Heart of Hope

You want to hear something crazy? There is a guy, a couple years younger than me that went to the same small, rural high school in Pennsylvania. He and his wife had two kids and when the younger one was six months old they were told she needed a heart transplant. She eventually was put on the Berlin Heart and got her transplant (it was actually her second transplant). It’s crazy only because if you knew the rural area where I grew up and how many kids need a Berlin Heart you would not believe the odds. Unfortunately, about seven months after the second transplant their daughter died of sudden cardiac arrest. I encourage you to read the story, I can not do it justice here. My heart aches when I read the story. I’ll be honest, it is also terrifying.

In honor of their daughter, they created Heart of Hope – The Caralynn Titter Foundation whose mission is to provide support for families dealing with pediatric heart transplants. This Saturday (that’s tomorrow!) they are doing a fundraiser race for their foundation – the 2nd Annual Heart of Hope 5k & 1 Mile Family Fun Run in Newark, Delaware. My very oldest (not eldest but most number of years) friend, Erin has organized Team Hana and if you’d like you can donate to their team to support an excellent cause (because if you are reading this blog you probably understand how important it is to support families dealing with pediatric heart transplants!) click this link.

Thank You!

In Hana news, its been a good week. Things feel like they might be settling down instead of just trying to keep our heads above water. Hana had another cardiac cath and biopsy on Wednesday. The results are good – pressures are good, same as last time, and biopsy results are 0! I am so relieved! I always have a build up of anxiety a few days before.

Hana even gained back some weight! Her eating tends to have sporadic results. One day she loves her smoothie and the next day she won’t touch it. One day she wants to eat cream cheese and the next day she just wants strawberries. I guess she is kind of a normal toddler. Lately she seems to want fruits, veggies and water which would ordinarily be wonderful but I keep trying to push the high calorie foods as much as possible.

Lastly, Hana’s sleep patterns are starting to really wear on me. She has always been the kind of baby/kid that needed a while to settle into sleep but it has gotten bad. Naptime is not usually too bad, 30-60 minutes (unless grandmom is trying to get her to sleep in which case I just hear lots of noise and laughing coming from Hana’s bedroom). Bedtime is very challenging. Hana tosses and turns for one to two hours before she falls asleep. By the time she is asleep it is so late and I am so tired it is hard to get anything else done. I’m wondering if what’s causing this is the steroid that Hana has been one since her transplant.