Samantha Haley
“There are a few things wrong with Samantha’s heart”…nine words that
wreaked havoc on my own. Our daughter, Samantha, was just two
weeks old, and she was about to embark on the fight of her life.
Samantha Walsh Haley was born on January 8, 20045, weighing a
healthy 7 lb 10 oz. We were overjoyed at the birth of our first child, and
we took our beautiful baby girl home with all the hopeful optimism of
new parents. But soon after her birth, I became concerned that she was
not nursing enough. When I took Sam in for her two week check-up, her
doctor listened intently to her heart. He heard a murmur and wanted
Sam to see a cardiologist…immediately. After three hours of EKGs and
sonograms, we were checked into the hospital because Sam was
diagnosed with Congenital Heart Defects - several very large holes in
her heart (called a VSD, an ASD and a PDA). In order to survive, our
daughter would need open heart surgery.
Ideally, the doctors wanted Sam to be at least 12 pounds for her
potentially life-saving surgery. Sam’s tiny heart was working so hard to
keep her alive that the effort rendered her virtually too exhausted to
eat. Because she was not gaining weight, Sam was hospitalized for two
weeks. After countless tests, tears, and many a sleepless night, we
were able to take her home with a nasal-gastric tube in her nose. This
tube would allow us to force nourishment into her tiny 8 pound body,
with the hopes of getting her to a weight that would allow the doctors to
safely operate. Six weeks later, despite our best efforts, Sam had
gained less than a pound. The doctors decided she had reached her
weight gain limit, and scheduled her open heart surgery for March 11,
2004. Samantha was 8 weeks old.
The day of surgery was both awful and amazing. After four agonizing
hours of waiting, the doctors announced that the surgery had been
successful. Sam was moved to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and
looked so tiny and vulnerable hooked up to what seemed like a room
full of machines. She was swollen and in a drug-induced coma; we were
not allowed to hold her, just touch her softly amidst the tubes and wires.
Already proving to be a fighter, she had done wonderful through the
surgery. But there was one complication: the patch that covered one of
the holes also blocked the nerve pathway from the top of her heart to
the bottom of her heart. Therefore, the bottom of her heart, or the
Ventricle, would not beat on its own.
Samantha was hooked up to an external pacemaker. We would wait a
week to see if she would regain the beat on her own. She did not, and
one week later Samantha was back in the operating room. The doctors
inserted a pacemaker that would be necessary to keep her heart
beating for the rest of her life. One week after that, despite the
complications, we were thankful to be able to take our daughter home
with the prospect of a healthy future.
Sam has thrived since her surgeries. Now almost 2, she already ran her
first pacemaker battery low, and she has had another surgery to
implant a new, stronger one. This will happen every few years
throughout her life, but other than that, she is a healthy, happy child.
She is wildly active (often tiring us out!), outgoing and continues to
amaze us daily. Her laugh is infectious, and her smile is enough to melt
even the healthiest of hearts.
Not only is our Samantha a fighter, she is our miracle. We are forever
thankful for the ever-growing research, monumental discoveries and,
most of all, the dedicated doctors that gave our daughter a chance at
life.
“There are a few things wrong with Samantha’s heart”…nine words that
wreaked havoc on my own. Our daughter, Samantha, was just two
weeks old, and she was about to embark on the fight of her life.
Samantha Walsh Haley was born on January 8, 20045, weighing a
healthy 7 lb 10 oz. We were overjoyed at the birth of our first child, and
we took our beautiful baby girl home with all the hopeful optimism of
new parents. But soon after her birth, I became concerned that she was
not nursing enough. When I took Sam in for her two week check-up, her
doctor listened intently to her heart. He heard a murmur and wanted
Sam to see a cardiologist…immediately. After three hours of EKGs and
sonograms, we were checked into the hospital because Sam was
diagnosed with Congenital Heart Defects - several very large holes in
her heart (called a VSD, an ASD and a PDA). In order to survive, our
daughter would need open heart surgery.
Ideally, the doctors wanted Sam to be at least 12 pounds for her
potentially life-saving surgery. Sam’s tiny heart was working so hard to
keep her alive that the effort rendered her virtually too exhausted to
eat. Because she was not gaining weight, Sam was hospitalized for two
weeks. After countless tests, tears, and many a sleepless night, we
were able to take her home with a nasal-gastric tube in her nose. This
tube would allow us to force nourishment into her tiny 8 pound body,
with the hopes of getting her to a weight that would allow the doctors to
safely operate. Six weeks later, despite our best efforts, Sam had
gained less than a pound. The doctors decided she had reached her
weight gain limit, and scheduled her open heart surgery for March 11,
2004. Samantha was 8 weeks old.
The day of surgery was both awful and amazing. After four agonizing
hours of waiting, the doctors announced that the surgery had been
successful. Sam was moved to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and
looked so tiny and vulnerable hooked up to what seemed like a room
full of machines. She was swollen and in a drug-induced coma; we were
not allowed to hold her, just touch her softly amidst the tubes and wires.
Already proving to be a fighter, she had done wonderful through the
surgery. But there was one complication: the patch that covered one of
the holes also blocked the nerve pathway from the top of her heart to
the bottom of her heart. Therefore, the bottom of her heart, or the
Ventricle, would not beat on its own.
Samantha was hooked up to an external pacemaker. We would wait a
week to see if she would regain the beat on her own. She did not, and
one week later Samantha was back in the operating room. The doctors
inserted a pacemaker that would be necessary to keep her heart
beating for the rest of her life. One week after that, despite the
complications, we were thankful to be able to take our daughter home
with the prospect of a healthy future.
Sam has thrived since her surgeries. Now almost 2, she already ran her
first pacemaker battery low, and she has had another surgery to
implant a new, stronger one. This will happen every few years
throughout her life, but other than that, she is a healthy, happy child.
She is wildly active (often tiring us out!), outgoing and continues to
amaze us daily. Her laugh is infectious, and her smile is enough to melt
even the healthiest of hearts.
Not only is our Samantha a fighter, she is our miracle. We are forever
thankful for the ever-growing research, monumental discoveries and,
most of all, the dedicated doctors that gave our daughter a chance at
life.
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