Camano boy adapts to new heart

Deven Rekdal, 8, of Camano Island, rests at Children’s Hospital in Seattle after recently undergoing a heart transplant. Deven Rekdal, of Camano Island, has a new heart.

Deven, 8, had a rare condition called restrictive cardiomyopaphy. Only about one in 1 million get it, and because it is so rare, doctors are unsure of the exact cause, said his mom, Cory Bright. The only solution is a heart transplant.

When Deven visited his regular pediatrician April 30, an x-ray showed that Deven’s heart was enlarged. He was sent to Children’s Hospital in Seattle, where doctors determined he had the disease.

At first, Deven didn’t want to talk about it, Bright said. Then, he had a lot of questions.

“He was scared,” she said. “We were all scared.”

Bright said for her and Deven’s father, Russell Rekdal, finding out was a shock. They thought the problem would be in his lungs, as he has had asthma since a young age.

“We were devastated,” she said.

Knowing that someone else had to lose a child so that they could keep theirs was also difficult to face, Bright said.

The awaited call came at 2 a.m. on Sun., Oct. 4. A heart was available that doctors thought would work for Deven.

The transplant surgery lasted only an hour that evening. Normally, surgery would take four to seven hours, Bright said.

“The heart was just perfect,” she said. “It just started it right up for him.”

At Children’s, Deven was known as Dr. Deven. He flushed his own intravenous and even removed it himself. He also removed his own stitches, Bright said.

“He wanted to be a part of it,” she said.

Deven returned home two weeks ago. His body attempted to reject the heart once, but he has bounced back. An ultrasound a week ago showed that everything was as it should be, Bright said.

“You would never have been able to tell that he was a heart transplant patient,” she said.

In fact, Deven has been better than he was prior to the discovery of the condition. Before, he couldn’t walk more than a couple blocks without panting or needing to rest, Bright said. He was able to walk the whole floor of Children’s Hospital to pass out thank-you cards without needing to rest.

“He is a completely different child,” she said.

At the moment, Deven is building a lot of Star Wars Legos and playing video games. He is in isolation for a while, as he is on immune-system suppressing drugs to aid his body in accepting his new heart.

Last weekend, Deven received a black lab from the Make A Wish Foundation. He chose her shortly after she was born, and has named her Acey.

Acey will be a companion for Deven, Bright said.

Home Depot and Cascade Lumber donated the materials for Acey’s kennel.

Deven said he wanted a black lab “because they are smarter.” He plans to get help from his mom and dad in training her.

“She likes to play a lot,” he said.

He will be tutored at home until January, when Bright hopes he will be able to return to third grade in Megan Ovenell’s class at Stanwood Elementary. Deven said he would like to see his friends and teacher again.

He also looks forward to being able to return to karate lessons. Deven said his favorite part of karate is hitting the punching bag.

Deven’s family is grateful for all of the donations that they have received. A Heart for Deven Fund has been set up at Frontier Bank.

“I’d just like to thank everybody for their thoughts, their prayers and their donations,” she said.

Deven’s family plans to write a thank-you letter for the heart donor’s family.

Deven’s old heart has been donated to research, in hopes scientists will discover more about the condition.

Staff Reporter Kristi Pihl: 629-8066 ext. 125 or kpihl@ scnews.com.