the condo [expenses] until she got better,\u201d Marian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aarian was in the hospital for ten long months. With the help of GTF, Marian was able to visit her daughter often. Aarian\u2019s condition slowly improved until she was released in May of 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile all this was happening, I was already believing that she was OK. Even though it didn\u2019t look like she was, in my spirit I felt like she was going to be OK,\u201d Marian said. \u201cI had to believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today things are much brighter for the family. Marian finally has both her children under one roof again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re much better. [The children are] together again, they\u2019re playing, and she\u2019s laughing,\u201d Marian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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