Imagine if both your children had to have surgery just ten days before Christmas. It's almost unthinkable, but it's the reality for my good friend whose daughter Sydney will need a bone graft on December 15th, 2011. It's considered an outpatient surgery so she will hopefully be home with her family the same evening.

Sydney is just 7, she was born with a cleft lip and palate and will be undergoing reconstruction of her mid-face and alverolar ridge using bone taken from her hip.

Unbelievably, Sydney's 11-year-old sister Kennedy will also need surgery on her foot on December 14th. This will be Kennedy's second surgery this year - she has a disorder which requires surgery and physical therapy in order to correct both feet. This is an overnight procedure - so as Kennedy checks out from the hospital, Sydney will be going in!

In addition to paying out thousands of dollars in health insurance premiums and copayments, Sydney and Kennedy's mom is also responsible for thousands more in deductibles and non-covered medical expenses. She is a single mother who is struggling to manage her mounting medical bills while working full-time and going to graduate school in the evenings. Since the Blue Cross/Blue shield will NOT pay a dime until Tanyia meets her deductible, she was required to pay the hospital 13,000 UP FRONT for Sydney's surgery. She will hopefully be reimbursed for this at some point within the next couple of months, but she needs to pay the $5000 deductible (which is not reimbursable) for this to happen.

Please consider giving something to help pay for Sydney and Kennedy’s medical expenses which include high deductibles ($5000 in 2011 alone), medication, specialist visits, orthodontia for Sydney and Physical therapy for Kennedy. This is an urgent need for this family right now which is why I have set the end date for this fundraiser as 1/31/12.

Update: Help me reach my first mini goal of $1500 by 12/14 (the date of Kennedy's surgery). Spread the word!

Follow the girls' progress at www.cleftstories.com