经过两次心脏直视手术后，她在2岁时接受了心脏移植手术

Tamika LeBlanc was 21 weeks pregnant with her first child when someone from her doctor's office in Garden Grove, 加州, 被称为. 他们想让她再做一次超声波检查.

“我们没有拍到心脏的好照片,有人告诉她, 这让勒布朗认为她是去做常规成像.

超声波技师拍了一张又一张照片. 这比她第一次去花的线上电子游戏飞禽走兽要长. 随着线上电子游戏飞禽走兽的拖延，勒布朗开始担心起来. 然后医生进来解释照片显示了什么.

Her unborn baby had heterotaxy syndrome, a rare condition marked by abnormal arrangement of organs. Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect in children and often affect babies with heterotaxy syndrome. LeBlanc's baby had an underdeveloped heart with one ventricle and one atrium, 所以这个缺陷意味着她的心脏只有两个心室而不是四个.

两天后，她去看医生. 妮塔Doshi, the medical director of fetal cardiology at the Children's Hospital of Orange County to learn more about her daughter's prognosis.

Doshi explained that there would be no way to fully repair the child's heart. Their best option involved at least three surgeries in her first few years. 然而，即便如此，这个女孩也可能活不过5岁生日. 勒布朗离开时知道机会渺茫, but Doshi also left her feeling optimistic that her daughter could beat those odds.

当奥利维亚·盖尔·勒布朗8月8日出生时. 23, 2017, Tamika held her daughter for a few seconds before she was taken for evaluation by pediatric cardiologists. 奥利维亚在18天大的时候接受了第一次心脏直视手术.

Olivia had her second open-heart surgery when she was 5 months old.

The best-case scenario was for Olivia to wait until she was 4 to 6 for her third open-heart surgery. 但在2019年4月，也就是两岁半的时候，她出现了心力衰竭.

Her problems were so severe that she wasn't a candidate for the third planned surgery. 多西让奥利维亚做心脏移植的评估. While she was waiting for a heart to become available, Olivia's heart stopped. 她心脏骤停. 医生进行了45分钟的胸部按压, 然后用心肺机维持她的生命.

Getting on a transplant list can be tricky because a patient has to be sick enough to need a new organ yet healthy enough that they'll likely thrive once they receive it. Olivia's health yo-yoed, causing her to go on and off the list starting Nov. 22, 2019.

1月10日，她接受了一颗新心脏. 26, 2020.

奥利维亚必须重新学会走路和吃饭. She's had other challenges, such as a vocal cord getting paralyzed during one of her intubations.

“心脏移植并不能治愈. It is a different and equally involved heart condition and complex journey," Doshi said. "Olivia is a true heart warrior and continues to inspire us with her strength, 毅力和勇气."

Now approaching her 7th birthday, Olivia "has so much energy and just doesn't stop," Tamika said. Olivia takes horseback riding lessons, dance lessons and is learning to cook.

“我们说她有一颗增压的心脏，”塔米卡说.

这家人创办了一个非营利组织, 奥组委生活, 以奥利维亚·盖尔命名, aimed at helping families whose children are dealing with life-threatening heart conditions. This year, Olivia is serving as an 美国心脏协会 national Heart Walk ambassador.

"It's important to tell Olivia's story to give families hope," Tamika said. “五年后, I want to tell you that Olivia is still running around with her supercharged heart and there is more light being shed on heart defects and we've discovered new treatments to help our kids live longer."

发自内心的故事 chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.