Striding with the Strubes

I know everyone is anxiously awaiting to hear how our girl is doing; and I am relieved and thankful to say she made it through surgery great. They were able to successfully remove the myxoma and blood clot in the left atrium of her heart. She is now recovering in the ICU and still has a long road of recovery ahead; but we hope the worst is behind her!

We are so thankful to her amazing medical team, and for all those who have messaged, commented, and prayed 💕

Hi everyone, Kelsey here, it’s been a long time since we’ve posted anything here or given any updates. And I wish that I was updating with better news.

We need some prayers and love sent to our bravest CF’er, Katie Jo. COVID-19 Sucks.

Despite our greatest efforts, and making it 2 years of this pandemic without catching COVID; on 2/7 Kate tested positive. Despite having both vaccines and multiple boosters; her immunocompromised state allowed the virus to take its hold. Our team at KU Med jumped into action; working with her transplant team in Tx, to get her the antibody infusion. This; ultimately was successful and Katelyn was able to stay out of the hospital, and was feeling pretty good; that is until last week.

She called me in a panic because she was dealing with left sided weakness and numbness; my husband told her she needed to get to the ED immediately. They activated the stroke protocol, and administered the TPA within the window, and into the ICU she went. They believe she had a minor stroke due to a piece of a blood clot (likely developed due to the COVID-19 viral infection) that went to her brain. Luckily; she has remained conscious and lucid; the entire time, and her weakness is slowly improving. Little did we know; this small stroke ended up being a blessing in disguise; as further imaging revealed a large mobile blood clot in the left atrium of her heart.

They have been administering anticoagulants in the hopes that it would allow her body to do what it needs to do; to take care of the clot on its own.

Unfortunately; her trans esophageal echocardiogram this morning revealed that the clot is still present; so now the cardiology team and her transplant team are going to discuss how best to move forward with case. Update; she will be having open heart surgery Thursday.

While this is not the news we were hoping for, our girl is prepared to do whatever she needs to do.

This pandemic has been hard for all of us; but I think especially so for the immunocompromised and high risk individuals. As we feel alienated, and forgotten. The fear of catching this virus; that is so much more then a cold or the flu, has been extremely real for my family. The fear of what happens if Katelyn catches It, and now; those fears becoming our reality.

Please be considerate of people like us; who also have hopes, dreams, families, friends, and lives we want to live and enjoy. Please be kind when people are wearing masks; for you never know what their story may be. Please consider getting a vaccine to reduce the spread in the community so people like Katelyn can continue to spend time doing things they love with the people they cherish. We need those around us; our family members, friends, and those in our community to be vaccinated to help protect us. We are also doing our part, but we deserve to live our lives too; especially when so much as already been stolen from us due to Cystic Fibrosis.

Katelyn requests at this time for any well wishes be directed on the comments of this post; or they can come to me, Kelsey. If you would like to send something; please Private message me, and I can give you an address.

Say some prayers for our girl; that god will give her the strength to overcome this, and for the doctors and nurses overseeing her care.

With love,

StridingwiththeStrubes