Mended Little Hearts Open Forum

I just wanted to share my daughter's story in hopes of giving hope to others.  Kristen was born with Sub-Aortic Stenosis.  She is 23 years old and has had five open heart surgeries and 8 Cardiac Cath's.  Three surgeries to resect the sub-aortic membrane, the Ross Procedure in 2007, and Scar tissue removal in 2010.   Her donor Pulmonary Valve started failing in 2011 and she had the Melody Valve placed in January of 2012.  After the Melody Valve, she had fantastic heart health for almost 5 years (a record for her).   She got the news earlier this year that the Melody Valve and her conduit had a fracture and would need to be replaced.  Two weeks ago, she had the Edwards Sapien Valve placed inside the existing Melody Valve and 2 stents placed in her conduit in the Cath Lab.  This procedure had never been done at Children's National in Washington DC.   Her gradient pressure after the new valve was placed was 5 (it was a peak of 70 prior to surgery).  One week after her Valve replacement, she graduated Nursing School Magna Cum Laude, and two weeks after her valve replacement, she's pretty much back to doing normal activities.  She won't be completely released until her follow up next week.  She will start her Career as a Nurse on June 18^th.   The best part of this story is that she got married last summer, and her Cardiologist said that it was now safe for her to try to get pregnant.  I truly believe that God has a plan for her life.  She didn't suffer through all of this without a purpose.

Kristen gets these updates, so she may chime in with her thoughts. 

Angela

Mom to Kristen, 23, Sub-Aortic Stenosis

I just wanted to share my daughter's story in hopes of giving hope to others.  Kristen was born with Sub-Aortic Stenosis.  She is 23 years old and has had five open heart surgeries and 8 Cardiac Cath's.  Three surgeries to resect the sub-aortic membrane, the Ross Procedure in 2007, and Scar tissue removal in 2010.   Her donor Pulmonary Valve started failing in 2011 and she had the Melody Valve placed in January of 2012.  After the Melody Valve, she had fantastic heart health for almost 5 years (a record for her).   She got the news earlier this year that the Melody Valve and her conduit had a fracture and would need to be replaced.  Two weeks ago, she had the Edwards Sapien Valve placed inside the existing Melody Valve and 2 stents placed in her conduit in the Cath Lab.  This procedure had never been done at Children's National in Washington DC.   Her gradient pressure after the new valve was placed was 5 (it was a peak of 70 prior to surgery).  One week after her Valve replacement, she graduated Nursing School Magna Cum Laude, and two weeks after her valve replacement, she's pretty much back to doing normal activities.  She won't be completely released until her follow up next week.  She will start her Career as a Nurse on June 18^th.   The best part of this story is that she got married last summer, and her Cardiologist said that it was now safe for her to try to get pregnant.  I truly believe that God has a plan for her life.  She didn't suffer through all of this without a purpose.

Kristen gets these updates, so she may chime in with her thoughts. 

Angela

Mom to Kristen, 23, Sub-Aortic Stenosis

I just wanted to share my daughter's story in hopes of giving hope to others.  Kristen was born with Sub-Aortic Stenosis.  She is 23 years old and has had five open heart surgeries and 8 Cardiac Cath's.  Three surgeries to resect the sub-aortic membrane, the Ross Procedure in 2007, and Scar tissue removal in 2010.   Her donor Pulmonary Valve started failing in 2011 and she had the Melody Valve placed in January of 2012.  After the Melody Valve, she had fantastic heart health for almost 5 years (a record for her).   She got the news earlier this year that the Melody Valve and her conduit had a fracture and would need to be replaced.  Two weeks ago, she had the Edwards Sapien Valve placed inside the existing Melody Valve and 2 stents placed in her conduit in the Cath Lab.  This procedure had never been done at Children's National in Washington DC.   Her gradient pressure after the new valve was placed was 5 (it was a peak of 70 prior to surgery).  One week after her Valve replacement, she graduated Nursing School Magna Cum Laude, and two weeks after her valve replacement, she's pretty much back to doing normal activities.  She won't be completely released until her follow up next week.  She will start her Career as a Nurse on June 18^th.   The best part of this story is that she got married last summer, and her Cardiologist said that it was now safe for her to try to get pregnant.  I truly believe that God has a plan for her life.  She didn't suffer through all of this without a purpose.

Kristen gets these updates, so she may chime in with her thoughts. 

Angela

Mom to Kristen, 23, Sub-Aortic Stenosis

I just wanted to share my daughter's story in hopes of giving hope to others.  Kristen was born with Sub-Aortic Stenosis.  She is 23 years old and has had five open heart surgeries and 8 Cardiac Cath's.  Three surgeries to resect the sub-aortic membrane, the Ross Procedure in 2007, and Scar tissue removal in 2010.   Her donor Pulmonary Valve started failing in 2011 and she had the Melody Valve placed in January of 2012.  After the Melody Valve, she had fantastic heart health for almost 5 years (a record for her).   She got the news earlier this year that the Melody Valve and her conduit had a fracture and would need to be replaced.  Two weeks ago, she had the Edwards Sapien Valve placed inside the existing Melody Valve and 2 stents placed in her conduit in the Cath Lab.  This procedure had never been done at Children's National in Washington DC.   Her gradient pressure after the new valve was placed was 5 (it was a peak of 70 prior to surgery).  One week after her Valve replacement, she graduated Nursing School Magna Cum Laude, and two weeks after her valve replacement, she's pretty much back to doing normal activities.  She won't be completely released until her follow up next week.  She will start her Career as a Nurse on June 18^th.   The best part of this story is that she got married last summer, and her Cardiologist said that it was now safe for her to try to get pregnant.  I truly believe that God has a plan for her life.  She didn't suffer through all of this without a purpose.

Kristen gets these updates, so she may chime in with her thoughts. 

Angela

Mom to Kristen, 23, Sub-Aortic Stenosis