When local toddler Brynslet Sellers got a new heart last week, her family members weren’t the only ones celebrating a milestone.
The Heart Transplant Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where Brynslet’s procedure was performed, has now performed 300 heart transplants since the program’s inception in 1988. Two-year-old Brynslet, the milestone recipient, had been waiting for a heart and living at the hospital’s Egleston campus since March.
“This milestone represents an extraordinary legacy of care,” said Dr. Kirk Kanter, surgical director and one of the founders of the Children’s Heart Transplant Program. “When we started the program in 1988, we could not have imagined the incredible impact it would have in fewer than three decades. Through research and technology advances, we have seen outcomes improve and children with heart defects live longer than before. As we look ahead to our next 300 transplants, the future is bright.”
According to the Sellers family’s friend, Jodee Carlen, Brynslet went into surgery Sunday, Sept. 21, and doctors wrapped up the following morning. Brynslet’s mother, Amanda Sellers, said there were no complications.
On Sept. 23, Sellers announced via Facebook that her daughter was drinking from a cup and sitting up in bed with assistance and support.
“She’s in a lot of pain. She’s not really talking. She is still kind of out of it. Everything is perfectly normal,” Sellers wrote.
The Children’s Heart Transplant Program has one of the highest volumes of pediatric heart transplants in the country, averaging around 12 heart transplants per year since 1988. In 2013, the team performed 21 heart transplants, the most the program has done in a single year.
During her seven-month stay at Children’s, Brynslet blossomed despite her struggling heart, according to staffers. She was determined to not let the “boo boo on her heart” — as she called it — keep her from participating in patient activities or meeting new people.
In February, doctors discovered Brynslet’s enlarged heart and transferred her to Children’s. The toddler was diagnosed in March with dilated cardiomyopathy and placed on the transplant waiting list.
“We have been fortunate to care for hundreds of children like Brynslet over the years, giving each of them a new chance at life,” said Dr. William Mahle, medical director of the Children’s Heart Transplant Program. “We could not be more proud of the multidisciplinary team of cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiologists, nurses, nutritionists, social workers, pharmacists, child life specialists and many others who contributed throughout our program’s 26-year history to reach this achievement.”
An upcoming edition of Living Well will feature a longer story on Brynslet’s recovery and her family’s “new normal.”