Open Heart Surgery

So the story begins four years and some ago when we welcomed our beautiful 9.87 pound baby chicky, that date March 16th 2010, would forever change our lives for the better! Cole handed our baby, Kylee Graham to me when I woke up from the recovery room for what felt like a few seconds but actually was probably quite a few minutes before the nurse told me she had to take her back because Kylee was not able to stabilize her own sugar so she had to go to the NICU. Few days later Cole along with a nurse escorted Kylee through Norfolk General to CHKD to see a cardiologist for concerns. Every child has a hole in their heart that typically closes but Kylee's did not, she also had a severe heart murmur which is quite common but then they diagnosed her with Aortic Stenosis. That condition in common terms is best defined as follows: The aorta is the main artery carrying blood out of the heart. When blood leaves the heart, it flows through the aortic valve, into the aorta. In aortic stenosis, the aortic valve does not open fully. This decreases blood flow from the heart. So before leaving a week after she was born we were told we would follow up every 6 months with the cardiologist. Fast forward to April 2014, we go in for our routine check up and find out that they found a secondary issue called subaortic membrane which is a fibrous membrane below the aortic valve that may involve the ventricular septum, the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve, and the aortic valve itself. At this point we agree to come back for a check in 3 months because there is no physical symptoms that would aware us that the condition is getting worse without doing an echocardiogram. This Wednesday, August 13th at our appointment, the doctor explains that she has a minimal back bleed. He meets with the Board of Surgeons who all agree it's time for surgery. Did I mention that this condition is rare in children and has not been surgically handled just everywhere. So it's time for surgery and I will be bringing Kylee Graham to Boston Children's Hospital to have her surgery but I need help. So please donate to a fund to help get her there and get this surgery by the best of the best cardiac surgeons!  Kylie will be going to Boston on the 19th and will most likely have surgery on Sept 22.