Girl given weeks to live survives, family now advocating for children's health care
There's an enormous amount of strength balled up in tiny 7-year-old Cailinn Lynch. It's something that's hard to imagine when her life started with this diagnosis
\"Doctors kept telling us that she was terminal, that she wasn't going to make it past 8 weeks with her genetics,\" Cailinn's mom Kelly Lynch said.
Cailinn has a rare genetic condition, chances she would survive were slim. But, the little fighter proved everyone wrong.
\"They told us she'd never walk, she'd never talk, she'd never eat and she's doing all of those things.\"
It's that incredible turnaround that has now inspired her parents to address congress, hoping to put a stop to Medicaid cuts that they say could hurt families of sick children.
\"I can't even imagine where we would be without that Medicaid program.\"
Cailinn currently has to see 23 medical specialists, by the time she was 8-months-old, her family had racked up 2.5 million dollars in doctor's bills. Medicaid provided some relief
“She's been inpatient at Children's Hospital Wisconsin close to 400 days since she's been born, has had more than two dozen different surgeries and procedures for things.\"
Kelly hopes Cailinn's story will help impact the decision makers especially when they see her infectious personality. They will be the only family from Wisconsin to represent Speak Now for Kids Family Advocacy Day, along with 44 other families across the country.