Mighty Mack
Donation protected
Hi all! My name is Stephanie and the Staley’s are two of my very best friends. Jonathan and Brittany are by far the most generous and kind hearted people many of us have had the fortune to meet. As you know, their daughter Mackenzie has had a difficult start. Mackenzie was born premature at 32 weeks via an emergency C-section, her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck three times causing heart decelerations. After a difficult delivery Mack’s stats at birth were a mere 2 lbs 7.5 oz and 14.5 inches and she was transferred to the NICU. Her strength and strong will were evident right from the start and she quickly earned the nickname Mighty Mack. At two weeks old Mackenzie was diagnosed with several cardiac defects; large PDA, large VSD, moderate ASD, bilateral SVCs, PLSVC drained into a completely unroofed coronary sinus. Jon and Brit knew then they were in for a difficult road ahead and heart surgery definite.
After a two month NICU stay Mackenzie was discharged home. She struggled with severe reflux, feeding issues and poor weight gain. Brittany, an RN with Cleveland Clinic Rehab, decided at that time to become a stay at home mom and devote all her time and energy into getting Mack strong and healthy for her upcoming cardiac surgery.
In the weeks leading up to Mackenzie’s open heart surgery she was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension on April 20th. She had a heart catheterization the week prior to surgery which showed that this diagnosis was a little worse than originally thought. The only anticipated complication was that she would stay intubated for an additional 2 days post op and would be discharged home one week after surgery. Mack had her open heart surgery May 29th as planned and had successful closure of all heart defects.
Not long after Mack’s surgery she began having complications, including pulmonary hypertensive crisis. Initially she was having drops in her blood pressure which improved after medication and artificial ventilation through her endotracheal tube. However early Thursday morning May 31st, Jon and Brit’s world was turned upside down when Mackenzie went into cardiac arrest and coded twice, requiring chest compressions to be revived. As you can imagine this was absolutely terrifying and they weren’t sure if Mackenzie was going to make it. They quickly had to come to terms with the idea that they may lose their daughter. She was later classified as “stable in an unstable environment.” Then, on June 2nd she went into an SVT (supraventricular tachycardia), she had an extremely high heart rate, low oxygen levels and required additional medication to convert her back to a normal heart rate. Mackenzie has remained intubated, sedated and on paralytic medications since the day of her surgery, this will continue to be the case for the time being. Around the time they were originally planning to go home, the doctors will begin to consider weaning her off of the vent and medications.
Jonathan, who is the Shop Foreman at BMW, had only anticipated taking 1 week off work for Mackenzie’s surgery. While her prognosis is thought to be good she remains in critical condition. Jon cannot bear to leave Mackenzie or Brittany’s side during this scary time of uncertainty. Mack will most likely remain admitted for a minimum of 3-4 additional weeks which Jon will be taking unpaid from work, as he has already used all vacation time for her appointments and pre-op testing. Therefore, while Jon and Brit are caring for their sweet baby girl they unfortunately will be left without any income.
Any help you would be able to offer is greatly appreciated and will help them tremendously during this very difficult time. Thank you in advance for your generosity and your continued thoughts and prayers. #MightyMack
After a two month NICU stay Mackenzie was discharged home. She struggled with severe reflux, feeding issues and poor weight gain. Brittany, an RN with Cleveland Clinic Rehab, decided at that time to become a stay at home mom and devote all her time and energy into getting Mack strong and healthy for her upcoming cardiac surgery.
In the weeks leading up to Mackenzie’s open heart surgery she was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension on April 20th. She had a heart catheterization the week prior to surgery which showed that this diagnosis was a little worse than originally thought. The only anticipated complication was that she would stay intubated for an additional 2 days post op and would be discharged home one week after surgery. Mack had her open heart surgery May 29th as planned and had successful closure of all heart defects.
Not long after Mack’s surgery she began having complications, including pulmonary hypertensive crisis. Initially she was having drops in her blood pressure which improved after medication and artificial ventilation through her endotracheal tube. However early Thursday morning May 31st, Jon and Brit’s world was turned upside down when Mackenzie went into cardiac arrest and coded twice, requiring chest compressions to be revived. As you can imagine this was absolutely terrifying and they weren’t sure if Mackenzie was going to make it. They quickly had to come to terms with the idea that they may lose their daughter. She was later classified as “stable in an unstable environment.” Then, on June 2nd she went into an SVT (supraventricular tachycardia), she had an extremely high heart rate, low oxygen levels and required additional medication to convert her back to a normal heart rate. Mackenzie has remained intubated, sedated and on paralytic medications since the day of her surgery, this will continue to be the case for the time being. Around the time they were originally planning to go home, the doctors will begin to consider weaning her off of the vent and medications.
Jonathan, who is the Shop Foreman at BMW, had only anticipated taking 1 week off work for Mackenzie’s surgery. While her prognosis is thought to be good she remains in critical condition. Jon cannot bear to leave Mackenzie or Brittany’s side during this scary time of uncertainty. Mack will most likely remain admitted for a minimum of 3-4 additional weeks which Jon will be taking unpaid from work, as he has already used all vacation time for her appointments and pre-op testing. Therefore, while Jon and Brit are caring for their sweet baby girl they unfortunately will be left without any income.
Any help you would be able to offer is greatly appreciated and will help them tremendously during this very difficult time. Thank you in advance for your generosity and your continued thoughts and prayers. #MightyMack
Organizer and beneficiary
Stephanie Lucko
Organizer
Lakewood, OH
Brittany Staley
Beneficiary
