Love for Lana: Community rallies around 15-year-old heart transplant patient

Jun. 25—DEPAUVILLE — Though the family of Allana C. Cervantez is grateful for the heart transplant she recently received, it also brings worry with it — and stirs up memories of past heartbreak.

At just 15 years old, Allana underwent her transplant on May 31, becoming the youngest in her family to have things progress to this point so quickly.

Allana was diagnosed at 2 years old with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, where the left ventricle of the heart enlarges. This causes the heart to not pump the blood like it should and the blood to backfill into the lungs, making breathing difficult and causing irregular heart rates and arrhythmia as the heart worsens. The disease is hereditary, with up to one-third of those who have it having inherited it from their parents. In Allana's case, she inherited it from her mother, Leah N. Cervantez, who previously inherited it from her father.

While Leah has the hereditary disease, the rest of Phillip W. and Reba C. Cervantez's children don't, Mrs. Cervantez said, and Leah didn't get diagnosed with it until she was 14. Mrs. Cervantez said it hit her husband in his 30s, and her daughter is now in her 30s and experiencing some associated problems, so she thought it would be the same with Allana.

"We're just overwhelmed with all of it, that family that so graciously gave, I don't even have words. We have fear, but your whole mind set is there's a donor family out there that is devastated right now," Mrs. Cervantez said. "We've been through that devastation and so you're just a tangle of emotions of fear, hoping beyond hope that this is going to go well, and thinking of that other family with sorrow for them."

Mrs. Cervantez's late husband, Phillip, had his heart transplant in July 2000 and died from it on Aug. 2, 2000.

Up until two years ago, Allana was playing sports and being a typical kid. Then her condition began to worsen, which caused a series of trips to hospitals in Syracuse and Boston. Several different medications were tried as well as a pacemaker and defibrillator, with Allana being shocked to correct her heartbeat.

When nothing seemed to work, Allana was placed on the transplant list.

"She is extremely fortunate in the time frame that she received her transplant," said her mother, Leah. "Unfortunately, there's a lot of kids that don't get it as quickly as she did. Organ donation is really a huge thing that I think sometimes people don't really think about. It's really opened up our eyes to organ donation in general and how much it really does make a difference for somebody else."

THE JOURNEY SO FAR

In March 2019, doctors checked Allana's heart and the function was down to 28%, so she ended up in Syracuse at Golisano Children's Hospital. Golisano instantly put her on IV medication to see if her heart would come back up, but it didn't. She went down to Boston in April 2019, had a heart catheterization, was put on different medication, and ended up going home.

Allana's rate kept fluctuating, according to her grandmother, so she ended up getting a defibrillator put in, which shocks the person to put the heart back into rhythm. Her defibrillator kept going off and she kept getting shocked, which is what happened with her going back into the hospital to stay for the transplant this last time.

Allana went up on the list as soon as she was hospitalized in May of this year, and the family was told on May 30 that a heart had come in, with Allana receiving it the following day.

After the surgery, there was fluid around Allana's heart because her old heart was five times the size it was supposed to be, leaving behind all that space where it was taken out. Three separate times following the transplant, those at the hospital in Boston said they thought Allana could be discharged, and then something would happen to prevent it. She had an air bubble in her chest cavity and needed a chest tube to get that air out, then she had the fluid on her heart that they were concerned about, and was kept longer than they expected that time just to make sure everything was OK.

According to her mom, Allana seems to be getting slowly better. Her iron is low right now, so she has to get some infusions to make her feel better, and they did a medicine adjustment because when she first got the transplant, they were trying to figure out what her body would react well to. She's been nauseous, having off-and-on flu-like symptoms where she feels feverish even though she's not, or she's freezing, and is also fatigued.

Leah, 35, will go back to her doctor in August to see how her own heart is doing. She said her dad was in his early 30s when he first started noticing problems, so Allana is the youngest person in the family to have things get to the extent that they have.

"A lot of people are like, 'Oh, you must be so happy,'" Leah said of Allana receiving her transplant. "I am, she needed a heart, and the fact that she got it as quickly as she did is fantastic, but going into the transplant and realizing that she needed a transplant wasn't so exciting because my family has a really bad track record of transplants."

She hopes that because Allana is so much younger, she'll be able to do well with her new heart despite the fact that many in her family who have or had the disease haven't done so well post-transplant.

As for Allana, because she still isn't quite feeling like her old self yet, her mother doesn't think it has fully hit her yet that she now has another's heart. Only a month or two before her surgery did Allana start to accept the reality of needing a transplant, a difficult concept for anyone to comprehend regardless of age.

"When she first found out, she got teary eyed and said she felt really bad that somebody else had to pass away for her to be able to get this," Leah said. "And then the other day her heart was beating and she could feel it and she said it felt weird to know that it was somebody else's before it was hers."

