Sarah was born half way around the world on February 10th, 2010. We did not know at that time God’s HUGE plans for her and that our family would change forever with this little girl!! We were so blessed to be able to adopt her on May 9th, 2012, and bring her home to her forever family. She was a spunky little girl with a smile that would light up a room, but she also had a little blue tint to her skin, lips and fingers. Quickly after arriving in the US we had Sarah at the cardiologist and learned that she was born with a major heart defect (Double Outlet Right Ventricle & VSD). Children born with this defect would typically have surgery right after birth and usually can’t survive 2 years with this type of condition, especially running around and playing the way she did. She truly is a miracle and God had protected her in such a mighty way!
Within 3 weeks of bringing Sarah home she was undergoing open-heart surgery for her Glenn procedure. She did amazing and recovered like a champ. Sarah was so active; she ran and played like any other child. She played soccer for a season before falling in love with gymnastics. When she was 4 years old she received her 2nd open-heart surgery (Fontan) to help ensure good heart function. We always knew that her heart would not last forever with this configuration, but the hope was that it would get her to early adulthood.
Sarah recovered fabulously; she continued to play sports, t-ball, softball, but her love was gymnastics. She continued on and joined a competition gymnastics team in 2018/2019. She loves doing gymnastics and learning new skills. When COVID hit it was really hard for her to give this up, but in a way it was also a blessing. That is about the time things started going downhill with Sarah’s health. She was in for a routine check and the doctor noticed that her resting heart rate was low 50’s and she has a few abnormal arythimn on the EKG. They did a holter which led to referral to electrophysiologist and a cardiac MRI. The results led us to a heart cath and ultimately placement of a pacemaker/defibrillator. We also started conversations with the transplant team and they felt the time was near that Sarah would need to move forward with a heart transplant. While we always knew this day would come, none of us were prepared that it would be this soon!! While going through all of the pre-transplant meetings and consultations we were down to our last one, it was scheduled for 1:30 on 1.18.21. The girls had a fun day out planned beginning with a visit to the American Girl doll store, have lunch then her last appointment before discussing getting her listed. Well, that certainly did not turn out as planned. While in line to pay at American Girl Store Sarah did not feel well and collapsed. That was one of the scariest moments of my life!! After that episode I called the doctor’s office and asked if someone could look at her while we were there for the 1:30 appt. They sent us straight to the ER and we are still in the hospital today!
We have been blessed beyond measure by so many. We decided to move forward with COTA for Sarah because this organization will help assist with transplant-related expenses for the rest of her life. Once she ages out of being able to be covered by our insurance she will still have significant medical expenses (just the medicine alone can be thousands of dollars). Please consider donating to COTA for Team Sarah.
Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising lifesaving dollars in honor of transplant needs children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to all families and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Thank you for following along in our journey #teamsarah
Praying