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God’s Special Little Hearts was formed in 2006 by three heart moms that wanted to help other families that were going through what they had been through with their children, and are still facing on a daily basis. They knew that God had given their children their “special” hearts for a reason and felt that the reason was to help others and show God’s love.
We want to be able to help families while their child is in the hospital recovering from open heart surgery or other heart-related illness. Many families have to travel hours away from home and incur expenses such as gas, food, lodging, etc. while their child is in the hospital. Our mission is to help these families by supplying them with care packages that have items such as a Bible, toiletry items, phone card, disposable camera, and snacks. We also can provide the family with a hotel room stay for a night and fuel cards, if needed.
God's Special Little Hearts is also here to offer support to other CHD families. Having someone there that knows what you are going through means so much when you are living day-to-day with a child that has a heart defect. |
 The chairperson, Katie Columbia, and her husband, Robbie, have three children, Arielle, Emily and Isaiah. Isaiah was born on September 3, 2004 with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, Double Outlet Right Ventricle and other heart abnormalities. HLHS is a complex CHD in which Isaiah’s heart never fully developed and he was born without the left side of his heart (the main pumping chamber). Isaiah was supposed to have three open heart surgeries, the Norwood (at birth), the Glenn (at 5 mths of age), and the Fontan (at 3-4 years of age). The Norwood and the Glenn were a success, but Isaiah had the Fontan on July 2, 2008 and his body didn't accept the surgery. He had to have the Fontan "taken down" and he went back to the Glenn shunt.
In March of 2011, it was found out by an echo that Isaiah's heart was failing and surgical options were explored. Isaiah's parents decided they would like for Isaiah to be listed for transplant instead of trying any other surgical procedure. Isaiah was approved for the transplant list on July 15, 2011. Isaiah's family doesn't know what his future holds, but they know who holds his future! They are resting in the knowledge that God knows what's best for Isaiah and will provide for him as He has in the past. He may have to have a heart transplant later when the right side of his heart gives out, but for now Isaiah is at home with his family being a child.
To learn more about Isaiah, please visit his carepage by going to http://www.carepages.com/. You will have to set up an account, if you don't already have one. Then just enter "IsaiahColumbia" (all one word) to view his page.
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 Vice-chairperson, Michelle Callahan, and her husband, Doug, have two sons, Michael and Joey. Joey was born November 17, 2000 with Atrial Septal Defect and Bicuspid Aortic Valve. He had open heart surgery to repair the ASD and is awaiting the Ross Procedure to repair the BAV.
Joey's family has been through a lot, especially this past year (2008). We pray God will continue to take care of his family and keep him healthy so he can avoid any further surgeries.
To learn more about Joey, please visit his carepage by going to http://www.carepages.com/and entering "JoeyCallahan" for the page name. |
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  Secretary, Cydney Conley, and her husband, Mark, have two children, Kyle and Kendall. Kendall was born on December 5, 1998 with Dilated Cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart is enlarged and doesn’t pump blood through the body properly. This can affect the lungs, liver and other body systems. Kendall had a heart transplant when she was 4 months old. They also had a son, Garrett, who was born in 1997 with dialated cardiomyopathy. Garret passed away at 9 months of age.
Kendall has recovered from severe septic shock that occurred when she came down with the flu in February 2008 right after our Annual Heart Walk. God performed many miracles in her life during this time and is still working His miracles by keeping her heart strong through this traumatic time and healing her kidneys.
To learn more about Kendall, please visit her website by visiting www.caringbridge.organd set up an account, if you don't already have one. Just enter "KendallConley" as the password to view her page.
 Treasurer, Meg Fitzgerald, and her husband, Johnny, have two children, Levi and Leah Kate. Leah Kate was born on May 23, 2008 with Coarctation of the Aorta (CoA), mitral atresia, and a VSD.
Her defects were found before birth by a Level II ultrasound and confirmed by fetal echo. She had surgery at a week old to correct the coarctation. The surgeons were able to go through her left side instead of doing open heart surgery.
Leah had open heart surgery in September of 2011 to close the VSD. It was a success and she was off the ventilator the same day as surgery and hope in 5 days! God is so good! We will continue to pray that Leah can avoid any further surgeries and her heart stays strong.
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 Member, Chas Robbins, and her husband, Jeff, have two children, Hannah and Hailey. Hannah was born on July 15, 1998 and was diagnosed before birth with bradycardia, or a very low heart rate. She was also diagnosed with two atrial septal defects (ASD) and one ventricular septal defect (VSD). She has been monitored very closely and her septal defects have all closed on their own but her heart rate continued to get lower and lower until she had a resting rate of below 30 beats per minute.
In 2007, she had her first heart cath, which found that the final hole had indeed closed and confirmed that she had severe sinus node dysfunction which means the natural pacemaker, or sinus node, in her heart does not function. They also found another condition called left ventricular non-compaction which means that her left ventricle did not form tight enough or strong enough and doesn't expand and contract the way it should causing irregular heart beats during strenuous activity.
Hannah had a pacemaker implanted in January of 2008. She still has irregular heart beats that are being controlled with a beta blocker, and is experiencing bouts of tachycardia, or very fast heart rate, that the doctors are just watching for now.
Hannah is doing great and back to playing the sports that she loves (with some limited activites). God has blessed Hannah and her family and we pray that He will continue to watch over her and her special heart.
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 Member, Kenda Franks, and her husband, Eddie Bottoms, have a daughter, Kyser, that was born with Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF). This is the heart defect that was earlier called "blue baby".
Kyser was born on June 8, 2006. Within a few hours of birth, the pediatric nurse knew something wasn't right. A 60% oxygen level and the resulting echo revealed that Kyser did indeed have Tetralogy of Fallot - her heart had two upper chambers but only one lower chamber.
At four months old, Kyser had her first open heart surgery to place a BT shunt in her heart to help oxygenate her blood. A few months later, this shunt clotted and was no longer able to do its job. Kyser was faced with another open heart surgery to correct the defect and build a wall between the lower chambers of her heart.
Kyser is now doing great and thriving! No one would know she had anything wrong with her if they didn't see the tell-tale scar on her chest! God has blessed Kyser and her family. |
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We also have a Pastor serving on our board, Bro. Emory Eldridge, who is available to families in the hospital that may need a Pastor. |
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