Cheyanne’s Journey
During the month of July 2011, Cheyanne was overall a healthy little girl. She would laugh, and play with all of her friends at day home. After attending day home Mommy (Amanda) would take Cheyanne to the slurpee store for a slurpee and go to parks nearby the house.
She would also join her Mommy (Amanda) and her Step Father (Thomas) on camping trips, trips to Heritage Park, Calaway Park, Calgary Zoo, Drumheller, and casual day trips to the water park, and nearby playgrounds.
Our first family camping trip was July 9th 2011-July 12th 2011.
To our surprise nobody knew anything was going to happen 18 days after we came back from B.C
July 29th, 2011
Mommy and Thomas (Step Father) were planning a last minute family weekend in Edmonton.
As Mommy and Thomas were getting stuff ready to go, Cheyanne was watching Dora the explorer and many various kid shows. When 4:45pm rolled around it was time to head out to our destination: West Edmonton mall for some Galaxy land fun! As we were heading out our apartment door, Cheyanne asked if she could be carried. Mommy said; you’re ok hunny you can walk. Cheyanne started to whine a bit, so Mommy said; ok Cheyanne I will carry you down the stairs. Mommy said Cheyanne you be a big girl and walk to the Car it’s only a 30sec walk, Cheyanne said ok, but in a whiny tone. After a few seconds Cheyanne cried all the way to the Car. I reassured Cheyanne she was ok and that she was a very good big girl.
When we got to the car I said to Cheyanne please stand by your door, Cheyanne said ok Mommy. So I opened the trunk and put our stuff in. I said to Cheyanne you can sit down beside the car while you wait for Mommy to open your door, Cheyanne said ok Mommy.
As soon as I turned around I looked at Cheyanne, and I knelt down to her and asked if she was ok, and she said yes mommy. Next thing I knew her lips were blue she was breathing hard and then she “PASSED” out! As she passed out she was limp and hit her head. Thank god she was in a sitting position when it occurred.
Thomas asked if all was ok. And I said no. Thomas called 9-1-1. Here I am crying, holding a limp child, not breathing, blue in color, not responding child. 9-1-1 said does she have a pulse; we said no, if she did have a pulse it must have been a very, very low pulse.
9-1-1 said lay her on the ground and put one hand under her head, as soon as we started that, Cheyanne began slowly to gain a bit consciousness. Ambulance arrived put her on the stretcher and in she went.
The paramedics asked me all sorts of questions like, what’s her name, birth date, age, if she took meds, any allergies, and so forth. I being the Mom answered all questions even when I was crying, shaking, and worrying about my little girl. I hopped into the Ambulance front seat, they said we were heading to the Children’s Hospital, but Cheyanne was not stabilizing so they rushed us to the Rocky View General Hospital.
Cheyanne was rushed off to the hospital with Mommy by her side in the ambulance, Cheyanne was un stable and wasn't breathing. The paramedics said lets go to the childrens hospital, the other paramedic said she is unstable lets go to the Rocky View General Hospital.
When we arrived at the Rocky View they rushed her to the ER, they they began to work on her until she was stable. After 1hr of working on little Cheyanne she began to stabalize. They did X-Rays, blood tests, blood cultures, blood preassure, and many more others.
After Cheyanne had all of her tests and was stable they ambulanced us over to the Alberta Childrens Hospital. There she has more tests, and had an ECHO of her heart done, thats the first day we knew her heart wass 100% lager then her left side of her heart.
The Doctors at the Childrens Hospital sure gave us the run around on so many possible diagnoses's. They were adamant that she for sure had cancer becuase of two noduales show up on her lungs, then they thought Wagners disease well that wasn't it, they also thought inerstitial lung disease that wasn't it, then 2 weeks after we found out she had (PAH) Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.
While at hospital:
On August 10th, 2011 Cheyanne was "properly" Diagnosed with with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension at the stollery childrens hospital in Edmonton, Alberta. Cheyanne went through many test to properly diagnose her with her disease.
Pulmlonary Arterial Hypertension is very rare and only happens to 4 people in the enitre world from ages 4-12yrs old. Unfortunately Cheyanne fell under those 4 in the entire world, and also being the youngest in the enitre world.
With (PAH) Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension it can result in death!
September 30th 2011:
* 12:00pm: we got news from Dr. wong they have found a match for a heart and dubble lung for Cheyanne.
* 11:00pm: Cheyanne was delievered to the OR for her Transplant surgery.
October 1st 2011:
* 2:30am: Transplant organs arrived
First 24hrs are the most critical fingers crossed!
* 7:00pm: Cheyanne had cardiac arrest (7mins)
Cheyanne Mattern was all smiles Thursday as she ran around the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, just two months after becoming the province's youngest-ever heart and lung transplant patient.
"She's running around like a normal four-year-old," said Amanda Mattern, Cheyanne's mother. "It's great to see her be herself again."
