Michelle's Story

Five month old Michelle Guzman Salaices is fighting for her life.  She was born six months premature weighing 1 pound, 7 ounces.  Her parents Celina and Salvador from Dalton, Georgia, are praying for a miracle.  The couple lost their baby boy, Brian a year ago from complications with his premature birth.  Since November of 2007 Celina and Salvador have called Ronald McDonald House “home,” conveniently located just across the street from Children’s Hospital at Erlanger where their baby daughter is receiving care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

For the past four months, baby Michelle's health has been up and down. She has had complications with her liver and also received an operation on her eye.  Everyday she makes slow progress and her parents continue to stay close, visiting daily for special baths and feedings. Michelle has just begun to use her bottle for her daily meals after several months of using a feeding tube.

“If Ronald McDonald House wasn’t here, we would only be here on the weekends but now we can go whenever we want,” says Celina Guzman. Celina spends most of her days at the hospital with Michelle, while her husband Salvador works and then together they take turns in the evenings holding Michelle, cherishing every moment with their little one.

“You think you’re the only one but when you meet other families that are going through it, it makes it easier,” she continues.

Celina and Salvador say they appreciate the nightly dinners and have found comfort and hope in meeting other families in similar situations at the Ronald McDonald House. The couple is counting the days until they can take their little girl home. 

Ronald McDonald House serves as a “home away from home” for 26 families everyday and generally there’s a small waiting list on the weekends. Families stay an average of 15 days, but many stay much longer.  Their length of stay is based on their children’s medical needs.