Cora was born with a congenital heart defect, mitral valve stenosis, that was not discovered until she was two months old. It was severe, and she needed open-heart surgery to fix it. But the problem with this specific heart defect is that there is no permanent solution.

 

Replacement heart valves don't grow with a child. This means that as Cora grows, her valve will remain the same size, and she will need to undergo surgery to replace it with a larger one. Because of this, her doctors wanted to wait as long as possible before her first surgery. The goal was to implant the largest possible valve, hoping to limit the number of open-heart surgeries she would need over her lifetime. Cora's heart held strong for an additional two and a half months. At four and a half months old, she had her first open-heart surgery and received a mechanical mitral valve. Because her heart was already so enlarged, she was able to receive a valve sized for a young adult. We hope and pray to get 10-15 years out of it. 

 

Today, Cora is a normal, happy-go-lucky kid, and we are so proud of her! We walk for Cora and kids like her.