Missy Wicker

EKF Fills in the Gap

Twin girls!  Four year old Zach and his parents, Liz and James, were ready to welcome two baby girls into their family.  When Missy and Tori were born, the doctor’s realized that Missy had an irregular heartbeat.  Now, 9 years later, Missy has just started 4^th grade with her twin sister, but it has been a difficult and unexpected journey for her whole family. 

Since birth, Missy has had two open heart surgeries, two VSD closures, and a pacemaker implantation that has needed to be replaced twice.  During the most recent replacement in May 2011, Missy was airlifted to Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas where they learned that one of her pacemaker leads had malfunctioned.  This was soon followed by an infection and Missy had four surgeries in three weeks, requiring her sternum to be opened three times.

Her mother writes, “We were blindsided to say the least.  Preparing emotionally for the May surgery and hospitalization was difficult enough.  The complications were a nightmare.  We had been in the Houston area less than a year with no family in the area.  We had so many people praying for us.”

Anticipating a three-week hospital stay, Liz had accrued enough sick and vacation time to allow her to be with Missy.  With the complications, however, she was out of work for three months.  At the time, James had not been able to find work in Houston.  “We were overwhelmed and scared that we would not be able to pay our bills,” says James.

“EKF was a godsend.  We had no idea EKF existed.  We can’t begin to tell you how much EKF has helped. Not only financially, but emotionally.  It was amazing to us to know that people really did care and understand what we were going through.  During our darkest time, EKF was there for us,” writes the family.  Liz and James have both recently gone back to work.

On September 12, Missy’s cardiologist said that she was healing nicely and the infection is gone.  Although her heart uses the pacemaker 100% of the time, her physical restrictions have been lifted.  She is riding her bike, playing soccer, and swimming.  She is also able to wear her backpack independently now, whereas before her twin sister, Tori, had carried it for her.  Both girls have signed up for cheer!

Her mom writes, “Both girls have way too much homework, but that’s another story . . .”