Morgan’s Story
On November 4, 2002 Morgan (3 months old at the time) was rushed to the hospital from the pediatrician’s office. Once there, an x-ray revealed a massively enlarged heart (3 times the normal size). An ultrasound of her heart showed that her left ventricle was barely pumping and her heart rate was at 230 (beating twice the normal rate). They said she was in heart failure and admitted her to the cardiac intensive care unit. Her conditioned worsened over night and the next morning we almost lost her. Thank God the amazing Cardiologists were able to revive her after 7 minutes. As a result of her coding incident, she had a series of 3 strokes that caused damaged to her brain and left her with a diagnosis of spastic quadrapeliga cerebral palsy. She spent the next 7 1/2 weeks in the cardiac intensive care unit where she slowly started to improve clinically although her heart did not improve. A lot of different medicines and a breathing machine kept her alive.
Her prognosis was grave and everything about her case was unusual. Her condition was unusual because babies with heart conditions do not gain weight and Morgan was chunky. They were minutes away from putting her on ECMO (a heart and lung machine) and told us that her heart would not recover and that she would need a heart transplant. They did all the evaluation tests and paperwork to be able to list her for a heart transplant. We met with the heart transplant nurse who described what we could expect in precise detail. Although the doctors did not expect her to survive, they fought hard to save Morgan’s life several times and were successful! The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit even conducted a symposium on Morgan’s case for all the Cardiologists and Residents because her illness defied their collective experience and the “textbook” logic for causes and prognosis. Against all odds, Morgan continued to hang on to life!
Morgan has been through so much in her 8 years and still continues to smile and make progress! She has proven time and time again that a combination of excellent doctors, love, constant motivation from family and friends, courage, prayer, and visualization will result in amazing accomplishments.
Due to the excellent care she received by the Cardiologists and nurses at Cincinnati’s Children Hospital Medical Center and the grace of God, Morgan’s heart made a full recovery 2 ½ years later (without a heart transplant). She was on 22 medications in the hospital and 9 when she was released. The nurses taught the family how to administer Morgan’s medicine, feed her through her feeding tube, and how to check for placement and change her feeding tube. It was difficult getting use to her medicine routine. After three years, Morgan stopped taking any heart medication.
We are still dealing with the lasting affects of her 3 strokes and cerebral palsy. She left the hospital with a feeding tube and on January 4, 2005 her feeding tube finally came out for good (2 years and 2 months later) as she was successfully taught to eat again through the help of an amazing feeding therapist.
As a result of her cerebral palsy, Morgan was unable to move, eat, sit, crawl, talk or walk on her own (because her fine and gross motor skills were compromised when she had the strokes). However, she is now learning to take steps with the aid of various equipment devices. She is able to comprehend what you say but her speech is still significantly limited. Since leaving the hospital at the end of 2002, Morgan has received physical, occupational, and speech therapy once a week. She continues to make amazing progress and has already accomplished more than her cardiologist and neurologist ever believed she would be capable of.
Simply stated, Morgan is a MIRACLE and we thank God every day for having her in our lives. She has been in several of the hospital’s publications, made it into a booklet highlighting the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and it’s programs, and has participated in numerous programs to raise money for Children’s Hospital. It is our way of trying to give back to the Hospital that saved our daughter’s life!
In December 2005 Morgan was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Morgan had reconstructive hip surgery in New Jersey on March 6, 2007 and has recovered remarkably.
In February 2006 Morgan had her first noticeable seizure. Since that time she has had many petit mal seizures and four grand mal seizures. She has been diagnosed with epilepsy.
She attended The Conductive Learning Center of Greater Cincinnati (an intense specialized therapy center) where she made tremendous progress in strengthening her muscles and working on her speech. She continues her intense therapy routine through Leap Beyond Therapy.
Morgan is bright, courageous, strong willed, and excited by everything she learns. She loves to paint, draw and color, look at books, listen to music, swim, and dance in her wheelchair. Morgan’s sister, Alyssa, has been a godsend for her because she watches and learns a lot from her example.
Morgan’s accomplishments thus far remind all those whom she comes in contact with to appreciate all that life has to offer, including the little things that we take for granted every day like eating, talking, and being able to walk. She represents hope and is proof that miracles do happen!
