Tip of the Month Recipient | The Schneider Family

All tips given the in the month of September will be donated to the Elliana Schneider family of Minister. Elliana is one year old and is the daughter of Leah and Scott Schneider, and younger sister to, Brady (7), James (5), Cooper (4), and Rosalie (2). Leah worked full time at Holy Rosary School in St. Mary’s until Elliana’s birth and had to quit her job to care for her. Scott continues to work full time at Pratt Industries and helps care for their four other children.

While Leah was pregnant with her fifth child, during her 20 week-anatomy scan, the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The baby, whom they named Elliana, would be facing multiple surgeries at birth and more later on. They worked with multiple care teams and came up with a plan for a full-term delivery at Cincinnati Children’s: however, Leah went into pre-term labor on May 10, 2024 and was care flighted from Lima Memorial to Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati. Both hospitals were able to stop Leah’s labor until May 14 when Elliana was delivered. Elliana immediately received an umbilical venous catheter to administer lifesaving medication to keep her alive until she could have her first open heart surgery. Elliana was then quickly transferred to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Since she was premature, she didn’t weigh enough to have the first open heart surgery called the Norwood. On May 16, at 2 days old, she had a non-invasive surgery in the cath lab where they placed two devices in her heart to control blood flow to her lungs. She was inpatient for about a month as they waited for her to gain enough weight to do the needed surgery, which was done on June 10, 2024.

Elliana had another surgery done in the Cath lab for a balloon atrial septostomy on June 17, 2024. She was then inpatient for about 4 weeks in the CICU for recovery. On July 3, she was discharged to the Ronald McDonald house where she and her mother stayed for 3 months with continuous appointments and daily monitoring. Elliana had another noninvasive surgery on September 12 to get ready for her next open-heart surgery, which was performed on Oct 1, and she was then discharged to home on October 16.

Elliana has continuous cardiology appointments to monitor her heart. The hope is that she will remain stable until she’s 3-4 years old and then she will have another cath procedure and third open heart surgery. Later in life, she will likely need a heart transplant. Elliana enjoys spending time with her older siblings and playing outside.

Your generous donations will help with Elliana’s on-going medical bills. Let us keep the Schneider family in our prayers.

September 2025