It was a typical June 25 morning at the Bollenbacher home in Morgan Hill, until the phone rang at 7:30 a.m. Tonya Bollenbacher picked up the receiver and got the news that would change her daughter Brittany's life forever.
"I thought it was weird because we never get a call at 7:30 in the morning," Tonya Bollenbacher said.
The messenger on the other side of the phone line was one of Brittany's several doctors, calling to inform Tonya that his medical team at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford had found a perfect match for a heart and liver transplant that would save young Brittany's life.
"My hand started shaking so bad that I had to put both hands on the phone so I wouldn't drop it," Tonya Bollenbacher said. "I then asked him if this was the real thing."
Brittany, the overly shy 14-year-old with a love for collecting Mickey Mouse memorabilia, was born with a single-chamber heart, which prevented the organ from mixing her red and blue blood and her body from getting enough oxygen.
She had her first open heart surgery at 3 months old, followed by three more, including a Fontan operation to connect the blood flow from the heart to her liver.
She had a pacemaker inserted to help her heart pump more effectively. That pacemaker's wires had eventually snapped as Brittany grew and had to have a second one inserted.
As if the series of heart surgeries weren't enough on her health, the result of her last operation caused her liver to stop producing albumin - which then caused her body to retain fluid and swell up like a balloon.
A CT scan last fall proved that her liver was rapidly declining and a heart and liver transplant was the last option.
That is when things got tricky.
Brittany's team of doctors, who were monitoring her liver, felt if they didn't do a liver transplant along with the heart in the same operation, her liver would collapse during the heart operation.
And if the medical team chose to hold off on the liver transplant, Brittany would have to be placed at the bottom of the donor list. She was on the list for both heart and liver transplants in January.
"The doctors gave us a few months to decide if we wanted to put Brittany on the list," Tonya Bollenbacher said. "One day we were driving in the car and Brittany turned to me and said, 'Mom I don't have a choice.' I said, 'You're not a quitter.' We got one last fight and we're going to win. I asked her if she was ready to fight and she said yes."
So after Tonya Bollenbacher received the call that June morning, she drove Brittany to Stanford to get prepped for the rare and dangerous operation. Doctors said she had a 50 percent chance of not making it out of the operating room.
"That day was the longest day of my life," Tonya said. "I've never been through so many different emotions in such a short period of time. We were 12 hours into the operation and we hadn't heard anything from the doctors, there was so much going on."
Around 3:30 a.m. the next day, one of the head surgeons performing Brittany's transplant came out to alert the family that Brittany pulled through and she had made medical history, becoming only the 52nd person in the country to have both undergone a heart and liver transplant.
In fact, Brittany's new organs were already functioning steadily by the time the doctors left the operation table.
The days following the rare procedure, the Morgan Hill teen started to recover at a rapid pace.
Not even 24 hours out of her operation, she ripped her breathing tube out of her throat and the following day she was already able to sit up in a chair.
The day after that she was already walking. This determination and perseverance amazes her mother.
"She blows me away," Tonya said of her daughter's strong will. "I call her super girl. She never once complained the whole time. She is not your typical teenager."
The Bollenbacher family was told that Brittany would have to spend two months in the hospital as a part of her recovery; she lasted only two-and-a-half weeks. With fierce therapy, she walked 110 laps around the entire hospital floor, a feat that Brittany humbly brags about.
The family then spent the remainder of her recovery at the Ronald McDonald House in Palo Alto and returned to Morgan Hill Aug. 18.
As Brittany looks back at her life-changing summer, she can't help but be thankful for the lessons she's learned during the tested journey.
"Life is too short to be stressing out over little things and worry all the time," Brittany says with a smile. "I mean, you are always going to worry, but there are bigger things to worry about."
Life for the Bollenbacher family has slowed down in the past few weeks. Brittany isn't allowed to be around big crowds of people because her immune system is compromised due to anti organ rejection drugs. As her immune system becomes stronger and her body heals from the surgery, she'll be allowed around more people and become more active.
"That is really hard for her because she can't help," Tonya said. "Because she helps me unload groceries out of the car. And she can't be around a lot of people, that's hard for us because we are big opening night movie goers and we can't go to movies anymore on opening night."
For the time being, the young teen that has hopes of attending college one day is confined to her home with her sister Ashley and two dogs.
She recently started ninth grade home schooling courses three days a week
But staying at home is hard because she can't volunteer at El Toro Elementary School, something Brittany loved to do before her health complications.
And during her time away from the El Toro community, the family has seen a great amount of support from it.
"The outpour from the community was amazing," Tonya said. "It is nice to know that people can come together and support other people. Teachers at El Toro said there is an e-mail list that goes a mile long, even with people we don't know. Everybody wanted phone calls and to be updated."
Shelley Guerrero, Brittany's kindergarten teacher, has supported the Bollenbacher's and been touched by the girl's bravery.
"I met Brittany in kindergarten and watched her determination to learn and keep up with the kids in her class," Guerrero said. "Brittany did wonderfully considering her medical challenges at the time. I was immediately impressed with her positive attitude towards life, learning and others. Brittany always has a smile on her face. She is one of the kindest people I know."
During her time away from school, she is working on establishing her own nonprofit company.
After receiving numerous donations and saving her summer allowance, Brittany started a toy drive for Stanford's Junior Hospital. One year she delivered 500 presents to various children's facilities in the valley, including a brand new computer.
She and her mother are thinking of a name for the charity, but already know that the long-term vision of their project will help families who stay at the Ronald McDonald House with food, gas and medical expenses.
Brittany likes to tell people that she is thankful for all of the love and support she has received during her recovery and that she was given the best gift she could've ever asked for this summer.
"I got the greatest gift in the world," Brittany said. "A heart and a liver."
Jeremy Barousse Jeremy Barousse writes for the Morgan Hill Times. Send him an email.
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