Group helps families celebrate from the heart
Group helps families celebrate from the heart
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By Aaron Crespo
Published: February 17, 2008
When Mia Laird went to her first checkup, her parents didn't suspect anything was wrong.
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More kids are surviving
About 400 children are born with heart defects in Oklahoma each year, said Dr. Kent Ward, a cardiologist with the center.
Half the children with these types of heart defects probably would not have survived thirty years ago, he added.
Now, about 85 percent of children with the defects survive into adulthood, Ward said.
Ward, who was one of the eight doctors who treated Mia, said her case stands out because of the number of holes she had.
"The more you have, obviously, the harder it is to fix them. She was fairly unusual,” Ward said. "We don't see that many that often, which is good.”
Jennifer Laird can't begin to describe how she felt when she learned all the holes had been repaired. Her daughter's second year has seen a marked improvement in health. Last week, Mia's sleep apnea, a result of the throat surgeries, also cleared.
"It was almost surreal,” Jennifer Laird said. "It was really hard to believe because for the past two years, there's doubt through everything, not sure if it would work or not. When they told us everything was OK, I just was so happy I couldn't even explain it.”
Related Topics:
Culture and Lifestyle, Health and Fitness, Medicine, Medical Specializations, Holidays, Medical Treatments and Procedures, Pediatrics, Surgery, Cardiology, Birth Defects
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