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Mom counts blessings
By Brian Smith BEREA — As a sixth grade mathematics teacher at Foley Middle School, Jennifer Parsons is used to counting numbers. On Mother’s Day, though, she has something else to count — her blessings when it comes to her 5-year-old daughter Emily. “Mother’s Day is very special because it brings to mind every milestone we’ve gone through with her,” Jennifer Parsons said. Emily was born early after doctors made a life-threatening discovery. “It’s an extraordinary story,” Jennifer said. “My husband and I spent eight years trying to have a child. We’d always wanted to be parents.” When they got the news they had conceived, they were excited, she said. That excitement soon turned to worry, though, when complications developed. “In my fifth month, she had bradycardia, which means her heart rate slowed,” Jennifer said. “They tried to break it to us gently, but said that she probably wouldn’t make it.” Emily’s heart was having problems because of an undiscovered condition Jennifer had. “I have lupus, and I didn’t know I had it,” she said. “My antibodies attacked her heart.” Doctors at the University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital in Lexington delivered Emily at seven months, when she weighed just 5 pounds, 7 ounces. “They were afraid of heart failure,” Jennifer said. At two days old, doctors performed partial open-heart surgery to implant a pacemaker in Emily’s chest. “The smallest one they had was even too big,” Jennifer said. After a couple of weeks in the hospital, Emily went home, Jennifer said, but her hospital visits were just beginning. “She had her first open-heart surgery at 14 months,” Jennifer said. “They closed a hole in her heart and fixed a leaky valve.” Emily returned to the hospital at age 2 so surgeons could change the battery in her pacemaker, and that was supposed to be the last surgery for several years. However, a staph infection developed in her pacemaker last summer. “It was the first day of school,” Jennifer said. “I had her father take her to the doctor, and they called me.” Jennifer said a skin staph infection had gotten into the pacemaker, and doctors were forced to perform another surgery. “We were in the hospital a week before the surgery, and the surgery took six hours when it usually takes just two,” Jennifer said. Jennifer said she hopes her story can give hope to others. “I just cherish every day,” Jennifer said. “Being a mom is one of the most challenging jobs there is, but it’s also one of the most rewarding.” Emily, who will start kindergarten at Shannon Johnson Elementary School in the fall, feels the same way about her mother. “My mommy takes good care of me,” Emily said. “I love her when she loves me and takes me to the hospital.” Jennifer said that raising a child with a pacemaker does have its challenges. “She does have to take heart medicine every day,” she said. “She can set off the metal detectors at Walmart, and we have to be careful around magnets. “With as many things that could have gone wrong, we were very blessed to just have the problem with her heart. “You learn to enjoy every moment you have with them,” she said. Brian Smith may be reached at bsmith@richmondregister.com or at 859-624-6694. |
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