Hope for Baby Scarlett Fundraiser

02/22/2025

Today marks one year since Scarlett received her heart transplant and second chance at life. The past year and a half has been full of ups and downs. Our family couldn’t have done it without the support, thoughts and prayers from our friends, family and community. We will forever be grateful and blessed with everything you all have done for us.
This will always be a day of conflicting feelings. Because even though for us this is a happy day, there is a special family somewhere that gave us a gift that can never be repaid. For them, this day is devastating. “Thank you” is not strong enough to describe the gratitude we feel. No words are. So even though they are not enough, thank you to Scarlett’s donor and their family. You all are always in our thoughts but especially today we carry you close to our hearts.

I got this candle made that we are going to keep lit today in remembrance of Scarlett’s donor. If you all don’t mind taking a moment today to send a thought or prayer to the donor’s family. I’m positive that they could use all the support today.

12/09/2024

Update.
Been a while since I’ve given a Scarlett update so I figured I’d make a little post for those whom may still be curious as to how her journey is going. She had her second biopsy at the end of October. This one was to make sure her heart was still functioning correctly after stopping her steroids and a few other medications. Everything came back as expected so that was great. Unfortunately she’s had some tummy issues since this all started but her doctors thought they were initially because she was on a fluid diet and then because of her medications. They thought the issue would resolve itself when she started eating again and done with her medications. It did not. So next week we will be switching one of her life long medication to see if that fixes the issue. Fingers crossed that it does. Orherwise, she is doing absolutely amazing. It’s crazy to think of where she’s at now compared to a year ago. You’d never know that she was ever sick. She has a few more follow ups and another biopsy as she approaches the first anniversary of getting her new heart (crazy to think it’s almost been a year!) but we expect her to get through them with all the sass and fires she’s used getting through everything else.
- Kaitlynn

10/14/2024

Our Summer/Fall Newsletter is here! Don't miss Scarlett's transplant story, updates from the David Foster Foundation team, what's been happening at the Foundation during the summer, and more. Read now: https://bit.ly/DFFSummerFall2024

10/14/2024

Don't miss Scarlett's transplant story in our latest newsletter, who underwent a heart transplant and is now a vocal, sassy girl who loves to sing and dance! We are overjoyed to share her story and that she is doing so well now. Read our latest newsletter now: https://bit.ly/DFFSummerFall2024

10/14/2024

The David Foster Foundation was a great support to Scarlett's family during this difficult time. Their support was truly appreciated.

We'd like to wish our Canadian 🇨🇦 friends a Happy Thanksgiving today!

The strength of family is very important to us, and today we'd like to encourage you to read Scarlett's transplant story, who underwent a heart transplant and is now a vocal, sassy girl who loves to sing and dance. You can read Scarlett's story in our latest newsletter: https://bit.ly/DFFSummerFall2024

07/20/2024

Update.

Been a while since I’ve given a Scarlett update so I figured I’d share a little for those whom may be wondering.

All in all she’s been doing amazing. Her doctors couldn’t be happier and the plan is to try taking her tube out next week. The reason why she still has the tube is because one of her life long medications is really hard on the kidneys so she needs to drink around a liter of fluids a day to make sure she doesn’t damage them. It’s been a fight to get her to drink enough (stubborn girl 🙄) so the tube has been used to give her extra fluids. We are going to try taking it out though to see if that will encourage her to drink on her own.
Scarlett also got her first stomach bug since her surgery. Luckily didn’t result in a hospital visit but we came close when she got to day three of a fever. Unfortunately this bug also messed up one of her med levels so she’s had to get bloodwork a lot more often again to try and get her back in range. Fingers crossed things will even out again soon and that all goes well so she can keep her tube out!

Pic from this afternoon where she decided to use chalk as some makeup.

03/18/2024

Hi friends I need your help. As you all know Scarlett has recently had her transplant and with that we have been given a list of things she cannot have/do along with things that she needs to be cautious about. One of which is animals (specifically animal f***s). So even with our own pets she can’t touch them without washing her hand directly afterwards. Zack and I have talked and we’ve decided that at this point in time the best thing to do is to rehome our dog Finnegan (Finn). We love him and this decision was not made lightly. We will not be giving him to just anyone. We need help finding him a good home that will give him the love and attention he deserves. He’s supposed to be a mini husky but didn’t get the memo about the “mini” part. So he is mixed but we aren’t entirely sure with what. He loves walks and being pet. He’s afraid of flies so he’s not a huge fan of being outside during the summer. He’s kennel trained and has a food sensitivity to chicken. He knows basic commands but his recall isn’t always the best. He doesn’t usually bark inside unless someone is at the door. He’s a really great dog and we are sad we have to rehome him. If we could find him a home that we could potentially come visit him that would be great.

03/05/2024

Update ❤️

Scarlett had her transplant surgery! We are so thankful for her team. The time and care they all put in to ensure Scarlett was in the best possible position for this surgery. We are also thankful to the donor and their family for this gift that can never be repaid. At this time we don’t know any information about the donor so out of respect to their family and the loss they’re experiencing we will not be sharing any specific information about Scarlett’s surgery, such as when it happened. Just know that it has been some time and she is absolutely thriving. The doctors are amazed by how quickly she has recovered. She is no longer in hospital but we will be in Edmonton for a while still. This has again been a big learning curve as we navigate post-surgery and learn exactly what Scarlett’s future will be like longterm. Scarlett has been given the opportunity to be a normal little girl (with a few limitations and a lot of handwashing). The possibilities of what our smart, sassy girl will do are endless and I can’t wait to see what she will do with the long life she has been given.

02/04/2024

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY BABY SCARLETT!!

2 years old. Birthdays mean something different when you realize there was a chance you may not have made it this far to be able to celebrate it. To be able to watch everything that you’ve endured and accomplished this year has been an absolute privilege Scarlett. You’ve become this resilient, sassy little girl that knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to let everyone else know. You are so observant and smart. You are definitely the little sister (poor Isaac some days) but you are also an amazing big sister who loves her siblings dearly. Words cannot describe how much we all love you Scarlett. Happy birthday and to many more to come.

01/12/2024

Message from mom (Kaitlynn)

Been a while since I’ve given an update on how Scarlett is doing. She just had a follow up today and her doctors are happy with how she looks. She seems to be staying fairly stable and we’ve finally found a balance with her meds that seem to be working (at least for now). Her last follow up we got permission to drop one of her smaller tube feeds to see if it would encourage her to start eating solids again. Happy to say that it did. She still doesn’t eat a lot, but something is better than nothing. They want to see if the amount she eats increase more over the next few weeks and if they do then she may be able to cut back on her tube feeds a little more. Her doctors and I have worked really hard to get her to where she is at, so I’m really happy to say that all in all Scarlett is doing really good as we continue waiting for her new heart.

Dear friends and family, I am writing to share some unexpected and diffic… Nicole Lafleur needs your support for Baby Scarlett’s fight against Heart Failure