Katy Girl Update

Yesterday was a big day for Katy.  She had a Cardiac Cath.  The first one she has had since last year, when the results landed her on the transplant list.

Yesterdays cath brought GREAT news…

NO new damage to her heart or lungs!!! 

I was eerily calm heading into this surgery.  I usually (as you know if you have read any of this blog) a hot mess leading up to Katy’s appointments.  For whatever reason I wasn’t this time. I think I just knew that there was nothing that could be worse than last year! 

It was a long day (15 hours) but we avoided an admission!! Which is always a good day in my book.

Kate was supposed to be first case, but was bumped for a very sick baby from the CICU.  It’s hard to get upset about being bumped when you know the circumstances.  We are just thankful that Kate is well enough to be bumped.

She was handling the delay OK (considering she was probably starving) 

They finally took her back around 11:30 after giving her some loopy juice, Mike walked her back to the Cath Lab.  Once she was settled . Mike and I grabbed a bite to eat and went back to see her at  around 2pm.  Katy was very agitated and was having a difficult time coming out of the anesthesia.   Which was difficult since she needed to lay flat for 5 HOURS.  As a result of her being upset she kept lifting and thrashing her leg, and complaining that her incision was hurting (my boo-boo is hurting) she had disturbed the clot and was bleeding.  I came back from the bathroom as the nurse was calling for the fellow and for anesthesia.  There was a lot of blood (probably looked like more than it really was) They gave her more meds to relax her and they were able to stop the bleeding by applying pressure for about 30 minutes.  After that episode, amazingly Katy was able to lay flat and watch Disney movies for 5 HOURS.  I still can’t believe it.

She then needed to have a chest x ray and then we were released at 9:15pm.

It’s hard to believe that we are quickly approaching the 1 year mark since being listed. 

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

 

Children’s NSTAR walk

How can we ever give back to the hospital that continues to save our daughter's life. We try and donate whenever we can, toiletries kits for the parents on 8 EAST, cookies at Christmas for the staff on 8 South, in that capacity we are only able to reach a handful of people.

Alone, we can't make a difference, but together I think we can. Together with 5000 other thankful people we can help raise over a MILLION dollars to give back to the hospital that has given us, and our sweet Katy Girl so much.

It is my hope, that you never need to know what a wonderful place Children's Hospital is. I know that before I learned of Katy's heart, I never knew just how lucky I was to live 15 minutes from one of the best, if not THE best Children's Hospital in the world. So together with our family and friends we hope to ROCK the WALK in honor of our ROCKSTAR Katy. Will you join us?!

To join Katy's Rockstars please go to: NSTAR WALK Sign Up sign up under Katy's Rockstars.

Can't walk but would like to help us give back, there are several ways to donate. You can donate directly at:Donate to NSTARs Katy's Rockstars Team, contact me to send a check, or use credit card/PayPal ChipIn!

If you have already joined our team or donated. THANK YOU!!! from the bottom of our hearts. THANK YOU for continuing to support our family as we embrace our journey. We love you and could not do it with our all of the ROCKSTARS that surround us.

Katy’s Story…from the beginning

June 16, 2010                                                                                                     Updated: August 2010

After 6 years of infertility, and several failed IVF cycles. Mike and I were finally pregnant. At our routine 18 week ultrasound instead of finding out if Baby Murphy was a boy or girl, we were informed that our baby had a serious heart defect.

The left side of her heart was only 1/4 of the size it should have been. She was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. At that point we were given the opportunity to terminate… but for us that was not an option. The alternative, we were told, was a series of heart surgeries to reconstruct her heart. The first surgery being immediately after birth.
Katy was born five weeks early due to my preeclampsia. On December 20th 2007 after a normal, and uneventful delivery, much to everyone’s surprise Miss Kathryn Marie Murphy was born screaming and PINK! After birth (and a few cuddles with mommy) Kate was taken to Children’s Hospital Boston.

The team at Children’s didn’t quite understand why Kate appeared to be doing so well, her "echo" still showed a significantly small left ventricle. Yet, somehow her little heart was keeping up with her body’s blood flow needs. She was a Christmas Miracle in the Cardiac ICU. No one on the floor has ever seen a HLHS baby this healthy. After 10 days of observation, it was decided that no surgery was needed at this point and they let us take our baby home!

At our two week cardiac checkup it was decided that more study was needed. Katy was admitted for a cardiac catheterization, and an MRI. After another 10 days of testing and observation, we were sent home on 3 heart meds, again no restrictions.

Over the last two years Katy has continued to baffle the doctors, because she is doing so well. Her heart meds have kept her healthy. Her diagnosis was changed from Hypoplastic Left Heart, to Restrictive Cardiomyopathy.
The only noticeable symptom Katy shows is that she is tiny and has a difficult time gaining weight, even though she is a great eater and is on a high calorie diet. We estimate she eats 1600 calories a day, and she only weighs 20 pounds. It became a concern when she stopped gaining weight 6 months ago.

As a result of her not gaining weight our cardiologist Dr. Marx, who is GREAT, decided that another Cardiac Catheterization and MRI was needed. The cath showed her pressures to be seven times the normal pressures. After doing well for so long, Katy’s care was turned over to the transplant team

As a result of her failure to thrive, a G tube was placed in August for feeds.  Although it was not a decision I was entirely on board with, it was better than the NG tube. Unfortunetly, even with the high amount of calories we are pushing on her she has not made any significant weight gain.

.Kate was listed as a status 1B on the UNOS Transplant List on July 29th 2010.

To meet Katy you would not believe that she’s a little girl waiting for a new heart. At this time, she is doing clinically well and acting like a happy and normal four year old.  She goes to preschool and dance class. She loves playing with her brother!!

She is our ROCK STAR!!!