According to Mrs. Cervantez, her granddaughter was encouraged by one of the resident cardiologists in Boston who had a transplant himself at the age of 4 and has the same heart still in him.

When it came to staying caught up with schoolwork this year, tutors would come to Allana's house to help alleviate the risk of her getting any sort of infection, but she started feeling left out socially, so the decision was made that she would return to school in-person for a few days a week. Then she was placed on the waiting list at the hospital, so she went back to remote instruction. Leah said Allana's teachers have been fantastic with making sure she feels prepared for next school year.

Though she has been dealing with her medical challenges, Allana was able to finish out her school year and if everything goes well, doctors have said she will be able to return to in-person instruction at Thousand Islands Central School in the fall.

Allana's parents, Leah Cervantez and Andrew R. Patch, have been with her every step of the way through her medical journey, leaving home behind to move to an apartment in Boston to be with her during her recovery.

For Allana's recovery, the first three to six months are the most vital, so the hospital wants her near. Right now she has doctors' appointments three days a week, and every other week she has to undergo a small procedure with anesthesia where they take little samples of her heart to see how it's doing. During this time, Allana and Leah will be living in their Boston apartment until Allana is cleared to return home. Mr. Patch has been living with the two as well, but once Allana stabilizes a bit more he will return home and travel to Boston on the weekends.

While they live in Boston for the beginnings of Allana's recovery, Leah said this is their summer of city life. Allana isn't really allowed to go into any crowded place, but her doctors want her to go outside, so they do a lot of little walks. They've also been playing games and binge-watching movies together to pass the time.

Anyone who wants to send cards of well wishes for Allana while she's in Boston can address them to Allana or Leah Cervantez: 199 Massachusetts Ave., Apt. 609, Boston, MA 02115.

FUNDS FOR FAMILY

To help offset large medical bills the Cervantez family will be faced with, fundraising efforts are under way and more are being planned. Currently, there is an active GoFundMe, car decals being sold, and more happening locally.

These efforts have been organized by Lori A. Greenizen and Dorian "Dori" C. Eyles, who worked with Leah, an offender rehabilitation coordinator at Cape Vincent Correctional Facility. Many who work at the facility have known each other a long time and spend as much — if not more — time with each other than with their families sometimes, so they kind of become a pseudo-family, the two said.

"We knew that financially, this is going to be a very heavy strain on them," Mrs. Eyles said. "We decided to get together a small committee and help out. I can't imagine by the time that she's done with all of this how much money they will need just for everyday things, medical expenses, travel, and we want them to be able to concentrate on the important things, which is Allana healing and not having to worry about whatever bills they have."

"Love for Lana" heart decals are currently being sold throughout Alexandria Bay, Clayton, Cape Vincent, Depauville and Chaumont and various retailers and restaurants. A full list is available on the Facebook page of the same name. Those who would like to follow Allana's progress and stay up to date on fundraising efforts can follow the Facebook page created for Allana: www.facebook.com/Love-for-Lana-108761814749046. The decals are donation only, with no set price, thanks to the generosity of Winning Promotions in Watertown in donating hundreds of them for the cause.

This weekend, the fundraising will continue with a can and bottle drive. Collection locations can be found at The Blue Heron in Chaumont, the Dexter American Legion, the Cape Vincent Legion, Whitecaps Market in Depauville, and Phinn's Redemption in Clayton and Alexandria Bay. There will also be an ongoing collection at Makes Cents in Watertown where people can just drop off cans in the name of the Cervantez family. All proceeds will be collected and placed into an established bank account for current and future expenses.

Mrs. Eyles and Mrs. Greenizen have also opened a Watertown Savings Bank account for the Cervantez family, so all someone who wants to donate has to do is to put their donation in an envelope labeled for Leah Cervantez and drop it off. It will then be put it into their account for them. Those wishing to donate can also do so directly via the "Love for Lana" GoFundMe at tinyurl.com/657rr6p5.

"It blows you away," Mrs. Greenizen said of the support for the fundraising efforts. "We had a fundraiser at the facility and it reminded us what it's all about and why we come to work every day, to support our families and to help our coworkers when they need it."

As long as the family needs it, the two are determined to be there to help them out, with future fundraisers being planned. They noted that whoever wishes to get involved, or if anyone has questions or ideas to share, they are free to reach out to either of them. Their contact information is as follows: Dorian "Dori" C. Eyles at 315-408-7190 and Lori A. Greenizen at 315-783-7453.

"It's been honestly overwhelming since the very beginning with how much support that everybody has shown us," Leah said. "The minute Allana kind of really started going downhill, it was like people came from the woodwork; it makes me thankful that we live in a small community."