Over the past three years our son Tayen has been seen at a total 3 different hospitals for all his medical needs. We had grown very frustrated with his team and wanted to seek other opinions from Rady Children’s hospital in San Diego CA after learning about their new Center for CHARGE syndrome. When we first got the process started we thought that we would be able to stay at the Ronald McDondald house but unfortunately they were under construction and wouldn’t have space. We were so stressed about how we would make this trip work given that San Diego is so expensive and we were going to need to get a place for a little over a week for all the appointments he would have, not to mention the cost of travel for 5 people, food etc while there.
At first we didn’t think we could apply for the Medical Travel assistance program given we weren’t leaving the state but after learning the travel has to be over 200 miles we took the leap and submitted an application. The process was incredibly quick and easy to apply, taking maybe ten minutes. We heard back so quickly and we are so grateful to receive the Grant from The CHARGE Syndrome Foundation. It made a really stressful trip easier to navigate and eased a huge burden off our shoulders, allowing us to focus on Tayen’s medical care.
A lot of families stress over the financial aspects of caring for a child with medical complexities and it can feel so isolating, programs like the medical travel assistance help foster that feeling of community and allows families the ability to put their energy into their child’s care which is what truly matters. I hope more families take the time to learn a little more about this program because you may be like me and not even realize you qualify. We are so thankful for everything The CHARGE Foundation does to help families like ours.
