Advertisement

Sunday's letters: Our baby got extraordinary care at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital

 
Published Dec. 20, 2018

Our daughter spent 37 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital. She underwent two surgeries performed by Dr. Keith Thatch of the pediatric general surgery team. Every day of her stay, a member of his team ensured she was on the road to recovery. Some days she would be visited twice a day to make sure her vitals were on track. The pediatric general surgery team gave our daughter a chance at a normal life.

She was rushed, almost immediately after birth to All Children's and underwent surgery at 4 days old. She had a tracheoesophageal fistula, her stomach was not attached to her esophagus, and she was unable to eat. Her surgery was a success, and we will forever be thankful for the extremely talented and compassionate surgeons.

The neonatologists were also unbelievably caring and honest, they took the time to answer our questions and concerns. Nothing was done unless we were all on the same page.

Our daughter is 7 months old and is on the path to live a normal life. She still has a few obstacles to overcome, but if it wasn't for All Children's, she wouldn't be where she is today. Because of the amazing surgeons, doctors and nurses, the care our daughter received was the best she's ever received; recently, she spent 13 days in a different intensive care unit, and the care wasn't even comparable.

As parents with a medically complex child, we will not shy away from All Children's. We are aware of the issues concerning the heart institute, but do not let that smear your perception of All Children's as a whole. We had to make a decision to send our daughter there when she was 2 hours old, we did not hesitate, and we would make that same decision today.

Taryn Draper, Land O' Lakes

CEO out at All Children's | Dec. 13

Get the basics right

I'd like to commend Neil Bedi and Kathleen McGrory for their tremendous coverage of the recent rise in death rates at Johns Hopkins All Children's Heart Institute. I am an adult survivor of pediatric open-heart surgery to repair two congenital defects affecting the chambers and vessels of the heart (specifically, a patent ductus arteriosus and ventricular septal defect). My surgery was performed in 1984 at All Children's Hospital Boston; the average mortality rate at that time was roughly 1 out of 1,000.

I was raised to marvel at my state-of-the-art surgery: my heart was stopped and Gortex was used to repair the holes. In more recent years, I followed the progress of children born with hypoplastic left heart, whose heart pumps are essentially rebuilt from scratch. Progress and potential are dazzling, and the expertise and skill required are sobering.

Pediatric heart surgery is futuristic, tremendously difficult and risky. Much like spaceflight, it should never be considered routine. An unforeseen accident that leads to a death is an awful but real possibility. For all the advances in technology, surgeons and medical staff are still human.

What is truly unconscionable, however, is getting the "easy" stuff wrong. Poor staffing decisions, politics and egos, needless obfuscation of data, a culture of fear, attrition, failure to learn from errors, slipshod responses from state regulators: When will this chain reaction of bureaucratic incompetence end? Why would anyone allow a child's health to be compromised by behavior outside of the operating room? The surgery comes with enough risk, surely.

My thoughts are with all the patients and broken-hearted families affected by this nightmare, and I fervently hope the Heart Institute takes immediate steps to create the culture of excellence, experience, and transparency that these futuristic and challenging surgeries demand before more lives are needlessly ruined.

Laura J. Peterson, St. Petersburg

Tampa Bay has a talent shortage | Dec. 16

Why our young talent flees

This analysis should — but probably won't — be a wake-up call for the area's business and government leaders.

My wife and I moved here from Massachusetts last year after retiring, drawn by the affordability (compared to there, of course) of housing and the warm weather. From day one, we noted the abysmal lack of public transportation for an apparently thriving metropolitan area…exploding population…near-third-world public transit options.

As a part-time college professor now, I find it interesting that only a small percentage of my students are from, or intend to stay in after graduation, the Tampa Bay area. The response, when I ask about post-graduation plans, tends to be a variation of "there's nothing here for me."

On the other hand, cost of living doesn't seem to play a crucial role. Students have gotten used to having roommates, a given in college. They also understand that sharing living costs makes it possible to live reasonably close to work and, in cities that understand this, take public transportation.

Perhaps if Tampa's business and government leaders spent a little less time hyperventilating about where a sports team is going to play and more time strategizing ways to attract and keep "the best and the brightest" college grads and young professionals, our city would see itself rise in the ranks and become a competitive, go-to destination for our future workforce.

Kirk Hazlett, Tampa

The writer is an adjunct professor of communication at the University of Tampa.

A magic pony is the wrong horse to back | Column, Dec. 16

Kudos to Peggy Noonan

I look forward to the editorials and opinions expressed in the Tampa Bay Times. Peggy Noonan's piece is quite thought-provoking. It makes us wonder what will be the mood in 2020 and who will emerge as the front runner in either party. I feel that at the conclusion of this disastrous presidency, more than any other time in our history, the people will be seeking a "magic pony." How can we not? Donald Trump can claim to have fulfilled campaign promises but at what expense to civility and U.S. standing in the world? In my opinion the price has been exorbitant.

Ann Marie Giovino, Largo