{"id":383,"date":"2026-05-15T22:47:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T22:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/?p=383"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:02:16","slug":"surgery-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2026\/05\/15\/surgery-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Surgery #10"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today has been an extremely long day. From 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Ross and I didn\u2019t see our daughter \u2014 by far the longest surgery she\u2019s ever had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hospital called us to meet in a consultation room to go over how surgery went. Our surgeon immediately smiled and said it went as smoothly as it could have, and just as expected, it took a very long time to get through all of the scar tissue. She was extremely meticulous throughout the entire procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also spoke with the anesthesiologist afterward, who explained they were very slow and extremely cautious putting Evelyn under anesthesia because of how fragile her heart function is right now and the risk that she could have gone into cardiac arrest. They were surprised at how well she did through that process. We should never doubt our girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She was able to avoid having to move Evelyn\u2019s pacemaker wires, which even surprised the team because initially they thought those would need to be moved as well. Her pacemaker battery was also not changed today as intended due to her high anticoagulant levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Evelyn came back with an open chest, with the plan to close her either Sunday or Monday depending on how the next 48 hours go. She is still critical and being watched extremely closely. So far, the right side of her heart is adjusting well to the new physiology of the LVAD. It is very overwhelming to see compared to past surgeries \u2014 knowing that a machine is now what\u2019s keeping her alive until she gets her transplant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has reached out, sent prayers, messages, meals, gifts, and love. Please continue praying for a smooth recovery and uneventful healing over these next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heart surgery number 10 in the books. You absolutely rocked it, baby girl. We love you so much, Evelyn. <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\u2665\ufe0f\" src=\"https:\/\/fonts.gstatic.com\/s\/e\/notoemoji\/17.0\/2665_fe0f\/32.png\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"746\" height=\"1325\" src=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/05\/FB_IMG_1779108302242-1-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-396\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.5630177531640784;width:399px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/05\/FB_IMG_1779108302242-1-edited.jpg 746w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/05\/FB_IMG_1779108302242-1-edited-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/05\/FB_IMG_1779108302242-1-edited-577x1024.jpg 577w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px\" \/><\/figure>\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 the\u00a0big fundraiser garage sale for\u00a0COTA for\u00a0Evelyn&#8217;s Heart! Thank you to everyone who has donated items to the garage sale!<\/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>Today has been an extremely long day. From 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Ross and I didn\u2019t see our daughter \u2014 by far the longest surgery she\u2019s ever had. The hospital called us to meet in a consultation room to go over how surgery went. Our surgeon immediately smiled and said it went as smoothly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2374,"featured_media":396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-383","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>Surgery #10 - 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\/15\/surgery-10\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Surgery #10\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today has been an extremely long day. 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