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Small transplanted hearts knit strangers together
By JOY DAVIS-PLATT, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- Five years ago, Alisa Patterson didn't know whether she would have a reason to celebrate Valentine's Day. Three days after her son's birth in December 1996, his heart stopped. Hospital workers revived Billy and transferred him to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. For the next 14 weeks, she and her husband, Monte, waited for a donor heart that finally came the day after Valentine's Day. On Sunday, Patterson held a party for seven heart transplant survivors and their families at her Brooksville home. "Five years is very big when you're a transplant patient," she said. "It can really mean you're out of the woods." Patterson said she cherishes the opportunity to visit with friends she met at the hospital outside the waiting room, especially for such a happy milestone. Now 5, Billy attends preschool at Eden Christian School in Brooksville. His sister, 8-year-old Monalisa, chose hats for the party that show characters from The Wizard of Oz. "I've liked that movie since I was 2," she said. "Since my brother (Billy) was born, we called him the Tin Man because he needed a new heart." The shaded back yard of the Pattersons' Brooksville home swarmed with children sliding and swinging on the backyard play set. Transplant survivors were distinguished only by the small heart-shaped stickers they wore. Friends such as Nancy Modzelewski also attended the party, recounting stories of hardship and joy. "I remember they brought his little heart in a cooler," she said, recalling when Billy's donor heart was brought to All Children's at 3 a.m. "You would think they were bringing their lunch." For the next several hours, friends and family waited anxiously during the transplant surgery. "That's what makes a day like this so nice," she said. "This is the other side of that coin." Heidi Hesoun, whose 5-year-old daughter Sarah had a heart transplant just days before Billy's, said she developed a special bond with Patterson though their similar ordeals. "It just made us so much closer going through all of the same things," said Hesoun, who lives near Sarasota. "We became soul mates." For the parents whose children are not as far along in their recovery as hers, Hesoun said she hopes the day will bring much needed hope. "It's nice for them to see you can have a normal child after something tragic so early on," she said. At 26, Heather Herdy is the youngest of the transplant mothers. Her third child, 8-month-old Emma Grace, received a new heart in October. When she was six months pregnant, Herdy found out that her unborn daughter was in the final stages of heart failure. She says friends such as Hesoun were critical to her emotional well-being. "You can feel really alone when you go through something like this," she said. "Seeing Sarah gave me hope that the end of the road would be brighter. That was priceless."
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