Laurel Renee Reagan and twin brother Vader Rhett Reagan were born on January 24, 2024. Before they
were born, their parents, Alex and Jessie Reagan, were told that Laurel had aortic stenosis and would
have only a 30% chance of survival before birth. They were also told that they would have to stay at
Ronald McDonald House to be close to the hospital for delivery, since Laurel’s condition would require
immediate medical attention upon birth. They lived there for 164 days.
Within an hour of birth Laurel had a heart catheter placed so that the doctor could balloon her aortic
valve. Her aortic valve was ballooned 6 times during her first operation (with 4mm and 5mm balloons).
The procedure was repeated on the 31st of January with a 6mm balloon, they then had her stabilized
and in a medically induced coma. When she came out of the coma and off the paralytics, the team
realized she couldn’t move her legs and rushed her for a CT scan. They discovered that Laurel had
suffered a stroke in areas T1-T9 of her spinal cord. The doctor said there was no medical research
available for this type of stroke, and no one knew why she had it other than possibly because they had
to block blood flow to that section of the heart for a period of time during the catheter procedures. The
physicians also indicated that there was no medical surgery to fix her spinal cord, and that we would
just have to see in time what her physical capabilities would be. She lost function of her legs, bladder,
and intercostal muscles which help you breathe, so she was unable to come off the ventilator. Initially,
they thought that they would be able to do the “Ross Procedure” to “fix” her heart, but they later
determined that her pulmonary valve was not good enough to use. On April 18, she had an 8 ½ hour
open heart surgery/aortic root replacement.
On May 13, after giving her time to heal from her previous surgery, she had a three in one surgery to
get a tracheostomy to breathe, a G-tube to eat, and a vesticostomy so her bladder could drain.
She finally got to go home on June 18!! She went home with a trache, ventilator, and a G-tube through
which she was fed. She did well while at home, but her parents were unable to find qualified private
duty nursing, therefore her dad and mom were not able to return to work as they are the primary
caretakers for Laurel (who required 24-hour care) and twin brother Vader, as well as their brother Mack
who was 18 months old at the time.
Sadly, on Wednesday, August 21, Laurel was having trouble breathing, turning blue and becoming
unconscious. Her parents called 911. Fortunately, by the time the paramedics and firefighters arrived
they had her breathing and stable. The paramedics said that since they were so far away from Dell
Austin, they would need to Star Flight her to the hospital; the family lives in Liberty Hill. When they
arrived at the hospital and were getting off of the helicopter, Alex (Dad) handed them a copy of Laurel’s
medication schedule and let them know which medications he had already given her. Unfortunately,
once Laurel was moved onto the second floor of the hospital for treatment, the hospital staff gave her
another dose of all of her medications. After being admitted back into the hospital, Laurel was just
staring into space for several days before snapping out of it. The medical staff wasn’t sure if this was
due to lack of oxygen or the double dose of medications.
The doctors felt certain that she had a respiratory infection. On the following Wednesday they were
making plans to release her the next day; however, her parents told the medical team that they weren’t
comfortable taking Laurel home with no nursing and no answers about the cause of her breathing
problems, because the results from all of the tests they had done had come back negative for
respiratory infections. Ultimately, the pulmonologist said she might have an infection but that was not
what brought her to the hospital. The cardiologist took another look at the Echo of her heart and told
her parents they were not going anywhere with Laurel because her valve that was replaced in April was
failing and more severe than they thought.
At the time of this writing, numerous tests have been done to see if a heart transplant is an option. The
family is still waiting on a decision.
The short story of where things now stand for Laurel is that the previous heart surgery made her body’s
immune system so sensitive that there is a 99.8% chance she would reject another heart or any foreign
body immediately. Dr Fraser (her heart surgeon) doesn’t want to do surgery on her because he doesn’t
think she will survive the surgery. There might be an option of desensitizing her to get her to a
transplant but that would mean stripping her entire immune system and putting three major organs at
risk because her tracheostomy, Gtube, and vesticostomy are three holes straight into her body.
Additionally, Laurel and her family would be “waiting forever” on the list according to the transplant
team.
We have reached out to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston to see if they could give us a second
opinion or if they might have any other options.
Jessie (Mom) won’t be able to return to work and Alex (Dad) is no longer “actively employed”. He hasn’t
been able to work since 6/18. Alex and Jessie lost their health insurance on September 30 and Alex’s
truck was totaled in a wreck in early August. It was a 2008 F150 crew cab with leather interior and a 4
year old engine with only 39,000 miles on it. The insurance company wants to settle for $6,000 and is
allowing only $500 for the engine and install. They aren’t able to get a loan to replace the truck as they
have no employment.
They still have everyday living expenses: a house payment, insurance, taxes, car payment, utilities and
healthcare premiums, as well as the costs of eating every meal in the cafeteria or fast food near the
hospital.
We are praying for a miracle for our precious baby girl! Please pray too, and if possible, make a
donation to help the family meet some of their financial obligations. Thank you.