Sadie's Sweet Heart

Sadie is Chad and Chris Harper's 12 year old (just turned) niece and their sister Kelli Yaakola's daughter. Beginning June 14, 2019 Sadie and her family's life has been turned upside down, and now she is at Seattle Children's Hospital. Kelli and her husband Nick Yaakola and Stephen Bennett (Sadie's dad) and his family are focused on being with Sadie, so we will use this platform to keep you all updated on Sadie's progress. 

Off and on throughout June Sadie was having trouble breathing and chest pains from a cold she caught and just couldn't get rid of. After going back and forth to the pediatrician's office, Kelli demanded answers for her daughter and went to their local hospital on Friday June 14, 2019 in Redmond, OR. A chest x-ray was performed and it showed that Sadie's heart was mildly enlarged. That night Sadie and her mom were flown in a helicopter to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland (3 hours away from their home). 

On Saturday June 15, the hospital performed several blood tests and an echocardiogram. She still needed to have another x-ray and MRI performed. Through out the night on Saturday Sadie's blood pressure was a little low so they adjusted her medicine on Sunday.

On Monday June 17, the results from her blood work was still pending and her MRI was pushed to Tuesday. Later that afternoon, Sadie's heart rate spiked a lot (her normal was around 90-100) and it hit 240. The medical team rushed in and gave her rounds of meds and was able to get her heart rate back down to a normal rate. If after her 3rd dose of medicine didn't work, they were going to have to use the heart paddles on her to try and shock it back into normal rhythm. Luckily, that did not occur. The medical staff said she had a SVT episode (Supraventricular tachycardia) and that it is common in cardiac patients. She was started on meds to help prevent another episode of SVT. Later that night she had a few more episodes of arrhythmia but they were minor and she was able to come out of them herself.

Early evening on Tuesday Sadie had her MRI. The results were not good. The decision was made that she needed to be transferred to the Seattle Children's Hospital to the Cardiac ICU (which is 6 hours away from their home) as the medical staff at Portland couldn't do anything further for her. Later that night Sadie and Kelli were driven by ambulance to the Aurora State Airport where they boarded a medical plane.

Wednesday June 19th Kelli spoke to the attending Cardiac physician and she was told Sadie was in Heart Failure. Only 15% of her heart was working. An artillery line was placed in her wrist to keep a closer eye on her blood pressure. Sadie was not able to be sedated for the procedure since her heart could not handle it. She was a Rockstar going through that with no meds!! Wednesday night was uneventful, and at 7:45am this morning she was still resting.

By early afternoon today (6/20) her heart started getting worse. Just after 4pm today she went in for surgery to have an ABIOMED Impella 2.5 heart pump placed temporarily. On Monday the plan is for her to undergo surgery and have a permanent heart pump placed (Left Ventricular Device) while she waits for a new heart. 

The medical bills are already piling. Kelli and Nick both work full time and have not been able to work since they are now 6 hours away from home. Stephen (Sadie's dad) also works full time and is not able to as he is also with Sadie. Meals are covered at the hospital for Sadie but not for family. They also have lodging expenses. We don't want Kelli, Nick, Stephen and the rest of their family (Kelli and Nick have a 5 yo son and Nick has a 14yo daughter and Stephan and his wife have a child together as well) to worry about anything except being there for Sadie.

We appreciate anything you are able to donate, and if you're not able to, please share this and keep Sadie and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

We will continue to provide updates on here as we get additional information.

#SadiesSweetHeart