Fighter Friday - Autumn

Autumn Grace Stauffer was born on April 28.2021 at CHCO. We found out about her special heart at 27 weeks. At 36 weeks our family (our son was 2) moved to Denver in anticipation of her arrival. When she was born they did an echo to confirm her diagnosis... one came in to do the imaging, and went to get another who went to get a doctor who went to get another doctor…we were told there wasn’t a confirmation of what exactly her condition was as it was a lot of things. After 2 weeks they came up with plan and she underwent her first heart surgery which would keep her stable until she would receive a major repair. We lived in Denver where Autumn 02 stats were average 82. We lived as much life with our sweet girl as we could. At 4 months, she was big enough to undergo her big repair which was essentially 3 major heart surgeries in 1 our surgeon said. She blew everyone away with being discharged only 12 days after. She began to heal and thrive for the next several months.

Then at around 10 months she began getting sick and not getting better. We chalked this up to being a heart kid and though we continued to ask questions it seemed “normal” she’d always been sick so we didn’t know. Then at 14 months old her pediatrician caught onto a tiny sign and wanted blood work. She was diagnosed with Leukemia. Autumn has now fought cancer for the last 2 1/2 years on top of her special heart and she had taken it with joy in her step and fight in her soul. We praise Jesus as October 29,2024 she was able to ring the bell declaring she is cancer free and oh this girl is a fighter! She will still under go another heart surgery in the near future to replace some of the “special” additions they’ve added to her heart. But our surgeon we adore and our team is amazing. She has some vocal cord struggles and in does PT for delay physically. But we are so proud of our girl and how hard she fights and will continue! To God be all the Glory Hannah( Autumns Mom)