Hannah Howe's Broken Heart
Donation protected
The beautiful young lady in the photo above is my baby sister, Hannah Howe, age 13. This little lady is a cardiac warrior and my hero of all time. She is the strongest, kindest little fireball I have ever met.
Hannah was born with Congenital Heart Defects (multiple to say the least). Since the discovery of Hannah's heart issues, she has had 5 heart surgeries, and we have recently discovered the necessity of a 6th open heart surgery in September of this year, 2019. I am requesting any help you can offer for my sister's upcoming medical expenses and/or prayers for recovery. If you feel like reading more, I will be explaining below what Hannah's significant cardiac history entails and the expectation of the surgery to come. Forewarned, there is an extraordinary amount of medical terms in the story to come; feel free to ask me questions, look it up, or surpass it.
Hannah's story:
Hannah was born June of 2006 with complex congenital heart disease. On August 28th, 2006, Hannah was taken by Life Flight from Casper to Denver for the first of her numerous surgeries. She had several heart anomalies, so many that the best the doctors could classify her medical situation was as "complex."
The final diagnoses of her heart anomalies were: Atrial septal defect (ASD), Ventricular septal defect (VSD), Pulmonary stenosis (so narrow that her pulmonary vein did not even connect back to her heart), Transposition of the aorta, left ventricular stenosis, and finally... the "little" defect (that saved Hannah's infant life) was ductus arteriosus. Now if you are keeping up with my story, that's six different complication that was found wrong with my 2 month old baby sister.
Her very first surgery was placement of a BT shunt, this procedure was done in a life-saving effort to get Hannah home and recover and hopefully gain strength in anticipation for a open heart surgery with a complete repair. She was "repaired" in January of 2007 with placement of a prosthetic conduit with a valve for the missing pulmonary vein. Blood flow was diverted to redirect for aorta, a patch repair to the left ventricle, and the ductus arteriosus was closed.
Every surgery has been wrought with complications; chylothorax (a type of pleural effusion), mediastinitis, peritonitis, hemorrhagic stroke, ischemic strokes, and cardiac arrest. One of the complications of her repeated surgeries is the scar tissue that remains, which has impeded the conduction of her sinoatrial node.
Hannah's cardiac rhythm is currently in a 2nd Degree Heart Block; leaving her heart rate in the low 30's increasing only into the 60's with vigorous activity. She has severe activity intolerance due to this.
In August 2019, we planned for a diagnostic heart cath procedure, including electrophysiology and pulmonary pressure measurements. The plan was to see how close her heart is to needing a complete transplant and decide whether she needs a venous or external pacemaker.
Unfortunately the cardiac team in Denver found more than we bargained for. Hannah's heart is much sicker than we first thought because she is compensating so well. The good news: we can delay the total transplant. The bad news: yet another open heart surgery for our fighter.
On September 12, 2019 she will be opened to have her prosthetic conduit and valve replaced. This same valve has been replaced annually for the last three years now. The cardiac team will also be be revising her Left Ventricular patch as it is causing further obstruction in an already smaller than usual space. Two days after this procedure, the surgical team anticipates that Hannah will return to the OR for a pacemaker placement.
Our family has been advised that this will be her most difficult recovery yet. The usual expectation is a discharge within 5-7 days, however it is predicted that she will be in for at least 14 days. The second usual expectation is that extubation will be within a firm 24 hours post-op; however in Hannah's case, it is predicted that she will be intubated on a vent for at least 72 hours. Ultimately, Hannah will remain on a temporary pacemaker and pressor medications for an extended period while her little body adjusts to its new and improved heart function. The end game here is that transplant might be put off as long as 10 years... maybe more.
Again, thank you for any love, support, donation, or prayer you can offer our family in this time of need. All donated funds will go directly toward Hannah's medical expenses.
Hannah was born with Congenital Heart Defects (multiple to say the least). Since the discovery of Hannah's heart issues, she has had 5 heart surgeries, and we have recently discovered the necessity of a 6th open heart surgery in September of this year, 2019. I am requesting any help you can offer for my sister's upcoming medical expenses and/or prayers for recovery. If you feel like reading more, I will be explaining below what Hannah's significant cardiac history entails and the expectation of the surgery to come. Forewarned, there is an extraordinary amount of medical terms in the story to come; feel free to ask me questions, look it up, or surpass it.
Hannah's story:
Hannah was born June of 2006 with complex congenital heart disease. On August 28th, 2006, Hannah was taken by Life Flight from Casper to Denver for the first of her numerous surgeries. She had several heart anomalies, so many that the best the doctors could classify her medical situation was as "complex."
The final diagnoses of her heart anomalies were: Atrial septal defect (ASD), Ventricular septal defect (VSD), Pulmonary stenosis (so narrow that her pulmonary vein did not even connect back to her heart), Transposition of the aorta, left ventricular stenosis, and finally... the "little" defect (that saved Hannah's infant life) was ductus arteriosus. Now if you are keeping up with my story, that's six different complication that was found wrong with my 2 month old baby sister.
Her very first surgery was placement of a BT shunt, this procedure was done in a life-saving effort to get Hannah home and recover and hopefully gain strength in anticipation for a open heart surgery with a complete repair. She was "repaired" in January of 2007 with placement of a prosthetic conduit with a valve for the missing pulmonary vein. Blood flow was diverted to redirect for aorta, a patch repair to the left ventricle, and the ductus arteriosus was closed.
Every surgery has been wrought with complications; chylothorax (a type of pleural effusion), mediastinitis, peritonitis, hemorrhagic stroke, ischemic strokes, and cardiac arrest. One of the complications of her repeated surgeries is the scar tissue that remains, which has impeded the conduction of her sinoatrial node.
Hannah's cardiac rhythm is currently in a 2nd Degree Heart Block; leaving her heart rate in the low 30's increasing only into the 60's with vigorous activity. She has severe activity intolerance due to this.
In August 2019, we planned for a diagnostic heart cath procedure, including electrophysiology and pulmonary pressure measurements. The plan was to see how close her heart is to needing a complete transplant and decide whether she needs a venous or external pacemaker.
Unfortunately the cardiac team in Denver found more than we bargained for. Hannah's heart is much sicker than we first thought because she is compensating so well. The good news: we can delay the total transplant. The bad news: yet another open heart surgery for our fighter.
On September 12, 2019 she will be opened to have her prosthetic conduit and valve replaced. This same valve has been replaced annually for the last three years now. The cardiac team will also be be revising her Left Ventricular patch as it is causing further obstruction in an already smaller than usual space. Two days after this procedure, the surgical team anticipates that Hannah will return to the OR for a pacemaker placement.
Our family has been advised that this will be her most difficult recovery yet. The usual expectation is a discharge within 5-7 days, however it is predicted that she will be in for at least 14 days. The second usual expectation is that extubation will be within a firm 24 hours post-op; however in Hannah's case, it is predicted that she will be intubated on a vent for at least 72 hours. Ultimately, Hannah will remain on a temporary pacemaker and pressor medications for an extended period while her little body adjusts to its new and improved heart function. The end game here is that transplant might be put off as long as 10 years... maybe more.
Again, thank you for any love, support, donation, or prayer you can offer our family in this time of need. All donated funds will go directly toward Hannah's medical expenses.
Organizer and beneficiary
Kenzie Altaffer
Organizer
Casper, WY
Kara Howe
Beneficiary