'Miracle baby' from Philippines beats adversities
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Her mom, Mary Grace Dabu, sat down near Alexa and looked at her little girl with a happy smile on her face. “Alexa eats well, plays well and she has no sleep disorder,” Dabu told The Korea Times at the hospital on March 30, a day before her family headed back to the Philippines. No clues prompted visitors to believe that the little girl had undergone serious heart surgery, which lasted for nearly nine and half hours nine days ago, for her severely deformed heart. Chang Yun-hee, a cardiac surgeon who performed the surgery, said that Alexa’s fast recovery was almost “a miracle,” given how severe the deformity of her heart was.
“If such a baby was born here in Korea, doctors would recommend parents have their child undergo heart surgery within a month of the baby being born. This is because it is too risky to let infants having such a severe deformity leave hospital without the operation," she added. Dr. Chang said that such infants usually die before they turn one year old. Miracles occurred again after the surgery. Alexa recovered from the surgery remarkably fast, and was moved to a general ward a week after she was taken to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) after the operation. “Baby patients who had such a deformed heart like Alexa would normally spend one month in the CCU after surgery and then, depending on their health status, would be moved to a general ward for follow up treatment,” said Chang. “But Alexa was very different. She recovered very fast and ate and slept well. As the surgeon who undertook the surgery, I was just thankful that she recovered so quickly,” she said. Alexa was born with blue baby syndrome caused by a congenital heart defect, known as Tetraogy of Fallot. Dabu was informed that her little girl had the disease at a hospital in the Philippines. “My husband and I were so sad because we’re not sure if we could afford to treat Alexa,” said the 27-year-old mom living in Manila’s urban slum of Melabon. She went to lawmakers, city councilors and other politicians to ask for help. They arranged for a regular medical check-up service for Alexa at the heart center in the Philippines. But it was still unclear if the baby girl could get the surgery.
Good-hearted people While living in despair and anxiety, she saw a glimpse of hope after talking with her neighbor, Father Choi Young-shik. He is in charge of the newly-opened Joseph Clinic that provides free medical services for the urban poor of Melabon City. “Father Choi told me that he would help us out,” said Dabu. The Catholic priest contacted St. Mary’s Hospital in Seoul to see if the hospital could help the little girl. Prior to Joseph Clinic, Father Choi served as president of the Catholic Medical Center, overseeing St. Mary’s Hospital. His request got the nod from the hospital. On March 11, Dabu and her daughter, along with an interpreter, arrived in Seoul for the surgery. One day later, Alexa was hospitalized and waited for nine days before she underwent the surgery while having a medical check-up to see if her physical condition was good enough. On the first day at the hospital, Alexa cried a lot because she was not familiar with the new environment. As days went by, however, the baby quickly got accustomed to the hospital and smiled a lot at her doctors, nurses, and volunteers from Joseph Clinic in Seoul. Volunteers helped Alexa by translating what doctors and nurses said to her mom regarding the surgery, and brought dolls and other gifts for the little girl. Long day Around the time that the Filipino baby became familiar with the hospital, the operation day was set. “I was so worried and felt my little girl was so poor because she had to endure the surgery on her own at the operation room. I prayed a lot,” said Dabu. In early morning on March 20, Dabu helped her little girl dress in patient robes as she was to head to the operation theater. The young mom said she felt helpless as there was nothing that she could do for her little girl, except pray. “I couldn’t eat. I had no sleep. I was so worried before and all during the operation,” she said. Tears rolled down her cheeks, while describing the extreme anxiety that she had gone through on the day of the operation. It was a long day for the 27-year-old mom. At 5:45 p.m., the door of the operation room was opened and the bed carrying Alexa was taken to the CCU. Dr. Chang told Dabu through an interpreter that the surgery was successful. She explained that Alexa had no bleeding, her blood pressure was normal and an ultrasound test showed she was fine. Dabu heaved a sigh of relief. A day later, she was allowed to see her little girl for 20 minutes from noon in the CCU. Alexa wore several bandages on her chest, arms and legs. “Alexa was sleeping. Every time I called her by her name, she moved,” the mother said. Her eyes were wet again as she went over the situation her little baby faced in the CCU, and wiped away tears from her cheeks. “Alexa called the names of her dad and her grandmother, saying she’d love to see them again. I felt how poor my baby was,” Dabu said. On her last day at the hospital, she still wore a vertical bandage in the center of her chest because of the surgical incision but she had no problem doing anything that babies of her age would do. Dabu said caring volunteers and doctors and nurses helped her family feel that they were not strangers here. Alexa and her mom were scheduled to go back to Manila on April 30 but they decided to leave earlier as their family members there were anxious to see the little girl. Dr. Chang said Alexa was well enough to be discharged. They headed back to the Philippines on March 31, 20 days after they arrived in Seoul. Alexa is scheduled to have regular follow-up checks at the heart center in Manila. |
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
0508-'Miracle baby' from Philippines beats adversities
