Paso Robles teen recovers from 2 open-heart surgeries. ‘Physically, emotionally exhausted’
Paso Robles High School student Katie Rowan should have celebrated her sweet 16 in May. But instead of a birthday party, the teenager received a life-altering diagnosis.
“She had been referred to a cardiologist because of some symptomatic things that were going on, but they didn’t think it was her heart,” recalled Katie’s mother, Linda Rowan of Paso Robles.
After a CT scan, doctors “found a serious heart condition,” Rowan said.
Katie Rowan was diagnosed on May 16, her 16th birthday, with an anomaly of the left coronary artery, a rare congenital heart condition that is usually identified in teenagers and young adults after symptoms present, or the patient dies, her mom said.
After learning her diagnosis, Katie told her family “‘I’m not going to make it through 11th grade. I’m not going to make it,’ ” Linda Rowan said. “I told her we’ll do everything we can to get her through 11th grade.”
Despite her early fears, Katie has handled multiple surgeries and time in the hospital with characteristic strength, her mother said.
Family of Paso Robles teen is ‘physically, mentally exhausted’
Linda Rowan, 79, and her husband, Dave Rowan, 74, met Katie as an infant through their efforts providing foster care for newborns who were medically fragile.
As an infant, Katie had an extreme sensory processing disorder that required intensive occupational therapy. Because her health needs were so complex, the Rowans decided to adopt her.
“I really felt like Katie needed to be with us and we wanted her with us,” Linda Rowan said.
Katie became the youngest of five siblings in the Rowan family. The Rowans had three biological children before deciding to adopt Katie and a second child they met through the foster care system: Gabriella, now 22.
Despite her health problems, Katie Rowan had a happy childhood growing up in Paso Robles, her mother said.
The teen plays volleyball, sings opera and loves animals. Katie has a small dog, Sweetie, and recently adopted a kitten named Bentley, after the luxury car brand, her mother said.
When Katie underwent open-heart surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on Sept. 9, her family expected her to come home after five days.
Instead, Katie has been in the hospital for six weeks after complications from the first surgery led to a second open-heart surgery and cardiac catheterization surgery — all in less than 20 hours, her mother said.
Rowan said her daughter is currently recovering after eight days on a ventilator.
“Her heart ... is sick. It’s injured through all the stuff that she’s been through,” Rowan said. “They’re trying to stabilize her system with medications and time and see how much she can heal.”
For the past six weeks, Linda Rowan and one of Katie’s sisters, Leslie Rowan, 53, have been sleeping on a reclining chair and tiny sofa in Katie’s room at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
“We won’t leave her alone without one of us being there,” Linda Rowan said. “We’re running physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. I’ve been through a lot of life experiences and this is a long, drawn-out one.”
How to help SLO County teenager recovering from surgeries
According to her mother, Katie Rowan, an introvert, kept her diagnosis to herself with the expectation that she would be well again after her first open-heart surgery.
Once it became clear that Katie’s complications were more serious, the Rowan family reached out to The Tribune to let her friends and community know where she has been for the past six weeks.
“It really lifts her spirits to hear from friends,” Rowan said. “I just want people that know her and love her to know where she’s at.”
The Rowan family has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help pay for Katie’s medical expenses. As of Thursday afternoon, the fundraiser had raised $510 toward a $26,000 goal.
“It’s absolutely devastating for our family to be seeing her so miserable and in tremendous amounts of pain,” Gabriella Rowan wrote on the GoFundMe page, “Help Katie’s Family with Medical Expenses.” “We are hoping she will be home by Thanksgiving time, but there are no guarantees.”
To donate, go to bit.ly/3AXLuhK.
This story was originally published October 21, 2021 at 10:20 AM.
