Newborn considered a medical miracle
Published: January 3, 2007
Doctors are calling her a medical miracle. A newborn at Riley Hospital for Children who’s lucky to be alive.
The birth of a baby is nothing short of a miracle, but a team of doctors at Riley are calling the birth of one little girl a medical miracle. Ann Therese Felts was born with a tumor on her heart.
“The tumor is called a teratoma and it’s considered a benign tumor,” said Dr. Timothy Cordes.
Although it’s benign, those are not the kind of words any parent wants to hear from their doctor.
“It can grow fairly rapidly and in this case it grew just outside the heart,” said Dr. Cordes.
It was the fourth pregnancy for Paige Felts and she had little reason for concern. All of her other children were full term and healthy.
“At 27 weeks I had a just a routine ultrasound,” said Felts.
The ultrasound turned out to be anything but routine. Doctors found something that needed a closer look.
“This is the first time I’ve seen one in utero before a baby’s born,” said Dr. Cordes.
What the doctors discovered is an extremely rare tumor growing right on top of her heart and lungs.
“He was able to tell us that this is extremely rare and very treatable and manageable,” said Felts.
Paige’s doctor ordered a weekly ultrasound and echocardiogram, and for several weeks the tumor seemed to stop growing. Doctors were hoping Paige would go full term.
“I got concerned because the in the last 2 or 3 weeks this tumor grew very rapidly, and by the time the baby was born the tumor was bigger than the heart.”
Concerned the tumor might damage the baby’s heart or even stop the blood flow, doctors delivered by cesarean.
“I was able to hold her for the first time, the only time, before her surgery,” said Felts.
But the medical miracle came in the surgery to follow as doctors removed a tumor larger than baby Ann’s heart. A baby is named appropriately after Indiana’s only saint.
To give you an idea of what the doctors were up against, the tumor was the size of a racquetball. Baby Ann is now off the ventilator and is doing well. Her parents hope to take her home in the next seven days.
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