Group helps families celebrate from the heart

By Aaron Crespo

Published: February 17, 2008

When Mia Laird went to her first checkup, her parents didn't suspect anything was wrong.

"They sent us up here to pediatric cardiologists, and they told us she had holes in her heart,” said her mother, Jennifer Laird.

Doctors at Oklahoma Children's Heart Center said Mia's heart had three holes. Within a week, she had her first open heart surgery. Surgeons found more holes, and the number grew to seven.

But the Lairds have something to celebrate. After six surgeries, three for her heart defect and three for throat ailments caused by the other surgeries, the 2-year-old has a clean bill of health.

"Finally, we just went back Friday, actually, and they told us that they (the holes) were all closed,” Jennifer Laird said Saturday at the Little Hearts LifeLine Group annual Valentine's Day party.

The party, which took place at the Center for Healthy Living at the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City, is put on by LifeLine, a support group for families with children who have congenital heart defects. The event included activities ranging from face painting and a moon bounce to basketball.

For the past five years, the party has been held the week of Valentine's Day, said Teresa Whited, a nurse practitioner who organized the event.

Whited said between 50 and 75 families went to the event, despite weather concerns.

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.”

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