CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Here at 3News, it is the Miracle Month of May. It's the time where we bring you miracle stories from Driscoll Children’s Hospital.
These patient's stories are good reminders that while our focus has been on the COVID-19 pandemic, the doctors and employees at Driscoll have been working 24/7 to provide much needed care for children with a variety of special healthcare needs.
Before Carolina Olvera was born prematurely at nearly 20 weeks, doctors discovered two holes in her heart at a routine sonogram. She also had an artery that should have closed after she was born, but remained open.
"Carolina’s heart defect was diagnosed before she was born by Dr. Agu, one of the Driscoll Pediatric Cardiologists in McAllen," Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon Stephen Langley said.
It wasn’t until Carolina was around three months old that Dr. Langley and Pediatric Cardiologist Dr. Ngozi Agu realized the holes in Carolina’s heart were not going to close on their own and needed to be surgically repaired right away despite the pandemic.
"We were able to continue doing heart surgeries on kids that needed it, like Carolina," Dr. Langley said. "Carolina had the holes in her heart, but the main problem was she wasn’t growing. She wasn’t able to eat properly.”
Carolina's mother Alejandra Gomez said she’s grateful that Driscoll was able to perform the surgery her daughter desperately needed.
"So when they told me they were going to try to find a space for her because of everything with the virus going on, I felt a little bit depressed, but since they told me it was important and that she could get it done, I got very excited when I got the news," Gomez said.
Dr. Langley and the medical team at Driscoll successfully repaired the holes in Carolina's heart. All that remains are a few tiny scars.
"The remarkable thing, having fixed Carolina's heart, is that we were able to remove the feeding tube and she has been able to gain weight and take everything by mouth which she had never been able to do before the heart surgery," Dr. Langley said.
Thanks to the doctors and medical staff at Driscoll, it will mostly be routine visits to the doctor for Carolina from here on out.
"Before she looked like a different baby," Gomez said. "Right now, it’s like I have another baby at home. She looked nothing like this. She wouldn’t smile. It’s a totally different baby. She’s my blessing.”
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