Kelsey's Second Surgery

On April 26th, only two weeks later, Kelsey's second surgery performed to fix her tiny heart. The family again faced the operating room nurses with more tears, more hugs and more prayers. Their tiny angel was once again in the hands of the surgical team at Children's Hospital.  After another long day in surgery to fix her leaky and stenotic valve, the operation was thought to be successful. Over the next few days, her parent's stood vigil.  Day and night, Lisa and John never left Kelsey's side. Every day they would hold, touch and caress her little fingers, always whispering familiar words into her ear, telling her to be strong and know that Mommy and Daddy were right there. This recovery was more difficult for Kelsey and she needed to have a feeding tube placed to help her depleted little body heal. After weeks of recovery, Kelsey was finally sent home with happy expectations. However, quickly after arriving home, it was evident something was very wrong. Kelsey wouldn’t eat, couldn't sleep and wasn’t gaining weight. Again, she began to have trouble breathing. After two heart surgeries it was back to the hospital. Happy expectations were soon replaced with worry and despair.

Kelsey's First Surgery

With all the emotions of young parents - fear, anxiety, hope - John and Lisa handed their baby into the arms of the cardiac surgical team at Boston Children’s Hospital on April 5, 2010, the day after Easter. After nearly eight hours in surgery, the news following her operation was not the news any parent would want to hear. New words were used; "complicated, tricky, and unique." Kelsey would need more surgery and she wasn't going to survive without it. The doctors, with compassion, urged Lisa and John to take their baby home and "enjoy her for a week." However, she never got to go home. No balloons or welcome home signs. Eight hours after being told she could go home, Kelsey lay limp in her father’s arms straining to breathe. She was transferred to the ICU in pulmonary edema.

Life is Precious and Not Always Easy

Kelsey Corltio was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect at birth, a condition that is usually mended by one "simple and easy" procedure, a "3-4 day hospital stay." There has been nothing simple and easy about Kelsey's condition, Kelsey has undergone a series of corrective surgeries, including two mitral valve replacements, multiple cardiac catheter's, internal bleeding, pulmonary edema and countless hours of fighting for her life. Kelsey has been on an external pacing device, a ventilator for days at a time after each procedure, multiple paralytic drugs and at her worst, hooked up to a heart/lung machine that kept her alive for four days after her 4th surgery when her little heart was too just too tired to start again. Her tiny little incision has been opened and reopened, again and again. She now has a tissue valve and permanent pacemaker, both will need to be replaced at some point down the road. Kelsey has battled more than what anyone should have to endure in the course of a lifetime. And Kelsey is not even 2 years old yet.