Spend any time around Gracyn Laidler’s family in Columbia, and you can feel the energy in the air.
Three kids — Ella, Jaxten and Atley — race around the house, the front yard and the park, keeping Gracyn and her husband Nathan busy. Whether it’s doing schoolwork, throwing footballs, riding bikes, turning cartwheels or chalk drawing on the front walk, it’s a wonder Gracyn has any time to study for nursing school.
She wouldn’t have it any other way.
“My kids are my life,” Gracyn said. “They are my everything, my purpose. Being a mom was always my top priority. Then this new life came along, and I figured out that I needed something for Gracyn, too. My purpose is to help others and be the best mom I can be.”
In 2020, while she was pregnant, Gracyn had a surprising conversation with her mom. A genetic test showed that Gracyn’s mom had a rare genetic mutation that can be passed down. This mutation can cause heart problems, including heart failure.
Gracyn took the same test and received the same result: A mutation in an important heart muscle protein called titin. A genetic mutation can weaken the heart and lead to a condition called dilated cardiomyopathy.
“It never once crossed my mind,” Gracyn said. “The tricky thing with pregnancy and heart failure, a lot of the symptoms mimic each other. You never think at 23, 24 years old that you're having heart failure. But during pregnancy, I found out I’d be delivering three weeks early and that my heart was at 25%.”
Gracyn started seeing a cardiologist, receiving close medical care for heart failure. But medications didn’t work as well for her because she was so young. As Gracyn’s cardiomyopathy progressed, her heart needed more support. Her care team expanded to include cardiology specialists at MU Health Care. One was Simon Kobrossi, MD, who has additional fellowship training in advanced heart failure and transplant medicine.
“Heart failure is a very serious condition that impacts everything about patients’ quality of life and the way they interact with the world,” Kobrossi said. “Our job as cardiologists is to find a balance between supporting each person and understanding their symptoms while making sure they know how serious this is.”
Gracyn received frequent checkups to make sure her kidneys, liver and brain had enough blood flow.
“It was critically important Gracyn was diagnosed early and had treatment from dedicated heart failure experts,” Kobrossi said. “Those were two of the most important factors in making sure she had a good outcome. At MU Health Care, we have the experts and the technology to take care of advanced heart failure like Gracyn’s.”
Gracyn’s heart failure made everyday activities — like running errands or keeping up with her active family — more challenging. It also caused fluid to build around her lungs, increasing her vulnerability to other illnesses and making them more severe.
She was hospitalized after her implanted defibrillator and pacemaker shocked her out of ventricular fibrillation, a life-threatening heart arrhythmia that can lead to cardiac arrest. Gracyn also came down with COVID-19 and the flu and needed to stay in the hospital to let her body recover.
“At that point, she had been struggling for too long with heart failure, and these were signs her heart was getting weaker,” Kobrossi said. “I told her that because of the fluid buildup and abnormal rhythms, she needed to think about getting a heart transplant. She couldn’t sustain life without it.”
Gracyn kept following her care plan, convinced her body was resilient and strong. Her heart failure team, led by Kobrossi, kept a careful eye on Gracyn and introduced her to a transplant team in St. Louis, though she told herself she wouldn’t need their help.
“Dr. Kobrossi said all the right things, but it didn’t click because I was in denial,” Gracyn said. “He would say it, and I would think, ‘This isn’t real’ and ‘What about my kids? I have kids — I can’t focus on myself.’ Who wants to accept they’re dying before 30?”
Gracyn’s birthday — June 17, 2024 — brought a turning point. She was eager to leave the hospital and return to her family after an inpatient stay for an illness. But Kobrossi and her care team knew it was time for the next step: A heart transplant.
“Her symptoms were improving, but the underlying problem, her heart function, hadn’t improved,” Kobrossi said. “We decided to transfer her to the transplant center, which we were able to do because we had introduced Gracyn to her transplant doctors ahead of time, and because we have good relationships with the transplant centers in our area.”
When Gracyn arrived, her heart function was at 8%. She had another setback less than two days later and had to be connected to an external heart pump to survive. Gracyn lived in the cardiac ICU for more than two months before a match was found.
“It’s scary. You’re at the end, you see death, and there were times we didn’t know if it was possible,” Gracyn said. “My fear was, ‘What if I don’t come home?’ What are you supposed to tell your kids? All I did was tell myself to do it for my kids. I took deep breath, and I just said their names over and over and over.”
Gracyn’s transplant and recovery went smoothly, and not long after, she was back home and going about her daily life. She returned to Kobrossi for her follow-up care and will continue to see him to make sure the gift she received from her donor is working well.
“There were times when she couldn’t see the optimism, but her kids and her husband helped her through the hard parts,” Kobrossi said. “Gracyn is a warrior. She did amazing and is now on her feet, optimistic, full of life and spending time with her kids.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Dr. Kobrossi and his team,” Gracyn said. “They helped me so much, even with the mental side. Even if I had wanted to quit, they would never have let me.”
Gracyn was so touched by her gift of life that she decided to make a change for herself and for others. She had once worked as a certified nursing assistant, and now she was ready to take the next step by returning to school to become a transplant nurse.
Finding another purpose in her personal life has made her even more grateful for the time she gets to spend with her family each day.
“Helping others is my purpose now, and I want to make a difference, make my life story worthwhile,” Gracyn said. “I'm alive. I'm home with my kids. I get to pursue my dreams. I get to be thankful every day. I'm living for my donor because without my donor I wouldn't be here. It's an amazing blessing that many don't get.”