KSHB 41: Missouri family spends Valentine's Day waiting for heart transplant
By Charlie Keegan
A small heart is putting up a big fight at a Kansas City, Missouri, hospital this Valentine’s Day.
At only three-and-a-half months old, Lettie Jude Rau has spent pretty much every minute of her life in a hospital. Shortly after her birth in Springfield, doctors realized her heart wasn’t working properly.
Previously undetected, doctors determined Lettie Jude has a condition called cardiomyopathy, which means her heart can’t pump blood as it should.
Doctors rushed the infant 150 miles north to Children’s Mercy Hospital where she had open-heart surgery at 5 weeks old.
Lettie Jude is connected to a ventricular assist device (VAD) which does the pumping for her, but it means she has to remain in a hospital room until she gets a heart transplant.
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