Mikaisha's Open Heart Surgery

            ~  Please Share to Your Wall ~ Thank You !! ~

Mikaisha is a 14 years old Freshmen who attends school at  Winchester Community High School and has just found out she has a 1" whole in the wall between the right and left sides of her heart, causing the blood to mix and to flow to the wrong side, which also has her left side enlarged.

Mikaisha has been an active and healthy child until her family doctor heard an abnormal heart sound during a routine checkup, sent her to Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis to undergo an EKG and CT, and was informed that she has a Large Secundum Atrial Septal Defect, with a deficient superior rim & dilated right atrium and ventricle. Wow!! What a shock!! It was explained the because of its size and positioning the only way to correct this would be to undergo Open Heart Surgery which will require a lengthy hospital stay. Not what a young girl, her mother, and her grandmother wanted to hear. But we sat, and we listened, and the three of us were brave and strong (on the surface) as we asked all of the right questions and discussed our plans to Seize and Conquer.  

How does a young mother, who is already facing other life changing circumstances within her home where she lives with her family of  6, and maintains employment along with her husband, Plan for such a Shock as being told her daughter is facing a such a critical surgery? ? ...  With hidden tears, silent fears, and relentless prayers. 

I am so proud of my daughter, her strength against the storms is remarkable, and I have faith that my granddaughter will pull through this with minimal repercussions . . .
But we are asking for your support. 

The surgery (scheduled for March 20th), the extended hospital stay (approx 2 weeks), many weeks of missed work(2 more weeks at-home recovery following 2 week stay), post-op meds, specialists care and monitoring, will be well over $10,000. 

There has already been  a few who have asked how they could assist Scott, Casey, Mikaisha, and the family  through this difficult time (and financial burden), so, I figured this would be the best way to allow anyone who wanted to be a blessing to them in this fashion to do so. 

Dollars add up, so No gift is too small <3 
Anything you can do to help will be appreciated!!!
We are hoping for some poker runs or other benefit functions if you have an idea to gift us with.
And the Power of PRAYER is in Each of Us, so please Please, please join us in Praying and Believing that Mikaisha will be kept Safe; and her family will be kept Strong.

 More about Mikaisha's Diagnosis,  Complications causing surgery to be of Higher Risk,  Treatment plan, and Recovery as written by Casey:
There is a large whole in the wall that separates the right (deoxygenated blood) and left (oxygenated blood) sides of a heart, in the upper chamber which is allowing her oxygenated blood to mix with her unoxygenated blood, and then is flowing into her lungs and being re-oxygenated. Basically, the blood flowing into her lungs is about 25% less rich in blood and 25% entering her lungs, is previously produced oxygen. This is a common condition however not to this extent. The average size of a ‘hole’ in a heart is 7mm, hers is 21mm. It is very large and therefore requires a more extreme surgery to fix. This uneven blood flow occurring for so long, has led to the left side of her heart being enlarged, and the right to be smaller than it should be. She has also been diagnosed with MRCA (Mersa), a Staph infection that is created by a bacteria which is not curable. This will require several additional tests and precautions pre, during and post operation.

Treatment Plan: Mikaisha has undergone several rounds of testing up to this point: blood work, urine screens, nasal swab/culture, EKG and ECHO. Due to MRCA, she will be required to use specialized medication from now, until surgery date. On March 17th, she will undergo a six hour day of pre-op tests. On March 20th is her surgery. This will be at Peyton Manning’s St. Vincent Children’s Hospital. She will undergo open-heart surgery requiring her to go on a by-pass machine to keep her blood pumping. She will have a breathing tube, several blood transfusions, a main line and an NG tube. There will be two pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons completing the operation where they will cut a section of the sac holding her heart away, patch that cut and then use the section removed from the sac to repair the problem (as an acting patch). The determination of whether any surgical steps will be required to correct the size of her heart, will be made during the surgery. Her breast bone will be wired back in place. The surgery is expected to take 4- 8 or more hours. While she is coming off of anesthesia, and until doctors are confident her heart is able to pump on its own efficiently, she will be on a temporary pace maker. Following surgery she will be placed in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) and will be in Isolation due to her increased risk of post-surgery infection (MRSA). The cardiologist is estimating a 5-10 day hospital stay assuming she contracts zero infection. To further prevent infection she will be on incredibly strong medications, along with the medications for her heart.

Recovery: The first few days following surgery she will remain in the PICU. 48-72 hours later she will be transferred to a regular pediatric room. The length of stay depends on how soon and well she heals and begins to recover. After coming home, she will continue to take heart and anti-infection medications. For approximately six weeks, she will be very limited physically. No lifting, no running or jogging, not being submerged in any type of water, not pushing anything or putting pressure on her upper body, nothing physical whatsoever. She will have several follow up visits with her cardiologists in Indianapolis for post-surgery testing, removing staples or sutures, and checking to be sure her breast bone is stable and healing.