Pediatric ‘heart warriors’ reunite with doctors who saved their lives
TAMPA, Fla. - Dozens of families came together Saturday to reunite with the doctors who performed life-saving cardiac surgery on their children.
Saturday, St. Joseph's Children's Hospital brought together more than 60 pediatric patients and their doctors for a special reunion celebration at Macfarlane Park in Tampa. For many of them, it was the first time seeing each other since undergoing treatment at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital.
"It's wonderful seeing them outside of the hospital and having that outside of the hospital relationship with them, getting to see what they do on a personal basis and what we do on a personal basis and just enjoy, not the clinical stuff," mother Meghan Miller said.
Miller's 2-year-old son Brooks has hypoplastic left heart syndrome had his first surgery at just eight days old. He underwent a second surgery at six months old and a third surgery is planned for some time in 2023.
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"It can be stressful at times. There's times when we've had to go to the hospital or into the ED in the middle of the night, 2 a.m., 3 a.m. We're driving into the ED because something has saturations are holding and that creates a very big stress factor for the family," Miller said.
Brooks’ surgeon, Dr. Jeremy Ringewald, has been with the family every step of the way guiding them through what can be a difficult journey.
"It's a wonderful, special, reassuring, heartwarming thing to see our patients out in the real, real-world, having fun playing around with their siblings and really getting to know each other," St. Joseph's Children's Hospital's Dr. Jeremy Ringewald said.
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Organizers had music, food and games along with balloon animals and a sketch artist. It's a way for patients and their families to visit with doctors outside the hospital and thank them for their life-saving care.
"He just loves our family. And we just are very thankful for all that St. Joe's has done for not only Brooks, but other heart warriors in our family," Miller said.