A Young Family is Inspired by their Newborn’s Day-by-Day Recovery After Open-Heart Surgery

Cecily, age 3 months
Many babies are born with a hole in their heart and a majority of them close up on their own.

At 22 weeks pregnant, we found out that our little girl would be one of those babies. However, nothing can prepare you for seeing your tiny new daughter go through a serious and lifesaving surgery. At just 10 weeks old, Cecily had open-heart surgery to repair a large ventricular septal defect (VSD) that she was born with.

Watching her recover day by day, breath by breath each day has been humbling and inspiring. Any difficulties my husband and I had were made less difficult by the staff at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital. Her surgeon, Peter Pastuszko, MD, and cardiologist Miwa Geiger, MD, as well as the nurses and the support team all helped us navigate this difficult journey.

I have never felt so supported and taken care of. I was able to sleep at night knowing that Cecily was in the very best care possible. There is no way to thank the people who have literally saved my child’s life, but we won’t stop trying.

Also, they have a therapy dogs program! As soon as I saw that, I knew we were in the right place. Cecily is doing so well now. She is the most heroic person I know. I can’t wait to tell her the stories about how brave she was when she was just a tiny bean.

Patti, Cecily’s Mother

Read more on Cecily’s story
Learn more from interviews done with People magazine and NY 1.