Meet our April Patient of the Month, Anabella. During an early check-up, Anabella was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition called atrial septum defect, or a hole in her heart. By the age of 4, she had been hospitalized several times with pneumonia and other side effects of her condition. Her parents, Lourdes and Jerry, were told that she would need open-heart surgery. After looking at hospitals all over the country for the best one to treat their daughter, they decided on one out of state, only to be told by a physician there,

“Well, we would gladly welcome Anabella, but why would you come here when you have one of the top cardiac surgeons in the nation in your backyard?” referring to Dr. Redmond Burke.

And so Lourdes and Jerry met with Dr. Burke at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, who gave them the reassurance they were looking for during this difficult time. Shortly after, Dr. Burke closed the hole in Anabella’s heart, and today she is a lively girl with no limits to what she can do.