By Mary Jo Blackwood, American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming Volunteer
Becky and Joe Cann-Dusenberry had two healthy sons and were overjoyed in September 2021 when they found they would have a daughter joining their family in March 2022. That joy was soon tempered with panic when their ultrasound revealed that the baby had heart abnormalities. Several heart abnormalities. Everlee Rose, as she was named, had a hypoplastic right ventricle, meaning it didn’t develop and couldn’t function. She was also missing her tricuspid valve, had a malformed aortic arch, both atrial and ventricular septal defects, and her pulmonary artery and aorta were switched in position.
With this many problems, Becky and her husband knew they had to get her to Omaha Children’s Hospital, which had an excellent prenatal and pediatric cardiac program. Everlee Rose was born by caesarian section in Omaha on March 7, 2022 and the fight to save her life began. As Becky described her, she was a perfectly beautiful little girl with a special heart. Everlee surpassed expectations of the cardiac team as she awaited her first open-heart surgery on March 17th. The surgery went well, but soon after, she suffered a cardiac arrest. She was resuscitated and placed on a heart-lung machine to allow her heart to rest after the trauma. For her first surgery, she needed blood transfusions, a total of four in Omaha.
After four days on the heart-lung machine, it became apparent that she couldn’t tolerate the second surgery planned. At that point, the pediatric cardiac program in Omaha was suspended because of the loss of their heart failure doctor. The family needed another option. Becky and husband Joe decided to move her to the Children’s Hospital of Colorado in Denver to be evaluated for a heart transplant. Less than a week later, Becky and Everlee were on a medical plane to Denver. Joe and the two boys would follow a month later after putting the house up for sale. The first three weeks in Colorado Everlee received a transfusion a week.
On May 27, 2022, Everlee was listed for a heart transplant. All this time, Becky works full-time as a Nationwide associate on a compressed schedule, working remotely at home, and after the workday, spending the rest of the time at the hospital with Everlee, her sons and husband. Nationwide was very supportive of the family and is a long-time member of the Red Cross’s Annual Disaster Giving Program.
When not at work, Becky and her family played with Everlee and when she was stable, even took her outside. They celebrated birthdays, holidays and important family occasions at the hospital with their hospital family and Everlee.
January 10th, she got her new hero heart, and had blood transfusions every day. She got the call the day before that a heart had been found that was perfect for her because of the generosity of a bereaved family who made the hardest decision of their lives. Unfortunately, her new heart did not perform the way it was supposed to. More than 85 percent of transplants are successful, but this heart had some abnormalities that couldn’t be anticipated ahead of time. Everlee suffered complications leading to a fifteen-day run on the heart-lung machine, during which she received blood every day. Then after an accident in the cardiac cath lab, she lost 90 percent of her native blood that had to be replaced, and went into organ failure. On January 25, 2023, Becky and Joe made the heartbreaking decision to spare Everlee any more trauma and remove her from life support.
Becky and Joe used their loss and turned it into a commitment to promoting blood and organ donation. They both donated when they were able and encouraged other people to do the same. It was easy getting behind the drive for blood and tissue donation, considering all the blood Everlee needed, her heart transplant, and because every time they walked into the foyer of Childrens Hospital Colorado they would see a sign placed there by the blood bank on site, reminding people that every single day they needed blood donations for the children treated at the hospital. “It was a real call to action for my husband and me, to give back to the blood bank that supplied so many units of blood for our Everlee Rose, giving us time with our daughter that we never would have had without the kindness, generosity, and selflessness of donors.”
Awhile after Becky started donating blood, she had a run of shortness of breath, high blood pressure and extreme fatigue, which her doctor put down to anxiety. On August 25, she started feeling worse and passed out. Her son called 911 and an ambulance came. When they did a cat scan of her chest at the hospital, she had large blood clots in both lungs. She was diagnosed with a clotting disorder that affects people of European descent who have type A blood. So she is on blood thinners for life and can no longer donate blood. But that hasn’t slowed her down from her mission of moving forward, sharing Everlee’s story, advocating for blood and organ donation, and raising money for congenital heart defect research.
Blood products are vital to our nation’s healthcare infrastructure, and the American Red Cross answers the call on an unparalleled scale, delivering more than 6.3 million blood products to patients in need each year.
The American Red Cross of Colorado has a long-standing history of distributing blood in the Denver metro area. Over the last year, we have supplied nearly 33,600 units of blood and blood products to 14 hospitals. The need for blood is constant and we know that the Denver community has the desire to help meet that need.
Soon, Colorado community members will have the chance to help make an even greater impact through our Red Cross mission. We are pleased to share blood donation opportunities that will be coming to the Denver area in 2024. You’ll be able to join a nationwide legacy of service by donating blood or hosting blood drives with the Red Cross, and by helping patients in Colorado and beyond receive the care they count on.
Visit rcblood.org/colorado to sign up for updates about blood donation opportunities or hosting a blood drive!