Helping Others with Heart Defects
by Jamie Lober
Marlow, Oklahoma resident Deonna Linsky went through a healthy pregnancy with no known problems until she gave birth on August 16, 2008. Her newborn baby was fine at first, but later she turned blue, so the OU medical flight team rushed to Duncan Regional Hospital, and it was later revealed that newborn Hannah had a congenital heart defect. “She had transposition of the arteries which meant her aorta and pulmonary arteries were on the wrong side of the heart,” says Linsky.
At nine days old, Hannah was transferred to Dallas Children’s Hospital. There, she went through every mother’s worst nightmare – open-heart surgery. Since a congenital heart defect often causes low oxygen level and often leads to brain and other organ damage, this is a time-sensitive procedure. “Ten years ago or even closer to five years ago when they did surgery on children, ninety-five percent of the children died. Over the past few years, the success rate was about seventy-five percent on that surgery,” says Linsky. After nine hours of surgery, pediatric cardiologists repaired Hannah’s heart and left her with no real residual effect. “She is pretty much one hundred percent, and you would never know she had a problem,” says Linsky. Hannah has to make an extra effort not to have clogged arteries in her lifetime because her condition can cause higher blood pressure. Linsky does not underestimate the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Making a difference. Linsky has made a commitment to reach out to families who fall into this situation–one no mother can prepare for–through Hannah’s Hearts, a foundation she started in her daughter’s name. She continues to raise money, deliver care bags, and educate others that congenital heart defects can happen to anyone. “When it comes to heart defects, nine times out of ten there is nothing in your pregnancy you could have done to prevent it,” says Linsky.
Amazing technology. Thank goodness for today’s medical technology. Linsky is thankful for the incredible modern advances in pediatric cardiology. “If you live in America, you will get the care you need, and they will find the best place for you to get it done. Other countries do not have the capabilities, so it is hard to get those children saved,” says Linsky. Babies with congenital birth defects many times conquer the challenge. “I want readers to see Hannah as a fighter. She is one of those babies that will get knocked down and not even cry,” says Linsky.
Be an advocate. Linsky thinks it is important to ask questions and be an advocate for your newborn. “Parents are starting to push for having all babies’ oxygen checked when they are at the hospital. If they hook that pulse oximeter up to their toe, it takes five seconds, and they can find a lot of problems before the children even leave the hospital,” says Linsky. A lot of times congenital heart defects can be detected before children show symptoms, like the one Hannah had which was in turning blue.
After all the fear and uncertainty, Linsky has discovered that Hannah’s condition is living proof that every cloud has a silver lining. “There is something special about her, and you could tell that from the very beginning. God has a special plan for babies that go through this. They start out with the worst happening, and they survive. They are survivors,” reinforces Linsky.
For more information, visit www.hannahshearts.org.
Jamie Lober, President of Talk Health with Jamie, is a nationally known health writer.