Cheyanne seemed to be a typical little girl until she collapsed in a Calgary parking lot one day near the end of July.
She was taken to the Alberta Children's Hospital and diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a disease where blood pressure is elevated in the arteries of the lungs, putting pressure on the heart.
"This is a very rare condition but a very lethal condition," said Dr. Jackson Wong, director of the pediatric lung transplant program for Alberta Health Services.
Cheyanne was transferred from Calgary to the Stollery Children's Hospital, where her heart and lungs continued to fail. She went into cardiac arrest and was placed on life support.
"We gave her all the medicines we could give her and none of them worked," Wong said.
A heart and two lungs came available in October. Though they were bigger than Cheyanne's failing organs, the medical team quickly readied for the transplant.
Dr. John Mullen, the surgical director of the lung transplant program, performed the ninehour surgery. The procedure was complicated not only by the size of the donor organs, but because Cheyanne had been on life support, which increases the risk of bleeding.
"There are other centres that would see this transplant as not being possible because of the risks involved," Wong said, noting there are only six or seven pediatric heart and lung transplants done globally each year, and fewer than 100 have ever been done. After surgery, the medical team left Cheyanne's chest open for five days, allowing for the swelling to go down before closing her up again.
"She's a little trooper and a happy little child," Mullen said. "But she's been through hell and back, and her parents have as well." The results give the medical team hope, he said.
"It gives us the strength to face a similar problem in the future."
Cheyanne is the third pediatric heart and lung transplant patient in Alberta, though Wong said he'd like to work with more in the future. The other patients were five and 17 when they had their transplants.
"We have been transplanting for younger and younger children every year," Wong said. "We do have the ability and we do have a very good team that works well together. And we would like to help any children that might just need the gift of life."
Guiding her daughter through rehabilitation has been "stressful," Mattern said. Cheyanne's immune system prevents her from taking part in activities other kids enjoy.
"She's so immunosuppressed that she can't really touch anything, or really play with kids," said Thomas McCallum, Mattern's partner. "She's kind of a sheltered kid right now."
Cheyanne was recently discharged, and is living at Ronald MacDonald House, where she likes to colour, watch movies and play games with the other patients. When asked, she shyly recited the names of the girls she's befriended at her temporary home.
Cheyanne's family are staying in Edmonton at the RMH, so she can be monitored by the Stollery team. Mattern and McCallum hope the move will give the "spunky" little girl the best possible chance at a long and healthy life.
During the month of July 2011, Cheyanne was overall a healthy little girl. She would laugh, and play with all of her friends at day home. After attending day home Mommy (Amanda) would take Cheyanne to the slurpee store for a slurpee and go to parks nearby the house.
She would also join her Mommy (Amanda) and her Step Father (Thomas) on camping trips, trips to Heritage Park, Calaway Park, Calgary Zoo, Drumheller, and casual day trips to the water park, and nearby playgrounds.
Our first family camping trip was July 9th 2011-July 12th 2011.
To our surprise nobody knew anything was going to happen 18 days after we came back from B.C
July 29th, 2011
Mommy and Thomas (Step Father) were planning a last minute family weekend in Edmonton.
As Mommy and Thomas were getting stuff ready to go, Cheyanne was watching Dora the explorer and many various kid shows. When 4:45pm rolled around it was time to head out to our destination: West Edmonton mall for some Galaxy land fun! As we were heading out our apartment door, Cheyanne asked if she could be carried. Mommy said; you’re ok hunny you can walk. Cheyanne started to whine a bit, so Mommy said; ok Cheyanne I will carry you down the stairs. Mommy said Cheyanne you be a big girl and walk to the Car it’s only a 30sec walk, Cheyanne said ok, but in a whiny tone. After a few seconds Cheyanne cried all the way to the Car. I reassured Cheyanne she was ok and that she was a very good big girl.
When we got to the car I said to Cheyanne please stand by your door, Cheyanne said ok Mommy. So I opened the trunk and put our stuff in. I said to Cheyanne you can sit down beside the car while you wait for Mommy to open your door, Cheyanne said ok Mommy.
As soon as I turned around I looked at Cheyanne, and I knelt down to her and asked if she was ok, and she said yes mommy. Next thing I knew her lips were blue she was breathing hard and then she “PASSED” out! As she passed out she was limp and hit her head. Thank god she was in a sitting position when it occurred.
Thomas asked if all was ok. And I said no. Thomas called 9-1-1. Here I am crying, holding a limp child, not breathing, blue in color, not responding child. 9-1-1 said does she have a pulse; we said no, if she did have a pulse it must have been a very, very low pulse.
9-1-1 said lay her on the ground and put one hand under her head, as soon as we started that, Cheyanne began slowly to gain a bit consciousness. Ambulance arrived put her on the stretcher and in she went.
