Family Stays Optimistic Through Health Trials
The Acuff family approaches every day as an opportunity.
It’s numbingly overwhelming to think about the challenges that lie ahead. Yet this family of four is rooted in faith, prayer and the hope that their 16-month-old daughter, Rylee, will have a successful heart operation.
Dakota and Kasandra, who will celebrate five years of marriage in July, have learned to live every day to the fullest.
They’re focused on making memories with their 4-year-old daughter, Stella, and little Rylee.
What looms on the horizon? Surgery at the end of April. “It will be open chest, open-heart surgery,” Kasandra Acuff said. In layman’s terms, Rylee’s right atrium should be located on top of the right ventricle. However, her right atrium is located on top of her left ventricle and her left atrium is located on top of her right ventricle. “The bottom two chambers grew on the opposite side they would normally grow on,” Acuff said.
She’ll undergo surgery at one of the country’s top facilities in Boston, Mass.
How is the family handling all this?
“We make the best of our time together,” Acuff said. “We have faith and we have a large support group.”
McDonald County neighbors are rallying around the family, offering prayers and funds.
The Anderson family was buoyed Saturday by a bake sale fundraiser. Neighbors also had the chance to add donations to their tickets while eating at Los Mariachis.
Acuff, a lifelong McDonald County resident, grew up in the First Christian Church in Anderson. The Rev. Mark Phillips and his wife Whitney, along with church
members, have supported the family through Kasandra’s surgery and now Rylee’s upcoming surgery. Whitney’s father, Johnny Allison, has been very instrumental in organizing the recent event, Acuff said. “He checks in on us regularly. He has been a key piece of it all,” she said.
Acuff had a pacemaker placement when she was almost 17 years old. Her resting heart rate was in the 30s. Now, several years later, Acuff has disabled the pacemaker. Her doctor believes that she either has grown out of her previous condition or something has changed because her body no longer relies on it.
When the couple had their first child, they were concerned she might have cardiac issues, considering Acuff ’s medical history.
Their first child, Stella, however, is “swimmingly healthy,” with no cardiac issues. Rylee, however, was born three weeks premature with congenital heart defects: Levo transposition of the great arteries, Ebstenoid anomaly and ventral septal defect. At the time, her blood sugar levels were in the 20s.
The cardiologist told the Acuffs they didn’t know how long Rylee would live.
Through coincidence … or a higher power, the Acuff family was eventually put in touch with a doctor in Kansas City, after their original doctor retired. The Kansas City doctor then referred them to the Boston hospital.
The physician who will perform the surgery used to perform only 28 such operations a year. Now, he performs three a week, Acuff said.
The Acuff family remains optimistic. Stella is the best big sister, hugging and kissing her sister and talking to her. “She is resilient,” she said. “She loves her baby sister.”
A strongly-rooted faith is the foundation for this family. They ask for additional prayer for Rylee and the operating team.
“Prayer has gotten us a long way and I’m sure prayer will get us through.”