#SAWYERSTRONG

Heart Hero of the Month

May 2022

Written by, the Schlueter’s

The Schlueter Family welcomed their second baby girl into the family in late October of 2021. Sawyer was the perfect addition to our little family! It wasn’t until 2 months later that Sawyer was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.  After a few rounds of what was thought to be the common cold, we found ourselves in our pediatrician’s office again on December 27, 2021. I remember turning to my husband and saying, “I know you may think I am crazy, but let’s please advocate for another chest x-ray for Sawyer”. Our pediatrician’s office was more than happy to put in the order and away we went to the Children’s radiology department. Little did we know our world would be turned upside down later that night. We ended up in Children’s Hospital and Medical Center’s Emergency Department. Sawyer’s chest x-ray showed significant enlargement of her heart.

Being an ER nurse, my worst fears were unfolding right before my eyes.

-mom

I knew the things that needed to happen to help save Sawyer, you just never think it would happen to your child.

Within a span of a couple of hours, Sawyer had an echocardiogram completed, she was transferred to the Cardiac Care Unit and intubated to decrease as much stress on her heart as they could. We were told there could be a high possibility she would need to go on ECMO. Sawyer’s heart function was severely depressed with an ejection fraction of 16%.  There were so many unknowns that night.  The echocardiogram showed the possibility of a heart defect but to make a definitive diagnosis a heart cath was needed the next morning.  

On December 28th, we had our official diagnosis—Anomalous Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery (ALCAPA).  This congenital heart defect is incredibly rare affecting 1 in every 300,000 births.  Sawyer would go to surgery that afternoon. The amazing staff at Children’s arranged for us to have Sawyer baptized just before the surgery. With the use of technology, we were even able to include her Godparents! 

Sawyer’s surgery took most of the afternoon and into the evening/night. She came through the surgery very well but we were told we would have a long recovery ahead of us due to her severely depressed heart function.

The days following the surgery would be filled with intense worry and many tears. I vividly remember one of the nurses saying she wanted to be honest with us and that we will likely be in the hospital for weeks even months to come. We started to prepare for how we would adjust to having one child at home and one in the hospital for an extended period of time. 

No one expected to see what would evolve over the next couple of weeks. Sawyer would show us the strength a little warrior truly has with her heart function improving drastically about 1 week following surgery. We were in awe and amazed at the progress she had made in such a short time. 

Sawyer beat a lot of odds stacked against her and was discharged from the hospital exactly 4 weeks from when we arrived. There was no better feeling than to be together at home again! 

In the weeks following discharge, our family learned of Heart Heroes through a co-worker and a nursing student of mine. Sawyer received her cape and became a true Heart Hero. 

Sawyer is now 6 months old and we still take one day at a time! She is growing and continues to show us her true strength. Sawyer’s journey would have been drastically different without the amazing team at Children’s, our friends and family, and the true power of prayer!

Sawyer, you are our true miracle!