Expert cardiac care transforms Bailey's life
When you look at Bailey, you see a laughing, healthy baby who loves to give her stuffed animals kisses. However, this resilient child is no stranger to challenges. Diagnosed before birth with a severe heart rhythm disorder, she underwent surgery to have a pacemaker implanted just hours after her birth. By the time she was 8 months old, she had also been treated for lung disease and had a hole in her heart repaired.
"She’s really feisty," says her mom, Megan. "As soon as she starts crawling, our dogs are going to be in for it!"
Bailey is thriving thanks to the care she’s received from a multi-disciplinary team of specialists at Children’s Memorial Hospital, including cardiologists, cardiovascular-thoracic surgeons, neonatologists and pulmonologists.
During Megan’s pregnancy, tests revealed that her baby had a dangerously slow heart rate. This form of arrhythmia occurs when the heart’s electrical signals are unable to pass from the upper to the lower chambers, resulting in a heart unable to maintain full function. Megan was referred to Children’s Memorial cardiologist Nina Gotteiner, MD, who monitored the baby’s health until Megan was ready to give birth.
Just two hours after she was born at Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Prentice Women’s Hospital, tiny Bailey was rushed to Children’s Memorial by the hospital’s Children’s Service Board Emergency Transport Team. There, Sunjay Kaushal, MD, a surgeon in the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, implanted a tiny pacemaker, which regulated her heart’s rhythm at a more normal rate.
Bailey spent most of the next three months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. While recuperating from surgery, she was also diagnosed with a hole in her heart and lung disease, which made it difficult for her to breathe without assistance.
Over time Bailey’s health improved, and after months of spending their days at her bedside, Megan and husband Kevin were finally able to take their baby home. Megan says she was very impressed that Bailey’s doctors coordinated her follow-up care, so that during each visit to the hospital Bailey was seen by three specialists: cardiologist Wayne Franklin, MD, pulmonologist Adrienne Prestridge, MD, and neonatologist Nicolas Porta, MD.
Several months later, Bailey returned to the hospital to have the hole in her heart repaired. Cardiologist David Wax, MD, used a catheter – a thin, flexible tube that he guided through one of her blood vessels to close the hole. Wax says Bailey is one of the smallest children at Children’s Memorial to undergo this minimally invasive procedure, which allows children to heal more rapidly. Bailey came home just three days later.
Megan and Kevin were so moved by the excellent care their baby received that they decided to give back. Kevin and his brother-in-law raised more than $3,500 running as members of the 2008 Children’s Memorial Marathon Team, and the family formed "Team Bailey" to compete in the 12th Annual Kohl's Step Up For Kids climb to the top of the Aon Center on January 25, 2009.
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Although Bailey will require larger pacemakers as she grows older, her prognosis is excellent. "We know she’ll face challenges ahead, but we expect her to live a long and happy life," says Megan.
Care for children like Bailey will be enhanced when Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago opens in 2012 in downtown Chicago, adjacent to Prentice Women’s Hospital. The hospital’s Regenstein Comprehensive Cardiac Unit will be staffed by a team of specially-trained experts in cardiology, cardiovascular-thoracic surgery, critical care medicine and neonatology, providing advanced care for children with even the most complex heart conditions.
Children's Memorial Hospital seeks philanthropic funding to enhance its programs and services. As a proud partner of the Children's Miracle Network (CMN), all funds raised in the Chicago area through CMN also benefit Children's Memorial. To find out how your support can help the hospital better serve children and families, please contact the Children's Memorial Foundation at 773.880.4237 or Foundation@childrensmemorial.org.