A Mother's Heart
Stephanie Groce's Heart Transplant Story

Every day in the U.S. hundreds of Americans lay in hospital beds, often in isolation, waiting for donor transplant organs. The wait can be anywhere from a few days to years. Such a precarious time can be overwhelming for the patients and their families as they hold on to the hope that life will continue thanks to the generosity of a grieving family.

Stephanie Groce of McKinney, Texas, experienced this ordeal with a unique twist. On Jan. 21, 2003, after a year of living in a hospital tethered to life by a 20-foot electrical chord, separated from her newborn child and husband, 21-year-old Groce received a donor heart making it possible for her to do what she had been planning to do all her life; parent a child.

Groce's pregnancy began like any other with the usual morning sickness and fatigue. As the months progressed, however, she developed significant shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, and nausea. She had become so weak her husband, Stephen Groce, often carried her to their apartment. Despite her symptoms, Groce continued to teach at Holy Family School in McKinney where she had worked since high school graduation.

Frustrated by the lack of a clear diagnosis, Groce made many visits to local labor and delivery facilities in order for doctors to monitor her symptoms. It wasn't until the 34th week of pregnancy doctors tested her for a rare, pregnancy-related heart condition. "When the doctor returned to tell my family the diagnosis, he was white as a sheet. He said he'd only seen this once in 17 years," Groce recalls.

Groce was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare pregnancy-related heart condition with unknown causes in which the heart becomes enlarged and loses function. It is estimated to occur in 1 case per 1300-15,000 live births. In most cases, pregnant women are prescribed a variety of medications and their hearts heal within weeks of delivery allowing them to return to normal life.

This wasn't the case for Groce, however. Her heart was working far below normal efficiency and the situation was dire for both mother and child. Five weeks before her due date, Groce underwent an emergency cesarean in order to save her premature child. Baby Hannah was healthy despite the dangerous pregnancy. Confident Groce's heart function would return to normal, doctors sent her home with several heart-healing medications, her newborn daughter and hopes for a healthy future.

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