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Mikayla's journey began before
she entered this world on May 14, 2003. She was born with a heart defect, and needed a pacemaker. Her first pacemaker
lasted for 4 years. In October 2007, she again went in for major surgery to have a hole in her heart repaired and also
for a new pacemaker. She did fine for 3 months, then, February 1, 2008 she entered Shands Hospital in
Gainesville, FL to wait for a new heart. In the meantime, Mikayla had an artificial heart, "The Berlin Heart".
A matching heart was available September 4, 2008. She has a heart transplant.
What
is the Berlin Heart?
The Berlin heart was positioned outside Mikayla's body
and was connected to the heart by many tubes. It pumped blood to her vital organs and bought her the time
she needed while she waited for a heart transplant. Because it does the work for the heart, her body did not have
to work so hard to keep the heart beating. This helped her to maintain some physical activity and be in the best shape possible
when it was time for transplant surgery. (see photo gallery)
For more information:
The Berlin Heart
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