Heart Transplant Gives Girl More Possibilities in New Year

Shelley Effert was at a Brewers game with her husband, Derek, and a couple of friends this summer -- "Our first date night in forever," she said -- when she got the call.

Her daughter's new heart was ready, and the Efferts had an hour and a half to get to the hospital for the transplant.

So Shelley and Derek scrambled to their Brookfield home to pick up 7-year-old Miranda and take her to Children's Hospital in Wauwatosa. The doctors wheeled Miranda away to the operating room, and the Efferts didn't see their daughter for another 16 hours.

Now, four months later, Miranda is off of oxygen for only the second time in her life, and she's getting ready to head back to school a few days a week.

Not bad for a kid who had her first open-heart surgery when she was five days old and who was declared terminal by doctors when she was 2 1/2 .

24 surgeries since birth

Medical procedures are nothing new to the Effert family: Shelley, Derek, Miranda, 6-year-old Vaughn and 5-year-old Aaron.

Miranda was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, meaning the left side of her heart did not develop correctly, leaving Miranda with essentially half a heart. Her first open-heart surgery was followed by another just four months later.

Miranda, who is in her second year in Dixon Elementary School's special education program, suffered brain damage due to the lack of oxygen to her brain and has undergone 24 surgeries since she was born.

Two and a half years ago, she lost the function of her left lung.

Shelley said doctors started transplant testing on Miranda about two years ago "because her body was getting tired." This February, she was put on the heart transplant list as a very high-risk patient.

After the surgery, Miranda's chest was left open for five days so the swelling caused by the operation could go down. While the sight was too much for some people, Shelley was fascinated.

"We got to watch her new, beautiful heart beat," she said.

Shelley doesn't know who the heart came from, only that it was from a little girl who was slightly older than Miranda.

"We'd love to thank them for the beautiful gift they gave our family," Shelley said.

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With her new heart, Miranda has grown nearly 3 inches, gained eight pounds and increased a full shoe size. She's also using oxygen only at bedtime now, instead of having to tote a full tank everywhere, Shelley said.

While her family has faced its share of adversity, Shelley's faith has kept her grounded.

"Honestly, I would not trade what God gave us," Shelley said. "Everybody hopes and wishes they have a healthy child, but I would not change anything."

Community shows support

The Efferts also have been blessed with extensive support from friends, family and the community.

"We would not have been able to do it without everybody's help," Shelley said.

Kris Wilson met Shelley when both their children were in Dixon's 4-year-old kindergarten class.

"Your heart just goes out to them, and you want to help them any way you can," Wilson said. "How can you stand there and not do something?"

After hearing that the Efferts had been burglarized twice in two months last year, Wilson got in touch with staff members at Dixon, who in turn got in touch with a construction company that installed two new doors at the Efferts' home.

Dixon also provided the Efferts with presents for the kids and gift cards.

Brookfield Elementary School and Brookfield Lutheran Church have chipped in, too, donating food and household items to the family. Members of Brookfield Lutheran made meals for the Efferts two times a week after Miranda's surgery, and Dixon parents and staff members also brought some meals to the Efferts' home.

At the end of last school year, Dixon and Brookfield Elementary held a coin war, with all the proceeds going to the Efferts.

"I can't tell you how great of a community we have," Wilson said.

Reached by phone a week before Christmas, Wilson said she had just picked up gifts an anonymous donor left for the Effert kids at Dixon.

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"That's just a true testament to human nature," Wilson said. "Everyone wanted to get involved as soon as they heard the story."

2nd transplant likely needed

What's next for Miranda?

The first year after a transplant is the riskiest, so Miranda will continue to be monitored over the next several months, Shelley said. The good news is that all three biopsies done since the transplant have shown no signs of rejection.

Miranda will probably need another heart transplant, but nobody knows exactly when that will be necessary -- it could be another five or 10 years, her mom said.

"She needs to start living her life now," Shelley said. "She's got a new big-girl heart."

For now, Miranda is enjoying her life at home, and her family is ecstatic she's out of the hospital and doing well.

"She is a miracle right here," Shelley says, her face beaming.

She turns to Miranda, who is engrossed by her hand-held video game.

"God has plans for you," Shelley says. "We don't know what they are, but He's got them."

Copyright 2009, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.) Heart Transplant Gives Girl More Possibilities in New YearOriginally from: http://www.nursinglink.monster.com/news/articles/9251-heart-transplant-gives-girl-more-possibilities-in-new-year

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