CMNH MIRACLE CHILD: Meet Eliana Blitch

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Eliana Blitch is a busy girl.  

As a freshman in high school, she’s juggling the Color Guard, band, theater, Future Farmers of America, and softball.   Now she’s also managing Type 1 Diabetes.  It was a diagnosis no one expected.   

“We had noticed Ellie wasn’t quite acting herself,” Her mother  Tiffany Isnard said. “She was pretty tired a lot, heartburn, started to lose some weight, it all seemed like normal stuff for a teenager.”

But when Eliana woke up one morning unable to speak normally or move easily, it was time to go to the doctor. Tiffany says it was pretty terrifying when the phone rang after she and Eliana had just left from getting tested.  The doctor’s office told her to get her child to the hospital right away because something was wrong. Eliana’s glucose numbers were at critical levels.  She was admitted to intensive care with Diabetic Ketoacidosis for undiagnosed Type One Diabetes.  Tiffany said it was a scary day and a close call.  She was just thankful for the great staff that helped them through the crisis.

As Eliana began to recover, the whole family was learning more about managing Type One Diabetes, a treatment that comes with significant expense. Then Tiffany said it that started to occur to us that we were suddenly going to have a lot of additional expenses.

That’s when the family was introduced to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and given assistance that ranged from hospital bills to medical supplies and equipment.

“It’s meant a lot to me, just the fact they helped my family be able to be there whenever I need them the most for that transition to what our new lifestyle was going to be,” said Eliana said.  “She went on to say, “they reach out to families in need and they helped like my family be able to get back up on our feet.”

“I can’t even think about the number of years we would be paying medical bills,” said Tiffany.  “But, just the support, just knowing as we can email, we can ask questions, they’re always there, it’s been good to have that extra support system.

It is a support system worth supporting, according to Tiffany.

“Just donating to Children’s Miracle Network, you’re not donating to strangers, you’re donating to your neighbor, to your friends,” said Tiffany. “You never know how quickly things can come up.  It’s a tangible difference.  It’s a real difference.  It’s a difference we can experience.  I mean we’ve experienced it personally.”

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals extends the kind of help that allows families to recover from a crisis and go on with their lives. Tiffany says Eliana is doing all the things they ever expected her to do and even more.

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