Tatiana is Back in the Game
Eight-year-old Tatiana is walking, talking and playing again after a life-threatening brain infection caused seizures so severe she was hospitalized for months.   Tatiana’s ordeal started suddenly on a late summer day in 2008. The Orcutt youngster had been swimming with her cousins. She got out of the pool and after a few minutes her parents found her standing with a blank stare, unresponsive. Tatiana was taken to the nearest hospital’s emergency department then flown by air ambulance to Cottage Children’s Hospital.   Without community support from people like you such specialized pediatric medical services might not be available to children on the Central Coast.		Tatiana, left, with her little sister, Natalia.
Doctors initially diagnosed Tatiana’s condition as encephalitis and for a while her condition improved. But then the seizures returned and Tatiana began to experience tantrums and violent outbursts.   Unable to walk, talk or feed herself, Tatiana was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Cottage Children’s Hospital where her doctors induced a coma and put her on life support in hopes of breaking the cycle of seizures. After several months of hospital care Tatiana was finally able to go home and is now back in school.   “We’re amazed at how people came to our aid; people we didn’t even know,” said Tatiana’s father. “Through all this we never lost hope.”

As part of the larger not-for-profit Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Cottage Children’s Hospital serves young people from throughout the Central Coast. On behalf of all the children we serve, we ask you to partner with us in caring for our children.

Your tax-deductible gift will help ensure that children like Tatiana can receive the care they need close to home. The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit where she was treated and the inpatient pediatric hematology/oncology center are the only programs of their kind between Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Along with the dedicated inpatient pediatric unit and Level III neonatal intensive care unit, these programs and the team of trained pediatric specialists who staff them are made possible, in part, by your donations.

In these challenging economic times, community support for these programs is more important than ever. Government and insurance company reimbursements often fall short of covering the cost of specialized medical services, and increasing numbers of families are facing financial hardships.

We would welcome and value your support so that we may continue to provide personalized, compassionate care to children and families throughout the Central Coast and surrounding regions.

	Cottage Children's Hospital Children's Miracle Network P.O. Box 689 Santa Barbara, CA 93102-0689   Thank you for caring!