Myka

Age 9, California

Meet Myka. She loves the Girl Scouts, ice skating, playing with her friends. She loves to read the Rebel Girl books with her mom. She always thinks of her brothers and their well being. She's a great student always doing her best in class. She's a good friend and a loving daughter.

Myka was diagnosed after birth with pulmonary stenosis, a Congenital Heart Defect. Just recently, she was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that includes a tumor on her optic nerve. Myka has had 2 open heart surgeries before her first birthday. The first surgery was 4 months after her birth and a 3 week NICU stay. Her first surgery also had her in the cardiothoracic intensive care unit for 2.5 weeks. Myka goes to a cardiologist every year, a neurologist every 6 months, a neurological opthamologist every 6 months, has a MRI under general anesthesia every 6 months.

My husband owns his own company (thanks only to the ACA which allowed him to open his own business because we COULD secure healthcare on our own). We have a small business healthcare plan put together by a broker. Access to quality healthcare means my child will always be monitored for her ailments. It means she will have access to the doctors who've been treating her literally her entire life keeping her alive. Losing the ACA would mean my husband would be unable to be self-employed. With the ACA’s protections for pre-existing condition and no lifetime caps, we don't have to worry about Myka losing health care. She will continue to have the same level of care she has always had. Her new diagnoses of a brain glioma is terrifying. Not having healthcare on top of it, would be devastating to our family. Myka hit $500k in medical costs at 11 months old. Each MRI costs $15k. No lifetime caps means we can continue to receive the level of care she requires.

Submitted by Angela, Myka's mother