The Emma Lang Family Fundraiser

On August 19th the Lang's worst nightmare started unfolding before their eyes. Emma – a very kind, beautiful, smart, 11 year old - was diagnosed with a very serious heart condition mitral valve prolapse, and has to have open heart surgery next week. The doctors will be going in to repair or replace the valve so that there isn't any more damage. They will not know which they need to do until they get in there. This should fix her arrhythmias but if it doesn't they will have to go back in and do the defibrillator too.

Jacob and Ashley have 4 children and he is a Soldier in the US Army. He is now on emergency family leave while everything is going on. I'm starting this GoFundMe to help with the natural expenses that come at a time like this. One of the worst things about being a military family is being away from your loved ones. This is a way that all of us near and far can help them when they need it the most. The money that is raised will go for food for the hospital and the 3 siblings at home, gas to and from the hospital, and anything else that they need. The hospital is 2 hours away (with no traffic - 2 1/2 with traffic) from the family's home. They were supposed to be transferring to Virgina this coming week but with everything that is going on the Army is going to keep them where they are so that Emma can continue her care.

We ask for your prayers for this family as they navigate through this.

Read below for the full story:

August 20

-Please be in prayer for our sweet girl. Last night, she passed out while getting ready to shower. Ashley brought her to the ER and we were eventually transferred to the Children’s PICU. She has a significant heart murmur and a very irregular heartbeat. We will know more once the cardiologist comes by. She will have another round of tests while we are here. She is resting comfortably and thought the ambulance ride was so cool.

-We are getting the echo now. The pediatrician is very concerned about her heart. The left side is enlarged and not pumping properly. Her liver may also be affected. Depending on what the echo shows, we may be transferred to Denver Cardiology ICU today.

-She has mitral valve prolapse causing her frequent irregular rhythms. We are being transferred to Denver for more tests, medications, and to form a game plan. We aren’t sure how this will affect our move yet but it will probably push it back and that is perfectly okay. She’s in great spirits and being treated like a queen. She’s annoyed about not being able to cheer for a while though.

Thank you all so much for your prayers! Surgery will be in her future, but hopefully far out in her future!!

-Thank you all so much for your prayers! We are settled in at Children’s Hospital in Denver. They will be running more tests over the next few days to see what is causing her issues and to determine what the treatment will look like. I will keep you all updated!

August 21

-Sissy had some visitors today (her siblings). Brother has been super worried about her, but sister only wanted to see the little babies on the floor. Of course, Sawyer was just bored.

They have moved us down to the Cardiac Progressive Care Unit so she’s no longer in the CICU. We are still waiting on test results and MRI. Dr has a diagnosis that he’s leaning towards so we will see once all the results come back. We will probably be here most of this week.

August 23

-They upped her beta blocker last night to a higher dose and extended-release. She has still been having the PVCs, and irregular beats, though. They have taken her down for a cardiac MRI to get a better look at her valve. The team is meeting today to figure out a game plan. We are looking at a possible defibrillator implant if the medications can’t get her rhythms under control. Thank you all for the continued prayers for our sweet girl!

Side note: she’s completely “fine” she says and wants to make a sign that says such so she doesn’t have to keep answering that question 100 times a day.

August 24

-The MRI came back. No scar tissue but her mitral valve regurgitation is severe. The left atrium and left ventricle are enlarged quite a bit.

The beta blocker alone doesn’t work well for the arrhythmias, so they added an additional medication that seems to help.

The team will meet with the cardiothoracic surgeons on Friday to determine if we need to go ahead and repair or replace the valve and if we need the ICD defibrillator put in as well.

August 26

So the doctor just came in. They had their big conference this morning and think the best course of action is surgery to repair or replace the valve so that there isn’t any more damage done. They won’t know which one they can do until they get in there. It is open heart surgery. This should fix her arrhythmias but if it doesn’t, we will have to go back in and do the defibrillator too. The surgeon will come in this afternoon to discuss the actual surgery in detail.

Surgery will be sometime next week, and she will be in recovery here for at least a week depending on the type of surgery she needs.

We will be staying in Colorado for at least the next year so she can get the care she needs.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. Please keep them coming. As you can imagine, hearing your baby needs open heart surgery is our worst nightmare. We trust in God and this hospital to take great care of her. She is awesome and we know she will be just fine!