Leksie Boese

~ LEKSIE NICOLE BOESE ~

Left - Leksie 5 1/2 months old with her nasal feeding tube
Right - Leksie 13 3/4 months old

Our little princess was born September 12, 1998. She joined her big brother Logan who was 2 years 3 months old. She was a little monkey baby with long dark hair all over. At Leksie's 2 month checkup we found out that she had a large Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) in her heart - causing congestive heart failure and failure to thrive. She also had a very enlarged heart because it was having to work so hard. She was put on medication to control her high blood pressure and heart enlargement. The pediatric cardiologist from Billings, Dr. Wiggins, recommended that she undergo surgical repair of this defect in Denver, CO. At 4 months old, a feeding tube was inserted in her nose, leading to her stomach, to help her gain weight so the surgery would be more successful. They did sew a gortex patch over the top of her hole so that the oxygenated blood would no longer mix with the deoxygenated blood. Thank you Aunt Wendi and Grandpa Dale for donating your blood for Leksie's transfusion. Leksie's surgery was on March 16th, 1999, at The Children's Hospital of Denver.

What we did in Denver:

UPDATE: When Leksie last saw the cardiologist, Dr. Wiggins, he gave us an excellent report. The gortex patch that was sew into her heart worked exactly as planned. Since her surgery, the skin on her heart has grown over and around the gortex patch. The heart is working normally and she has no limits or restrictions on what she can do. Leksie has since caught up on all of her skills and is a normal little girl. The scar down her chest has healed very well and is hardly noticeable.
She will be in her 4th year of dance class starting in the fall of 2004. She loves babies, barbies and to play outside. She also likes to help out her dad in the garage and go fishing and swimming.