Children's Hospitals Today - Summer 2017 - 5

FIRST PERSON / ROUNDS

In her own words
This patient shares what it was like to
wait for and receive a heart transplant.
BY BRIENNA LOVE

M

y name is Brienna. I am 12 years old, and I live in Las
Vegas. I have two loving parents and a younger brother.
I can't remember ever getting sick. But that changed on July 19,
2016, when I was throwing up and having diarrhea. After a few
days, we went to an urgent care clinic. The doctor prescribed
medication for a flu bug. I was feeling a little better, but two
days later, I got sick again.
After a trip to the ER, I ended up at another hospital. They
did more testing and an echocardiogram. Early one morning, I
met Dr. Rollins, a cardiac specialist for kids. He explained the
tests showed my heart was functioning at 20 percent. He said
I would need to be transferred to another hospital.
Once there, things seemed to be getting serious. The doctors
said there was a chance I'd need a heart transplant, and I'd need
to be in the best hospital. So, Dr. Rollins suggested we go to Salt
Lake City, Utah, and we did just that! On July 27, we arrived
at Primary Children's Hospital. It was my first time ever in a
plane, and we got there very quick thanks to the Life Flight.
There were a lot of doctors ready to see me. Every day,
they would talk with my parents, and my dad would ask
a hundred questions. They put me on a bunch of different
medicines trying to see if my heart would recover. It didn't, so they determined I'd need a
heart transplant. I have never seen my parents
so scared and crying so much.
I got to meet the transplant team. Dr. Lal
was nice and liked to joke with me. Dr. Molina
made me feel comfortable; I would always smile
when she walked in. Dr. May was soft spoken
and kind. They told me it could be six months or
more of waiting and because it would be so long,
they needed to put in a Left Ventricular Assist
Device (LVAD). I was the first child at Primary
Children's to have this placed in me. It's a device
used on only adults.
When I awoke from the surgery, I saw a wire through my
stomach. The nurses would come by to change bandages on the
LVAD. I was so scared, but they helped me understand what it
was. It had batteries and a computer in a nice case, but it was
heavy. I named it Bibble so we didn't have to call it LVAD.
Weeks passed. I was losing weight and not doing so great,
so the team decided to move me up the transplant list. On
Sept. 6, Dr. May came to talk to my mom, and I looked through

Brienna Love recovers
at Primary Children's
Hospital three days
after surgery.

the glass door. My mom had the biggest smile. I knew the
heart transplant was going to happen.
The next morning, my brother's ninth birthday,
I would receive a heart. I did understand for this
to be happening, another family was losing a loved
one. The emotions were crazy. I was scared for my
parents, but my dad gave me a pep talk. I thank
the donor family who I have learned a little about.
I think about my donor every day. He was an adventurous boy. Someday, I hope to meet his family.
I was discharged from the hospital in
September. I was told we'd live in Utah for six
months for checkups, but I asked the doctors
to please let me go home, and they said yes! We
went home on Dec. 18, just in time for Christmas
and my birthday on Jan. 1. I will never forget the nurses and
Heart Team because they are part of my family now. The
most thanks goes to my donor and his family for the chance
of going home to my family who I love so much.

I DID UNDERSTAND
FOR THIS TO BE
HAPPENING,
ANOTHER FAMILY
WAS LOSING A
LOVED ONE.

This article was originally published on Primary Children's
Hospital Blog, primarychildrenshospitalblog.org.
Tell your story. Email magazine@childrenshospitals.org.

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL S TODAY Summer 2017

5


http://www.primarychildrenshospitalblog.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Children's Hospitals Today - Summer 2017

Contents
Children's Hospitals Today - Summer 2017 - Cover1
Children's Hospitals Today - Summer 2017 - Cover2
Children's Hospitals Today - Summer 2017 - Contents
Children's Hospitals Today - Summer 2017 - 2
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