My Miracles

This was written by mom about me. She sent this out a few years ago on my birthday.

At one month old, when we became Becca's forever family we were told that "Becca had a 13% chance of survival to the age of 5."When she was 3 months old we were told by the doctors there was nothing more they could do... they felt Becca had 6 months or less to live. Hospice started coming to our house to help us through the darkness.When Becca was a year old we were told that "things" had changed with her heart. There was a surgical procedure that could be performed that would enable her to grow up! Miracle #1.On November 19th 1993 when she was 13 months old Becca had her second open heart surgery. The operation went well but Becca would not come off of the heart and lung machine. She was put on ECMO, a portable heart lung machine considered a "heroic measure" and taken to the Intensive Care Unit. Four days later she was taken off of ECMO and a month later she left the hospital.

Miracle #2.When Becca was 26 months old we traveled to UCLA for her 3rd surgery. We had been told it was very high risk and she would have a very "rocky" recovery period. Becca surprised everyone, did wonderfully and was home in 10 days.

Miracle # 3.When Becca was 5years old she had her 7th heart catherization. In this cath massive ballooning and the placement of 2 stents were performed. Becca began bleeding from her lungs... they felt it would be very difficult to stop the bleeding, and if the bleeding did not stop she would die.

Miracle # 4.Becca had surgery at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH), part of Stanford, when she was 12 years old. She did well but 2 days after we returned home she was back in a local hospital’s Intensive Care Unit fighting desperately for her life. During surgery she had contracted a deadly infection Methicillin Resistant Stafyloccus Arus (MRSA) that raged through her body. After 5 weeks in intensive care Becca went home very weak, in a wheel chair, with a PIC line and 6 more weeks of IV medicine to finish.

Miracle # 5.In her 8th grade year Becca started having arrhythmias. After trying for 4 months to control her irregular heart beats her condition turned life threatening and she was life-flighted to LPCH. She spent 2 weeks in the intensive care unit as they increased a strong anti-arrhythmia medicine and placed into Becca an experimental pacemaker/defibrillator.

Miracle #6.In October of 2007 Becca was evaluated at for a Heart Lung Transplant at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital. Thankfully, at that time it was determined that Becca could still be medically managed. She is being followed closely. Every 3 months she travels to Stanford for testing by the transplant team, her electrophysiologist and her pulmonary hypertension cardiologist.Today Becca is feeling well. She is bright, beautiful, funny, sensitive, loving, and "healthy" for her.

They say "It takes a village to raise a child." For Becca the saying would need to be changed to "It has taken five hospitals (in 3 different states), 4 pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, several pediatric cardiologists, intensivists, pulmonologists, pulmonary hypertension specialists, infectious specialists, nurse practioners, nurses, respiratory therapists, a wonderful pediatrician, a special child psychologist, a loving family, caring friends andunderstanding teachers and schools to raise Becca."If Children have the ability to ignore odds and percentages, then maybewe can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other chance isthere but to HOPE? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up,or FIGHT LIKE HELL". -Lance Armstrong

I have been through a lot, but I will not stop fighting. I cannot stop fighting.
Love,
Becca