Heart recipient writes about experience

CRYSTAL LAKE (AP) – As she approaches her May college graduation, Lauren Aggen, like many other soon-to-be graduates, is trying hard to figure out what she wants to do.

Unlike her peers, however, Aggen was the recipient of a heart transplant when she was only 8 days old.

She was expected to live for three days. At that time, it took about three months to get a heart. When she made it to six days, doctors didn’t expect Aggen to live to see a heart, and she was about to be taken off the donor list.

The next day, her parents got some great news. The Northwest Herald covered Aggen’s story 21 years ago, when on Dec. 29, a heart donated by a 3-month-old who died of SIDS in Austin, Texas, found a new home in Aggen, who still is living with the heart.

But the Algonquin resident’s miracle didn’t come without a price. Her full brown hair hides the hearing aids she wears due to the drugs used to keep her alive before her transplant operation.

Her days start with an assortment of anti-rejection medication and other drugs, totaling 32 pills daily.

“The trick is fooling your body into thinking that this is your organ,” said Janet Aggen, Lauren’s mother, who said that her body could reject the organ at any time, despite how long it has resided within her.

Lauren Aggen and her doctors have done such a good job convincing her body of her new heart’s authenticity that she has been able to head off to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology for college. During her time at RIT, Aggen has enjoyed an active college career.

She dances hip-hop, jazz and tap for the RIT dance company and performs in numerous plays.

“I’m always the little kid,” Aggen said, adding that she enjoys these roles because she gets to be funny.

And while Aggen estimated that she missed about 50 percent of her classes in high school, she thinks that she’s down to about 10 percent at RIT. She will receive her associate degree in applied liberal arts this spring.

Aggen’s book, titled “Austin’s Gift,” is a way for her to say thank you to everyone who has enabled her to live such a full life.

The book came to fruition thanks to a collaboration with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Initially, the goal was simply to give Aggen hope. At age 18, she became very ill, and after spending a significant amount of time in the hospital, she became discouraged about her health. It seemed as though she might need another heart transplant.

She journaled while in the hospital and eventually submitted an essay to the SpiRIT Award writing contest at RIT. After winning the contest, Aggen won a week’s visit to the school, and as a student, she has taken classes that have helped her fine tune her writing skills.

The Make-A-Wish team later helped her contact Hilton Publishing, who expressed interest in Aggen’s story.

Aggen describes the book as a collection of memoirs. Her favorite chapter is called “Circle of Life (Meeting Another Austin).”

Aggen has taken to referring to her donor as “Austin,” after the city of his birth. This chapter of the book describes the story of how she met a 7-year-old hearing impaired child who was fitted with a cochlear implant at Bible School. He also was named Austin.

Aggen began baby-sitting for Austin, his twin brother and his older sister regularly.

“Austin’s family had never worked with an older deaf person,” Aggen said. “It also felt like a completion - I met another Austin.”

For Aggen, the importance of sharing her stories is complemented by the desire to promote organ donation.

“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Aggen said. “It’s not about how many books I sell. I just care that I wrote it.”