January 2, 2023 | Katie Chen
A Stanford Medicine Children’s Health pediatric bosom transplant diligent volition beryllium riding connected the Donate Life Rose Parade interval to rise consciousness for organ donation
Megan Mehta is an energetic, passionate second-year assemblage pupil astatine UC Berkeley with a zest for life. She fills her days with activities adjacent to her heart—whether that’s arsenic a writer for the Berkeley Political Review, lodging seat of her sorority, oregon a subordinate of the Society of Women Engineers.
Each time means truthful overmuch much due to the fact that she thought she would not unrecorded to spot them. At 8 years old, she was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a bosom information that makes it progressively much hard for the bosom to pump humor implicit time.
“I was astatine Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford for astir 3 weeks, conscionable recovering slowly, gaining spot again, and trying to fig retired however to rebuild my life.”
Before her diagnosis, Megan led a precise progressive beingness playing hoops and practicing tae kwon do. But she had to springiness it each up due to the fact that she was perpetually tired, having occupation walking without taking breaks each fewer minutes. She could nary longer prosecute her passions oregon spell connected trips.
“During this play earlier my transplant, everything was conscionable benignant of gray,” she explained. “There was a small spot of colour present and there, but it conscionable felt precise bland and dull. I’m a kid, and I couldn’t bash kid things. It conscionable didn’t consciousness similar I was living.”
Her information continued to worsen to the constituent of bosom failure.
“When I archetypal met Megan successful October 2015, her bosom illness had worsened to a constituent wherever we thought transplantation was astir apt the champion enactment for her,” said Seth Hollander, MD, aesculapian manager of pediatric bosom transplantation astatine Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, which is the fig 1 infirmary successful the Western United States successful pediatric bosom transplant volumes.
Megan’s doctors, Dr. Hollander and John Dykes, MD, placed her connected the transplant hold database for a bosom astatine presumption 1A, which is fixed to patients with the astir urgent need.
Then, connected Feb. 24, 2016, 4 months aft being placed connected the list, Megan received a telephone that determination was a match. She got a caller heart.
“It felt similar I’ve been freed from the shackles that were chaining maine down,” she said. “Immediately aft the bosom transplant, I felt similar I could really spot the colour successful life. The champion mode to picture it is if you crook the saturation connected an Instagram photograph to maximum—everything is agleam and vibrant.”
Honoring her donor
The archetypal happening Megan did was spell camping with her family. She’s besides traveled to Hawaii and Europe.
“I retrieve for 3 months posttransplant, I could perceive my heartbeat nonstop,” she said. “I could perceive it sitting, running. Some radical mightiness get freaked retired by that, but I thought it was unthinkable due to the fact that it was a changeless reminder that I’m blessed and alive.”
Megan has since had follow-up appointments with her superior attraction cardiologist, Elizabeth Profita, MD, and continues to bash well.
Aside from her extracurricular activities and schoolwork, advocacy became a ample portion of her life, with Megan dedicating overmuch of her clip to assistance aboriginal patients similar her. When she went backmost to precocious school, she saw a existent accidental to beforehand organ donation successful her community, arsenic her classmates were each astir to get their driver’s licenses. She founded aggregate clubs, including the precise archetypal precocious schoolhouse section of Student Organ Donation Advocates (SODA), and organized organ donor registration drives done Donor Network West. Now, she’ll beryllium promoting organ donation astatine a nationalist level.
“We’re truthful excited that Megan is going to correspond Stanford Children’s astatine the Rose Parade,” Dr. Hollander said. “When she’s connected that float, we’re each going to beryllium determination successful tone with her, arsenic she’s cheering connected not lone our hospital, but besides organ transplant recipients and donor families everywhere.”
‘Turning the Corner’
The 2023 parade taxable is “Turning the Corner,” successful solemnisation of the unlimited imaginable and opportunities to emergence supra that each caller twelvemonth brings.
For Megan, riding connected the Donate Life interval is the cleanable mode for her to ringing successful the caller year. She’s seizing yet different accidental to rise consciousness of the value of organ, eye, and insubstantial donation and amusement however this acquisition tin springiness others, similar her, a 2nd accidental to spot the colour successful life.
“This is specified an unthinkable honor,” she said. “It’s designation that I was capable to marque a quality successful this assemblage regarding thing that I’m truly passionate about. But this is my donor’s legacy, successful my mind. All I tin bash is marque definite I unrecorded the champion mode I tin to guarantee that this acquisition does not spell to waste. I’m everlastingly thankful for this acquisition of beingness due to the fact that it gave maine an accidental to unrecorded and unrecorded well.”
Learn much astir our pediatric bosom failure/heart transplant programme >
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