{"id":348,"date":"2026-05-05T12:32:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/?p=348"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:19:54","slug":"not-the-update-we-hoped-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2026\/05\/05\/not-the-update-we-hoped-for\/","title":{"rendered":"Not the update we hoped for\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We got results from Evelyn\u2019s latest echo today, and I want to share an honest update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her heart function has gotten worse. The main pumping chamber is now very enlarged and only pumping about 10% down from 20% last month, which is extremely low. The right side of her heart is also starting to feel the strain, and the pressures in her heart and lungs have gone up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One piece of good news, her mechanical valve is working well and isn\u2019t the issue right now. This is about her heart muscle being very tired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of this, they\u2019re adding another IV medication called dopamine on top of the milrinone she\u2019s already on. Both of these medications help support her heart and improve blood flow, but they also mean she needs closer monitoring.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the next couple of days, she won\u2019t be able to leave the unit, and she\u2019s back on her IV pole again, which is heart breaking to us and Evelyn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tomorrow, her entire care team is meeting to talk through next steps if her heart needs more of a mechanical support. That includes discussing mechanical support options like a VAD or ECMO, things that help do the work of the heart if medications aren\u2019t enough.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is them planning ahead and making sure they\u2019re ready to act quickly if needed.It\u2019s a heavy update, but one I wanted to share.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re taking this one step at a time and trusting her team as they guide us through what comes next <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fonts.gstatic.com\/s\/e\/notoemoji\/17.0\/1f90d\/32.png\" alt=\"\ud83e\udd0d\"> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"920\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/05\/FB_IMG_1778071625231-e1778159850390-920x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-354\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.8984341247666235;width:393px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/05\/FB_IMG_1778071625231-e1778159850390-920x1024.jpg 920w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/05\/FB_IMG_1778071625231-e1778159850390-270x300.jpg 270w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/05\/FB_IMG_1778071625231-e1778159850390-768x855.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/05\/FB_IMG_1778071625231-e1778159850390.jpg 1153w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 920px) 100vw, 920px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Please pray that our baby girl can make it to transplant without anymore surgeries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-you-can-help\">How You Can Help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re getting ready for Evelyn&#8217;s birthday and the\u00a0big fundraiser garage sale for\u00a0COTA for\u00a0Evelyn&#8217;s Heart! Thank you to everyone who has donated items to the garage sale and reached out to help celebrate Evelyn&#8217;s birthday! If you want to send a birthday card, visit the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Hearts-for-Evelyn\/61567380579056\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0for instructions on how to get a hold of Kelly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Garage Sale Details:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>June 4-6<br>Location: 7040 Eagle Trail, Centerville, MN<br>Time: Thurs. and Fri. 8am to 5pm<br>Sat. 8am to 12pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wl.donorperfect.net\/weblink\/weblink.aspx?name=cota&amp;id=27&amp;dpgid=COTAforEvelynsHeart&amp;dpgsol=PTOL&amp;dpg_frname=Evelyn+Otto\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click Here to Donate Now<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bonfire.com\/cota-for-evelyns-heart\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Get your &#8220;Hearts for Evelyn&#8221; T-Shirt<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Hearts-for-Evelyn\/61567380579056\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Join our &#8220;Hearts for Evelyn&#8221; Facebook Group<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What makes our partnership with COTA so great is that they will be with Evelyn throughout her lifetime. Every dollar donated to COTA in honor of Evelyn goes to transplant-related expenses. Thank you for being here with us for Evelyn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We got results from Evelyn\u2019s latest echo today, and I want to share an honest update. Her heart function has gotten worse. The main pumping chamber is now very enlarged and only pumping about 10% down from 20% last month, which is extremely low. The right side of her heart is also starting to feel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2374,"featured_media":354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Not the update we hoped for\u2026 - COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2026\/05\/05\/not-the-update-we-hoped-for\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not the update we hoped for\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We got results from Evelyn\u2019s latest echo today, and I want to share an honest update. 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