Sage Arana is a brave 2-year-old who underwent open heart surgery to help her lungs receive an adequate blood supply. Sage was born with Williams Syndrome and a congenital cardiac defect that required surgery. On February 13, 2022, she went into the operating room for her cardiac repair; however, her surgery took an unexpected 30+ hours.

The medical team was unable to safely remove her from the bypass machine in the operating room, so they opted to transition her onto ECMO. ECMO is a machine that does all of the work for the heart and the lungs (full life support). On February 22, 2022, Sage was emergently taken to the cardiac cath lab to remove a clot from her left pulmonary artery. She remained on ECMO for 5 months and 13 days. During this time, Sage went through an unimaginable number of procedures, transfusions, tests, and blood draws, you name it and Sage experienced it. During her time on ECMO, she had a stroke and 2 small head bleeds.

The head bleeds have since resolved and if you are lucky enough to play with her now, you’d notice that this is yet another thing she has overcome. Sage and her family were given a very poor prognosis but, in true Sage spirit, she needed to prove the medical team wrong and she came off ECMO support on July 27, 2022.

Sage’s next hurdle was to have her breathing tube removed. The breathing tube assisted each breath that she took. Due to Sage’s long and fragile hospital course; it was decided that based on her cardiac catheterization results, and her sick heart, Sage would require a Tracheostomy. The morning of yet another surgery, Sage danced in bed on her way into the OR (literally) for her trach on September 20, 2022. At this time, Kelley and Noe are training to care for Sage’s medical needs at home.

Sage’s parents have been by her side 24/7. While they have not been through what Sage has been through physically, they have endured all the ups and downs right alongside of her.

Sage is in the final stages of her hospitalization and is preparing to go home! She is playful, loving, and hilarious. It has been a long road to get to this conversation about discharging from the hospital (8 long months to be exact). While this is the best news yet, it requires a lot of medical supplies to bring her home and care for her trach and feeding tube. Kelley and Noe are absolute rockstars caring for her every need 24/7 in the most inspiring and determined way.

Please consider helping this amazing family. Going home with a child who has new and significant medical needs is a hard adjustment in itself. Donations will help with medical bills, Sage’s day-to-day needs, trach/g-tube supplies, medications, and nursing assistance to ensure that Sage can have the best possible care while at home. #SageStrong