Meet darling Sienna Barton! Sienna is an energetic, loving, sassy 3-year-old. She was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), or half of a heart. While only expected to live a few days past birth, doctors were able to prolong her life with a three-step surgery beginning at 6 days old. Most of Sienna’s first year was in the hospital overcoming 2 open heart surgeries, several emergency surgeries, relearning how to eat and breath, and more. Sienna’s body has tried to end her earthly life with us many times, yet her soul’s will to live has persevered. In December, the Barton family unfortunately contracted a virus.. While the rest of the family recovered, Sienna never did. She battled for several weeks until one morning, they found her incredibly swollen and struggling to breath. The ER doctors immediately knew she was in severe heart failure. Her little half heart was being destroyed by this “simple” virus.
The next few weeks were spent trying to reverse the damage, but her heart continued to worsen. Sienna is no longer a candidate for her third surgery, her only option now is to receive a heart transplant. She was placed on the transplant list in February and is alive today thanks to a Ventricular Assist Device (VAD). It comes with extreme risks, but her doctors felt she couldn’t survive without it until her new heart comes. The wait at this age is long. They anticipate they will be doing the 1.5 hour hospital commute daily for a minimum of 12 months and several times a week for the year after, if all goes well. Sienna’s resilience is ever encouraging. She’s pushed through all of these twists and turns with a spicy sass that is equally inspiring as it is intimidating. She is one of the most special and pure children you will ever meet. Her little half heart has healed the hearts of those around her and has taught everyone what matters most in this life.