Girl born with heart defect pursues cardiology
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
MiKayla Person believes in miracles.
After four heart surgeries and a serious birth defect that could have claimed her life, the 14-year-old Delavan student has a perspective on life that points to the age-old notion of living each day to its fullest.
While most high school freshmen are still jostling around career prospects, Person already has a firm grasp of what she wants to pursue in college after she graduates from Delavan-Darien High School in 2018.
“I’m really looking to get into cardiology,” said Person, who shadowed Andrew Pelech, a doctor who specializes in pediatrics and cardiology at Wauwatosa-based Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, on March 6.
For Person, the career exploration hits close to home. She was born with pulmonary valve atresia, a condition denoting the absence of a pulmonary artery, which is used to transport deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs.
Additionally, Person was eventually diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect because of a hole that was located on the back of her heart.
While Person was born with both conditions, neither were discovered until she was 1 ½ years old. It was the expertise of Children’s staff, including Pelech, that got to the root of Person’s wheezing as a baby.
Person, who still visits Children’s routinely as a patient, is otherwise able to lead a normal life — a reality that perhaps is best demonstrated by the fact she has been involved in three sports since fourth grade.
As she roamed the various wings with Pelech inside Children’s earlier this month, Person was inquisitive and fielded a number of questions at someone she considers a mentor. Person’s maturity and matter-of-fact questioning were reminiscent of a person already enrolled in college.
“When I began talking at 3 years old, I had to be able to communicate to adults and doctors clearly so I could articulate how I was feeling,” said Person, who has lived in Delavan since birth with mom, Shawna Person, and grandma, Kay Person.
Some of the stops during the shadow day included a visit to a catheterization laboratory — more commonly nicknamed a “cath lab.”
The temperature-sensitive examination room features a number of pieces of highly specialized equipment. Technology has advanced to the point the equipment can pinpoint a person’s blood pressure in up to five different areas of his or her body.
One of the most riveting moments of the tour through Children’s different crevasses was a stop outside the patients’ rooms. Because of the complexity of many of the surgeries, parents frequently create makeshift living quarters.
“You’re dealing with patients and their parents during their most trying circumstances,” Pelech said. “It’s very challenging but very rewarding.”
Pelech, who admits he is constantly learning on the job, said, “I see a miracle here every week.”
While Pelech and Person have built a rapport through Person’s assorted surgeries, their encounter early this month was for a different, more pleasant reason. Pelech espoused his knowledge and insight into the field of pediatric cardiology.
“For me, treating kids is so much more satisfying that working with adults,” Pelech said. “The children I’m treating haven’t done anything wrong. They’re dealing with something that has just fallen upon them.”
Stories such as Person’s have grabbed the attention of state lawmakers — a point Pelech proclaimed during the job shadowing exercise. When Person was born, hospitals were not required to test a baby’s oxygen levels. The law has since changed so rare conditions that are not easily detectible can be addressed promptly.
As Pelech discussed his profession, it became clear Person’s life story will go down as a career highlight.
“We’re hoping the fourth (heart surgery) will be her last,” Pelech said. “She’s been through so much, and she’s been a star. She’s lived a very normal life and has gone on to excel in a number of areas.”
Person, who has overcome obstacles in her near decade and a half of life, has a bright future ahead. By Pelech’s estimation, the groundwork for her career-in-the-making has already been built because of her perseverance through surgeries.
“I think she’s gained a world of experience already,” he said.