The paramedics asked me all sorts of questions like, what’s her name, birth date, age, if she took meds, any allergies, and so forth. I being the Mom answered all questions even when I was crying, shaking, and worrying about my little girl. I hopped into the Ambulance front seat, they said we were heading to the Children’s Hospital, but Cheyanne was not stabilizing so they rushed us to the Rocky View General Hospital.
Cheyanne was rushed off to the hospital with Mommy by her side in the ambulance, Cheyanne was un stable and wasn't breathing. The paramedics said lets go to the childrens hospital, the other paramedic said she is unstable lets go to the Rocky View General Hospital.
When we arrived at the Rocky View they rushed her to the ER, they they began to work on her until she was stable. After 1hr of working on little Cheyanne she began to stabalize. They did X-Rays, blood tests, blood cultures, blood preassure, and many more others.
After Cheyanne had all of her tests and was stable they ambulanced us over to the Alberta Childrens Hospital. There she has more tests, and had an ECHO of her heart done, thats the first day we knew her heart wass 100% lager then her left side of her heart.
The Doctors at the Childrens Hospital sure gave us the run around on so many possible diagnoses's. They were adamant that she for sure had cancer becuase of two noduales show up on her lungs, then they thought Wagners disease well that wasn't it, they also thought inerstitial lung disease that wasn't it, then 2 weeks after we found out she had (PAH) Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.
While at hospital:
On August 10th, 2011 Cheyanne was "properly" Diagnosed with with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension at the stollery childrens hospital in Edmonton, Alberta. Cheyanne went through many test to properly diagnose her with her disease.
Pulmlonary Arterial Hypertension is very rare and only happens to 4 people in the enitre world from ages 4-12yrs old. Unfortunately Cheyanne fell under those 4 in the entire world, and also being the youngest in the enitre world.
With (PAH) Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension it can result in death!
September 30th 2011:
* 12:00pm: we got news from Dr. wong they have found a match for a heart and dubble lung for Cheyanne.
* 11:00pm: Cheyanne was delievered to the OR for her Transplant surgery.
October 1st 2011:
* 2:30am: Transplant organs arrived
First 24hrs are the most critical fingers crossed!
* 7:00pm: Cheyanne had cardiac arrest (7mins)
Cheyanne Mattern was all smiles Thursday as she ran around the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, just two months after becoming the province's youngest-ever heart and lung transplant patient.
"She's running around like a normal four-year-old," said Amanda Mattern, Cheyanne's mother. "It's great to see her be herself again."
Cheyanne seemed to be a typical little girl until she collapsed in a Calgary parking lot one day near the end of July.
She was taken to the Alberta Children's Hospital and diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a disease where blood pressure is elevated in the arteries of the lungs, putting pressure on the heart.
"This is a very rare condition but a very lethal condition," said Dr. Jackson Wong, director of the pediatric lung transplant program for Alberta Health Services.
Cheyanne was transferred from Calgary to the Stollery Children's Hospital, where her heart and lungs continued to fail. She went into cardiac arrest and was placed on life support.
"We gave her all the medicines we could give her and none of them worked," Wong said.
A heart and two lungs came available in October. Though they were bigger than Cheyanne's failing organs, the medical team quickly readied for the transplant.
Dr. John Mullen, the surgical director of the lung transplant program, performed the ninehour surgery. The procedure was complicated not only by the size of the donor organs, but because Cheyanne had been on life support, which increases the risk of bleeding.
"There are other centres that would see this transplant as not being possible because of the risks involved," Wong said, noting there are only six or seven pediatric heart and lung transplants done globally each year, and fewer than 100 have ever been done. After surgery, the medical team left Cheyanne's chest open for five days, allowing for the swelling to go down before closing her up again.
"She's a little trooper and a happy little child," Mullen said. "But she's been through hell and back, and her parents have as well." The results give the medical team hope, he said.
"It gives us the strength to face a similar problem in the future."
Cheyanne is the third pediatric heart and lung transplant patient in Alberta, though Wong said he'd like to work with more in the future. The other patients were five and 17 when they had their transplants.
"We have been transplanting for younger and younger children every year," Wong said. "We do have the ability and we do have a very good team that works well together. And we would like to help any children that might just need the gift of life."
Guiding her daughter through rehabilitation has been "stressful," Mattern said. Cheyanne's immune system prevents her from taking part in activities other kids enjoy.
"She's so immunosuppressed that she can't really touch anything, or really play with kids," said Thomas McCallum, Mattern's partner. "She's kind of a sheltered kid right now."
Cheyanne was recently discharged, and is living at Ronald MacDonald House, where she likes to colour, watch movies and play games with the other patients. When asked, she shyly recited the names of the girls she's befriended at her temporary home.
Cheyanne's family are staying in Edmonton at the RMH, so she can be monitored by the Stollery team. Mattern and McCallum hope the move will give the "spunky" little girl the best possible chance at a long and healthy life.
If you would like to make a donation for "Help Cheyanne reach for the stars" here is the link: http://goo.gl/c6jkQ