Chip Chick
Hinckley, Minnesota. 13-year-old Kenzie recently learned that she needs to have open heart surgery because she has a birth defect that has caused her severe damage to one of her aortic valves.
Essentially, Kenzie’s heart has to work overtime to keep her alive.
“Makenzie (Kenzie) was born with only 2 valves in her heart, we are supposed to have 3,” her mom Heidi Jean wrote on a GoFundMe page created for her.
“For many years she stayed in the “moderate” level which describes the increased blood flow in one valve and narrowing in the other. At age 10 we went into the “mild” stage and We were told that around age 13-14, she will need surgery. As her heart will have grown to adult size.”
Kenzie’s mom has diligently taken her to doctor appointments to keep an eye on her heart, and at Kenzie’s August visit, they got some bad news.
Doctors told Heidi that Kenzie was starting to become more severe, but despite that, she wasn’t showing any outward signs.
So, Heidi was instructed to bring Kenzie back after 4 months for another follow-up. The next month, Kenzie entered 7th grade and she also celebrated her 13th birthday.
Heidi started realizing that Kenzie was struggling with getting tired, and then she worryingly began having pains in her chest.
GoFundMe; pictured above is Kenzie
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