SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A baby has beaten the odds of a heart problem and is now heading home after life-saving surgery.
Nine-month-old Teegan Lexcen, whose heart was once deemed inoperable, was discharged Tuesday morning from Nicklaus Children’s Hospital after having open-heart surgery.
Teegan’s mom, Cassidy Lexcen, called it the best feeling ever.
“Everybody’s happy,” said Lexcen. “Her siblings are happy to have their sister back out of the hospital.”
“It’s really the best feeling ever. It’s the best gift we could ever have. I can’t describe what it feels like to have her in my arms other than it’s surreal.”
Surgeons, led by Dr. Redmond Burke, used 3D technology to plan the complicated surgery. “I made sure that I was completely confident that I had an operation that had a chance to work and that my whole team knew exactly what we were gonna do, step by step,” said Dr. Burke, chief of pediatric heart surgery at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
Teegan, who was born with only one lung and several heart defects, will return home to Minnesota with her parents and twin sister.
“We waited a long six months for these moments,” said Burke. “It’s a thrill when you see a baby that nobody gave a chance to, except their parents, spend 182 days in the hospital and pull through some really bad moments, make it home and not just make it home — make it home smiling.”
Doctors said Teegan will have to live with certain restrictions but is expected to be predominantly healthy.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.