Brendan Griffith loves to bake. Among his specialties: Irish soda bread. He made one last St. Patrick’s Day with a little help from mom. Afterwards, the six-year-old and his family got ready to go to grandma’s house for a traditional holiday dinner, soda bread in tow. But first Brendan went upstairs to don a leprechaun costume, being careful not to dislodge his heart monitor.
Born with an underdeveloped heart, Brendan had three surgeries by age three. He’d gotten used to hauling around his monitor in a backpack, taking meds and fighting fatigue. But in March of 2003, during a scheduled catheterization, he experienced blood clotting and gastrointestinal complications. Doctors feared Brandon was in heart failure. Eventually he rallied but was placed on a transplant waiting list.
On this day, Brendan was feeling pretty good. En route to grandma’s house Anne Griffith’s cell phone rang. She’d been expecting a return call from heart transplant coordinator Pat Kane about Brendan’s medications. But Kane wasn’t calling about meds. She was telling Anne that a heart had just become available. Incredulous, Anne shared the news with the family, trying to stay focused on driving.
After a brief visit with the family, the Griffiths, who live in Alexandria, Virginia, headed to Johns Hopkins Hospital. |
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Dancing into the hospital, Brendan awaited his big moment. Little could he imagine the difficult road ahead.
The surgery was long and complicated. It would take cardiac surgeon Luca Vricella and his associate two-and-a-half hours just to plow through scar tissue. Eight hours later, the new heart placed successfully, Brendan was wheeled into the recovery room.
Within days, Brendan suffered severe rejection. High antibodies from previous surgeries complicated his situation, despite the blood-filtering plasmapharesis he’d had the three previous months.
Day after interminable day in the intensive care unit, Brendan got weaker. Severe nausea and diarrhea revisited him. He began to withdraw emotionally. from a six-year-old, like: "I don’t want this. Look what it’s doing to my family."
 | Pictured opposite page and below right, Brendan Griffith spends most of his time after his heart transplant doing the types of things that any typical six-year-old might d making up his own stories and songs and playing basketball in the |
Even his older brother and sister couldn’t cheer him up. Distraught, Anne wouldn’t leave Brendan’s side.
After 10 days and no improvement, doctors considered inserting an artificial heart.
Then, one day, after a megadose of stronger medications, Brendan perked up. He was sent home a few days later. But within 24 hours he suffered another rejection episode. At last, after more than two months in the hospital, Brendan came home for good.
He began physical therapy. By the time school started, Brendan’s health had improved dramatically. Intravenous steroids, and time, had helped.
| Always artistic, Brendan is back to baking and enjoys coloring and playing with figures. But he doesn’t shy away from basketball or baseball. When he complains about taking medications, his siblings threaten to stop playing with him. That, plus chocolate ice cream, says Anne, does the trick. St. Patrick’s Day 2006 will mark a year since the transplant. As always, the Griffiths will celebrate in a big way. This year they hope to stay longer at grandma’s. Leprechaun legends abound, but Brendan believes the version that a leprechaun is a little old man who can reveal a buried crock of gold to anyone who catches him. Brendan should know. He caught one last March 17. -Judith Minkove |
