The Story of Autumn

LOMA LINDA >> Autumn Hokulani Ginn looked great when she was born on February 6, 2009. “It was a perfectly normal pregnancy and delivery,” her mom recalls. But 12 hours later, a nurse at Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center discovered that her oxygen levels were dangerously low and an X-ray revealed a serious heart malformation. Shortly before dawn, Baby Autumn was airlifted to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital. This was frightening, heartbreaking news for her parents, Tony and Starr Ginn, both NASA engineers at Edwards Air Force Base. Starr says the saddest part was driving to Loma Linda with an empty baby seat in the car. “The doctors, nurses and staff at Children’s Hospital were very compassionate,” she reports. “They spent a lot of time talking to us.” “Yes,” Tony agrees. “And we appreciated the fact that they respect other people’s religion. We spent a lot of time in the chapel.” Born with seven congenital heart defects, Baby Autumn’s tiny heart was riddled with deformities. In addition to double outlet right ventricle, she was diagnosed with large atrial septal defect, large ventrical septal defect, moderate right ventricular hypertrophy, severe hypoplasia of the pulmonary valve, and severe stenosis of the main pulmonary artery. Five days after Baby Autumn’s arrival at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, legendary surgeon Leonard L. Bailey, MD, performed the operation that saved her life. She was discharged home on Valentine’s Day. Under her parents’ watchful care, she thrived and recovered. But with so many heart defects, she needed a second procedure six months later. One year after she was born, she had a third operation. Fast-forward to Feb. 6, 2015, when Autumn, no longer a baby, received a Melody Valve. According to Brent Gordon, MD, who performed the installation, the device is “a replacement pulmonary heart valve that is used to replace a non-functioning pulmonary valve.” Tony and Starr hoped it meant she wouldn’t need any more open-heart surgeries. “They told us she would need a week to recover,” Starr says, “but she went skipping out to the car when we left the next day.” Because she felt so good, Autumn joined Tony, Starr, and her younger brother Lake on a train ride to San Luis Obispo and spent the rest of the week playing at the beach. Four weeks later, she went hiking at Mammoth Lakes with her family, trudging through the snow at 10,000 feet. Today, Autumn is a beautiful, courageous and energetic 10-year-old who loves to laugh and tell jokes with her brother, build intricate toy villages with her Lego set and paint realistic pastel art. “I am an artist,” she announces. Autumn and her family are grateful for the blessings of God and the skill and expertise of the physicians and staff of Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.