A team effort brought baby Kahlea and her mom to CHoR for expert heart care
Le-Anne Clyne is breathing a sigh of relief at home in St. Lucia now that her baby girl, Kahlea, has a mended heart.
Traveling 2,000 miles for the heart care Kahlea needed at CHoR
Last November, Kahlea’s pediatrician referred her to a cardiologist after noticing a heart murmur. At that follow-up visit, the cardiologist discovered three holes in Kahlea’s heart. On top of the unexpected diagnosis, the specialized care she needed wasn’t available in St. Lucia.
“I was not prepared, but the cardiologist said to me, ‘Don’t give up hope. There is an organization which comes to St. Lucia every year called World Pediatrics and they see children with conditions like my daughter has,’” said Le-Anne.
World Pediatrics partners with health care workers and organizations to ensure children in lower-resource settings have access to safe, timely surgical care. Sometimes this means sending teams to them and other times, such as in Kahlea’s case, the kids come to the hospitals that can offer the advanced care they need.
“Kahlea has Trisomy 21 and she was born with a large defect in her heart associated with that. Kids that have a hole in their heart that’s not fixed can live for several years, but their lifespan is much reduced,” said Dr. Zachary Goode, pediatric cardiologist. “One of the things that she was able to get at CHoR that she wouldn’t have otherwise is the combined pediatric surgery, cardiac surgery and cardiology teams, along with our PICU and high level care. What she needed for her to have a long, healthy, prosperous life is to have a heart surgery.”
Watch Kahlea’s story of hope, happiness and a mended heart
A successful heart surgery for Kahlea and a community of support for Mom
With the help of World Pediatrics and financial support from Mt. Gilead Full Gospel International Ministries, Kahlea and her mom traveled to Richmond to get this care at CHoR. Nearly 10 months after diagnosis, Kahlea entered the operating room on September 3 so Dr. Brian Kogon, chief of congenital heart surgery at CHoR and a congenital heart surgeon with UVA Health Children’s, could repair her congenital heart defect.
Le-Anne got through the long hours that morning with the help of the ladies from Mt. Gilead. They sat, prayed and sang with her at the hospital while Dr. Kogon and team cared for her baby.
“In the afternoon they told me, ‘Okay, she’s out of surgery. She’s been closed up. It was a success,’” said Le-Anne. “The wait was over. God is good.”
Kahlea’s care continued in the PICU, where she recovered initially. She and Le-Anne then stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Richmond for another month. Her cardiology team kept tabs on her recovery at regular outpatient visits and ensured her healing progressed as expected. In between those appointments, Le-Anne checked out the museums and other attractions in Richmond while she awaited the all clear for her daughter.
With a smile brighter than the St. Lucia sun, Kahlea returned home in early October. Le-Anne has been reunited with Kahlea’s older siblings, and they all have grateful hearts for everything the teams at World Pediatric, Mt. Gilead and CHoR did to give Kahlea a healthy heart and fresh start.