14 Year Old Undergoes Open Heart Surgery.....Part Two

So if you didn't read yesterdays post, you will want to read that first here: Katie's Testimonial Part 1. This is part II of the story of Katie, a 14 year old girl who underwent open heart surgery due to a previously undiagnosed heart condition. Our last post left off saying that we were about to get a surprising update on Katie!!

We knew the day that Katie was going in for her open heart surgery thanks to her aunt, Jenny, who purchased an Annie & Isabel hospital gown for her. We thought about Katie that morning and went about our day working on Annie & Isabel matters. We were checking our email when we received an email that absolutely made our day and our week!! It was an email that made us realize that every minute of hard work that we put into our company is soooo worth it. The email was from Katie's aunt, Jenny. True to her word, Jenny wrote to update us on Katie's progress. She emailed us the following picture which just blew us away:

This is Katie in the pediatric Intensive Care Unit, just HOURS after having open heart surgery. She has the biggest grin on her face and is looking as bright and cheery as the Evelyn designer gown that she is wearing. Can you imagine sitting up in a chair within the first day of having open heart surgery?? We are nurses and we were surprised and excited to see her doing so well! The surprises weren't to end there, either.

Shortly after receiving that wonderful email from Katie's aunt, Jenny, we received another message. Amazingly, Katie's nurse that day happened to be a friend of ours, Claudette (pictured above with Katie). We hadn't talked to her in quite some time but when she saw this beautiful gown on her patient, she knew right away that it must be an Annie & Isabel hospital gown. She was also amazed at how it helped in the recovery of her patient. Claudette was so impressed that, with the permission of Katie and her family, she contacted us to tell us how excited she was that Katie had this gown and what a difference it had made in Katie's recovery. Here is what she wrote to us:

"I am currently an RN at Children's Hospital Oakland. I have been a Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Nurse for over 8 years now. There are so many reasons I love my job, but one of the great joys is being able to bring to the families and our patients, the most brave kids you will ever meet, some normalcy during their stay in the ICU.

With this brings my story of Katie. Katie had a whirlwind first hand experience as a pediatric heart patient. She was diagnosed and underwent her surgery in such a short time frame. I had the pleasure of helping care for Katie her first day post-op. It was then we encouraged Katie to take a bath, braid her hair and get out of that stale hospital gown from surgery and get into her new and improved gown from Annie and Isabel! After the bath, hair braided and gown in place, I was taken aback on how Katie was actually glowing! She was able to get up and out of the bed and into the chair! We were all so excited to see her with so much strength and in such a great mood so soon after this intense surgery. Katie looked at me and said how much getting up and out of bed, and wearing something that she loved made her feel just that little bit better (this girl was smiling ear to ear). It truly made my heart smile.

Thank you Annie and Isabel for bringing a little bit of sunshine to maybe just another day in the ICU."

~Claudette Arguello, RN, BSN

Even her cardiologist, Dr. Rosenfeld (pictured above with Katie) was impressed with Katie's hospital gown!

Katie's aunt, Jenny, was so happy with the difference the Evelyn designer hospital gown had made in Katie's first day of recovery that she ordered a second gown, The Susan, which we promptly altered to include the telemetry pocket and shipped out that same day. Thankfully it got there in one day because Katie's miraculous recovery from her surgery got her out of the hospital and home within 76 hours. Katie was back to school within two weeks!!! She is an amazing young lady!

Here is what Katie had to say about our hospital gowns:

"This gown made my day so much brighter! My aunt gave me a second gown because I felt so good wearing the first one! I had so much fun showing it off to all the nurses. I felt "dressed" in the gown, which made me feel less like a patient and more like a person. I love my hospital gowns!"

Katie, we are so glad you recovered so well from this big surgery and wish you a lot of healthy years of swimming, snow skiing, water skiing and sporting activities and loving life!!

14 Year Old Girl Undergoes Open Heart Surgery and Recovers In Her Annie & Isabel Hospital Gown With a Smile

We are so excited to share this next testimonial with you. This is the story of Katie, a 14 year old teenager, who recently underwent successful open heart surgery. The need for open heart surgery came as quite a surprise to Katie and her family. Here is the story in Katie's mother's words:

"Katie enjoys competitive swimming, snow skiing, water skiing, and other outdoor sports. Her pediatrician's office recently placed a greater emphasis on cardiac health in athletic children. Katie's pediatrician referred her for an ultrasound due to a heart murmur that she'd had since birth, even though doctors had repeatedly concluded that this murmur was "innocent".

No one expected the ultrasound to show that Katie's heart was greatly enlarged. After an MRI, doctors confirmed that Katie had a Sinus Venosus Atrial Septal Defect, a hole between the two top chambers of her heart that also affected the right upper pulmonary vein. Given Katie's athleticism and lack of symptoms, this diagnosis came as a great shock! Within a month, Katie was admitted to Children's Hospital Oakland for open heart surgery under the superior care of Dr. Howard Rosenfeld, her cardiologist, and Dr. Frank Hanley, her surgeon."

A week prior to Katie's surgery, her aunt, Jenny, e-mailed us to purchase one of our gowns for her niece. When we found out that her niece was having open heart surgery, we knew right away that Katie was going to require a hospital gown that would allow for cardiac monitoring.

Did you know that Annie & Isabel hospital gowns can be altered to provide a pocket, called a telemetry pocket, that allows for cardiac monitoring? We have done this on several occasions and this is what it looks like:

front of gown with telemetry pocket in middle

This pocket on the front of the hospital gown will hold a portable cardiac monitor and has a two inch button hole like slit that opens to allow for cardiac monitoring cords to come through.  Anyone in the hospital that has cardiac problems or requires any heart surgery will require heart monitoring.

pocket open to show slit where cords come through

We added the telemetry pocket to Katie's Evelyn designer hospital gown and sent it off.  Jenny was kind enough to let us know when Katie was going to have her surgery and told us she would update us on her progress.  We got an update that we never expected!!  Check back tomorrow for the 2nd part of this great story!