Colter Meinert

Photo courtesy of Jeff and Patty Meinert

Parents understand that the addition of a new baby to the family will cause change and stress, but for Jeff and Patty Meinert, the birth of their son Colter altered their lives in a way they never could have expected.

After a normal pregnancy, Colter was born at 8:00 a.m., September 9, 2002, by a planned C-Section. Weighing in at 7 pounds 9 ounces, Colter appeared normal and healthy, and Jeff and Patty spent the day with their new baby, along with their 4-year-old son, Logan, and Jeff and Patty's parents.

That night, Colter stayed in the hospital nursery, but when Jeff went to get him the next morning, September 10th, the nurse told Jeff they had found a heart murmur and Colter would need an echocardiogram. This test revealed that Colter had heart problems that needed specialized care. Colter was put on medications called prostaglandin in order to keep blood moving through his heart.

Anxious Waiting

Given a choice to send Colter to a Twin Cities hospital or to Mayo Clinic, Jeff and Patty chose Mayo. They knew and trusted the Mayo name because of a relative's experience at Mayo Clinic. Colter was quickly transported by Mayo One to Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester. Because Patty was still recovering from the C-Section, Jeff and his parents drove to Rochester to be with Colter, while Patty's parents stayed behind to be with Patty in the hospital.

Anxious waiting filled Patty's day. She wanted to believe that Jeff would call and tell her it was all a terrible mistake and that Colter was just fine.

However, late that evening, one of the doctors from Colter's care team at Mayo called Patty and told her that Colter had hypoplastic left heart, a condition in which all or part of the left side of the heart is small or undeveloped. She was told that she and Jeff had three options to choose from for Colter's care: 1) they could stop the prostaglandin and Colter would die within 21 days. 2) Colter could have a series of 3 surgeries. However, the doctors felt that Colter would not live through the first operation. 3) Colter could receive a heart transplant. Patty knew the heart transplant was the only option she could choose. Unbeknownst to Patty, Jeff had come to the same decision earlier that day.

Fortunately, Patty was well enough by the next day, September 11th, to travel to Rochester with her parents. Patty, Jeff and both sets of parents met with Colter's doctors. They explained how a heart transplant would affect Colter and his family for the rest of their lives. "I kept asking myself, 'Is this really happening?'" remembers Patty of that day. "Everything was moving so fast, it was hard to process all the information, but we knew we had to."

Waiting for a Heart

Colter's name was put on the heart transplant waiting list and he was admitted to the Pediatric ICU at Saint Marys Hospital to wait for a donor heart. Jeff and Patty's life turned upside down. Jeff had been working for his parents and Patty had been doing in-home daycare. Jeff's parents told him to take off all the time he needed and Patty informed her clients that she would no longer be doing daycare. Jeff and Patty made the trip to Rochester every day so they could be with Colter.

"Our family, friends and the entire community was so supportive during that time," says Patty. "They had fundraisers for Colter and gave us the emotional and financial support we needed to make it through those hard days."

Weeks passed. Colter had good days and bad days. He ate through a nipple in his stomach and his weight went up and down. While waiting for a heart, Coltor required constant infusion of prostaglandin and critical control of the amount of oxygen he breathed. As Patty recalls, "He was getting worse and worse. We felt safe because he was in the hospital where he could get treatments as soon as something went wrong, but we knew that couldn't go on forever."

Colter Receives his Heart

Finally on October 21st at 10:00 a.m., 6 weeks after Colter was born, Jeff and Patty were told a possible donor heart had been found. Colter was taken to be prepared for surgery at about 2:00 p.m. Jeff and Patty didn't see him again until 2:00 a.m.

"During the surgery, a nurse kept us up-to-date about what was happening in the surgical room. Everything went well, but it was hard to wait to see Colter," says Patty.

The difference in Colter was immediate. He started eating better and gaining weight, and his strength improved. When Colter was discharged from the hospital in November, the family moved to Rochester so Colter would be close to Mayo Clinic in the event that he had problems and because he needed several check-ups each week.

Home for the Holidays

Happily for the Meinert family, Colter's health continued to improve and they were granted a two-day pass to go home for Christmas. Jeff's parents visited one day and Patty's parents visited the other day.

Colter's visitors were limited as exposure to infections could mean a serious illness for him. Patty laughs as she remembers her hypervigilence during those early days of Colter's recovery. "I watched people like a hawk. If I thought they hadn't washed their hands, I demanded that they wash before touching Colter. People might have thought I was rude at times, but I didn't care. It was all about protecting Colter. I think I've relaxed a little since then, but I'm still careful about who touches him."

Getting Back to Normal

January 16, 2003, Colter and his family were finally able to move back home. Though he experienced a minor setback in March and had to be hospitalized for about week, Colter's health is greatly improved. "Now he gains weight and keeps it on," Patty says. "He is a very active, very happy little boy."

"Even as recently as 1975, parents were given little or no hope that their child would survive hypoplastic left heart simply because no viable treatments were available," says Dr. David Driscoll, M.D., Mayo Clinic Pediatric Cardiologist. "Now, thanks to the persistence of researchers and the participation in the organ donation program, Colter and his family have hope for the future."

Because Colter was so sick when he was born, he has physical developmental delays that require therapy. Eventually, however, Patty expects that he will run and play like the other children.

As Colter's surgical scar fades, so does Patty's fear. Life has settled into a routine and Patty says it feels good. "Although Colter needs six different medications every day, things have gotten much better. An experience like this makes you grateful for the people you have in your life. You don't take things for granted."