Hana's Heart

Alyx Tennison is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hana Marie Yago is the daughter of Paul and Kathleen Yago, close friends, neighbors and fellow new parents in our tight knit community near Alamo Square Park. Paul and Kathleen were planning a Hawaii getaway with Hana, when Kathleen decided to take Hana in to Kaiser to check out an on and off cough Hana had had for a couple weeks. This visit turned into a fight to save Hana's life. Just one week shy of her 6 month birthday, Hana was found to have an enlarged heart due to left ventricular dysfunction and was essentially in heart failure. Over the course of a few days, Paul and Kathleen have had their lives turned upside down as Hana's heart has deteriorated immensely and is no longer capable of supporting her. Hana is currently at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, where she will remain until she undergoes a heart transplant. Paul and Kathleen are staying at in a small room on the Cardiac ICU unit where they can remain close to their daughter. As no one can know when a heart will become available, the costs of keeping Hana stable until that time will be substantial. We would like to help remove some of the financial burden for Paul and Kathleen so they can focus on taking care of Hana. All donations will go directly to Paul and Kathleen to be used towards her care.

**UPDATE: Hana has been moved out of ICU and is now on the Pediatric Cardiology Unit. She has been denied for a heart transplant at this time but this is actually good news! Paul and Kathleen hope to be able to bring Hana home soon while they wait for further improvement or future treatments to her heart.

**UPDATE: Hana is now at home working on gaining weight, driving her mom crazy (in the best way!) and playing with her neighborhood friends and her dog Poppy. She is well on her way to crawling and is still not sure about food or milk, or anything in her mouth at all! She loves going on walks in her stroller and is always rocking a cool knit hat! If you see her around the neighborhood, be sure to say hello and hopefully she'll give you one of her sweet smiles. Currently, Paul and Kathleen have yet to decide when to list Hana on the heart transplant list again. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they make this difficult decision.

**UPDATE: Hana was readmitted to Stanford on 11/19/15 due to a collapsed left lung. Unfortunately, her heart had increased in size and would not allow her lung to recover. The difficult descision was made to proceed with implanting a Berlin Heart in Hana to take over her heart and allow her body to recover. Hana will remain on the Berlin Heart until she receives a heart transplant. She will remain at Stanford until that time and for many months after. Please keep them in your prayers during this time. Some day Hana will receive the precious gift of a new heart, until then we are praying for her to remain strong.

**UPDATE: Hana has received a new heart! She underwent heart transplant surgery Sunday, May 28 at around 4:30pm. The surgery was a success and she is in the ICU sedated while recovering. She will remain in the ICU for about 2 weeks, then go to a step down room for a few more weeks before moving to the Ronald McDonald House in Stanford for several months. She will have to remain near the hospital for a few months post transplant in case any issues arise but we are hoping for her to be home as early as the end of September!

Thank you and God Bless!

Alyx Tennison