We have wonderful friends who live across the street from us in Washington. Kristopher is a fixture at our house (or Carter at theirs) during any non-school time. I love that little boy like he’s my own. If you’ve been to my house when my kids were home, you’ve probably met him or his little brother, Mark.  Mark and Peyton are just a few months a part, so his mom and I got to be pregnant at the same time. His mom, Kelli, is one of my favorite people. When we were pregnant with Abby she’d call me all of the time with something she found for her. She was as excited as we were that we were having a girl.

Me and Kelli at Abby’s party (nice of her to not turn her head…it’s the most recent photo of us I have.)

Kelli and Abby

They have quite a story. During the summer, they were involved in a car accident. They went to do an xray on Kelli’s knee, but before they did they did a pregnancy test. Kelli already had 4 kids, the oldest was 19. She didn’t think there was any chance she was pregnant- and she was. About 4 and a half months along! Not long after they found out that they were having a girl. A friend for Abby! We were thrilled.  I was angry that we had to leave before she brought the latest cutest member of their family into this world.

Kamryn was born on December 10th.  I’ll let Kellie tell the rest of the story:

Wow! So baby Kamryn came home from the hospital a happy, healthy newborn. She ate, pooped, cried and fussed as a normally delivered baby would. On Christmas Eve day she was acting a little off. Some congestion, off her food, and her cry was different. By later that day I was growing more concerned about her. She wasn’t right. After Church we went to Gramies for Christmas Eve. I changed her diaper and noticed how cold her feet were. At that point Mike says, “do you want to call the nurse.” Which I did. She told me to take her to Mary Bridge. At Mary Bridge they took her temp. It was 94.something. They took it again to make sure and moved us to a bigger room with more equipment. While in the process of trying to get IVs, fluid, lab work etc she stopped breathing. I heard, “She is blue, mom you need to sit down” and a hug sob from my husband. The in charge Doc steps in and starts to stimulate her to breath. Then they started to intubate her. That Doc saved her life. On an xray to make sure the tub is in the right place they find she has and enlarged heart. We are admitted to the hospital and a begin testing. The next morning the peds cardiologist comes around with the Peds internist and says, This is DR S he has some disturbing news. Kamryn’s heart musle is not able to pump correctly and is functioning at 30%. He sent us up to Childrens in Seattle. The care team from Seattle came to get us. I rode in the ambulance that took us to Childrens. She was admitted here and is getting the best care in the nation. Oh, how I wished for a simple, “It’s a virus” diagnosis. She has been diagnoses with Non compaction Cardo Myopathy. The left Ventrical of her heart is like a sponge and not a smooth muscle that can pump. She is currently doing better. The med cocktail is working although they would like her off of some of the meds.”

 Things from there were a roller coaster. At one point they thought she’d be able to go home. Then she took a turn for the worse and they put her on the transplant list.

Please, please pray for this wonderful family. A family that we’ve been close to for over 7 years. Kristopher is Carter’s very best friend. It’s KILLING me to not be home right now. To be able to help. So I’m begging you to pray for them. Please.

I’ve started a blog for their family with all of the updates she’s posted from the hospital. It’s not quite finished, but you can see how beautiful Kamryn is. If you feel like it, please post a comment THERE rather than here. I know many of you have gone through heart surgeries yourself and have a lot to offer. Please do.  The blog is www.prayingforkamryn.blogspot.com. You can get the code for the button I have as well, if you’d like to add it to your own blog.

While you’re at it, please say a special prayer for the family of the baby that donated the heart. I can’t imagine at all what they are going through right now. I am so grateful that they were willing to make such a hard choice during such a hard time. They are not only saving Kamryn’s life, but I ‘m sure many others.
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