Shay last fall in a swing at the park
for the very first time

Celebrating Life

With a new heart, Shay reaches the incredible milestone ofd 1st birthday.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Staff Writer

L

isa and Adam Ziff of West Bloomfield had the
typical parents' dreams for their new daughter's
first year of life. But their hopes soon shifted
into unimaginable anxiety and prayer for the baby's
survival following the diagnosis of a deadly heart con-
dition.
"My husband and I were both so elated when our
beautiful baby girl was born," Lisa Ziff said. "We
named her Shay Celia in honor of my grandmother,
Celia Dorfman Silverman, a woman of great stren
and Adam's grandparents, Gerry and Albert Ziff of
Southfield.
"Unfortunately, we did not have much time to hold
our precious baby as she had to immediately be taken
to the neonatal intensive care unit because of her
heart."
When Shay was only 1 week old, the Ziffs were told
of a problem with one of her heart valves. By the time
she was 10 weeks old, she was diagnosed with restric-
tive cardiomyopathy; the young couple was informed

that their infant daughter would not survive without a
heart transplant. The rare condition causes the heart
muscle to become stiff and unable to expand fully to
allow enough blood to enter the heart's lower cham-
bers, causing blood to back up into the circulatory sys-
tem — with heart failure usually devel-
oping.
"While I was pregnant, I imagined
taking music classes and other classes
with my friends and meeting new people," Lisa said.
"Once she was born, the doctors told us to stay away
from other kids because she was a preemie and was
more likely to get sick. That was very hard for me
,
since I had all these wonderful plans."
Lisa remembered those first months. "We had to
stare at our first child through the glass of an incuba-
tor while she tried to improve her health," she said.
"It was heart-wrenching to watch our little baby girl
have trouble breathing and in pain," the Ziffs wrote in
an April 2004 letter posted on the International
Association of Organ Donation (IAOD) Web site.
Back then, Adam, an obstetrician-gynecologist in
Clarkston, Union Lake and Pontiac, and Lisa, a nurse

who is staying home to care for Shay full time, could
only pray for the milestone they would share with
their daughter nine months later — the celebration of
her first birthday on Jan. 23.
"We had a big party for Shay," Lisa said. "It was a
very special event. We were surrounded
by our very special friends and family
[including Shay's grandparents Lenore
and Stan Dorfman and Barbara and
Bud Keller, all of Bloomfield Hills, and Steve and
Marjie Ziff of Franklin and great-grandma Gerry
Ziff.]
"We are so lucky to have Shay here to celebrate her
first birthday," she said. "We also know to take it one
birthday at a time. This was a major goal for us."

COVER STORY

The Beginning

"During the first months, Shay was constantly being
hospitalized for heart problems, which made it diffi-
cult for her to breathe, eat and sleep," Adam said.
Eventually going into heart failure, Shay was airlift-
ed to the-University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's

CELEBRATING LIFE on page 18

JIN

2/10
2005

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