Confessions of a Mended Heart

Katja's Journey to (W)hole Heartedness

Welcome!

Welcome to Katja’s blog. A place for information, updates and our “laugh instead of cry” humor of living with a child with CHD (Congenital Heart Defects). Take a seat and prepare for a long emotional journey of our ups and downs. Feel free to browse posts about Katja, her heart and her previous surgeries. Newest updates are available below:

Updates

  • Failure Isn’t An Option

    Failure Isn’t An Option

    As I always say… “No news is good news”.

    We spent the summer blissfully appointment and hospital free. Katja was doing great and we very much enjoyed the break.

    Two months…. We got two.

    Early Sept I started to notice her a little off. I had hoped it was just the Tween years upon us. Then we saw Transplant…..

    There is significant changes to her pulmonary donor valve. Some minor/moderate ones to her aortic. Then her DSA’s (donor specific antibodies from her donor) increased with new types showing. Yesterday she had repeat labs. Her BNP (measures heart damage) increased 3 times in 2 weeks. Her immunosuppressant levels plummeted too.

    Seattle is consulting with DC and Boston. We still don’t know what rejection looks like in PHT kids. We have no way to test the tissue either. Her teams are scratching their heads as to what is causing this.

    For now, we are continuing to repeat labs, repeat her echos and watch/wait. Pray for Katja, she needs a break. This kid has suffered so much through her short life, she deserves a break 💔

    Jenn's avatar

    Written By:

    Jenn

More Updates

  • Answers come to those who wait

    Answers come to those who wait

    And wait we have. Over 5 years to be exact and while we didn’t necessarily learn anything new, we have new perspective on what we do know. Let me back track slightly to last night. Katja’s labs, X-ray and testing were all negative. She did test positive for Rhinovirus (common cold). Add to that a…

    Read more: Answers come to those who wait
  • Can We Get A Break?

    Can We Get A Break?

    I wish I could say that our Redeye to Boston was uneventful but what would my complex warrior be, if not even more complex? Katja decided mid-flight to start coughing like crazy and send her O2 into the 80s. Lots of Albuterol, steroids and scaring the living daylights out of Mom and we were able…

    Read more: Can We Get A Break?

  • Boston Round 2

    We officially have dates for our 2nd trip to Boston. Katja and I will be flying out via a redeye Dec 3rd and returning Dec 7th (if additional testing isn’t required). Her appointments with Neurology and Cardiology are Dec 5th. Cardiology just wanted a check in since we’ll be there anyway. So far we’ve tried…

    Read more: Boston Round 2

About Us

We are a fun loving family of 7. I’m Jenn, the Mom and words behind the blog. Dad Jori is the IT backbone of making sure I don’t go crazy over features. We have 5 beautiful children. Nevaeh (17), Twins Arianna & Araceli (15), Katja “Our Mended little Heart” (9) and Gryffin “Finn” (4).

Save Katja’s Heart: Urgent Flight for a Rare Transplant

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