>> I had a molar pregnancy, which majority
of times ends up in miscarriage.
I had cysts throughout my placenta. And late
in my pregnancy the hospital did a routine
level two ultrasound and they noticed a cyst
in Christina’s liver. We were told to see
Dr. Adzick over at Children’s Hospital.
He was a pioneer of so many things. I don’t
know how we got that lucky. It made us feel
like we had the best hope out there for Christina.
I was watched with level two ultrasounds throughout
the rest of the pregnancy, and the cyst would
fluctuate up and down for the remainder of
the pregnancy.
After her birth, she was having problems, difficulty
with breathing. It was the size of a grapefruit
was what they told me. It was crushing the
organs. They gave us two options. One was
either a transplant where they would take
a section from either her father or my liver,
or to try and do this liver resection. They
felt the liver resection was the best thing
possible for Christina. And that’s how we
proceeded.
The surgery took a lot longer than what they
anticipated. Dr. Adzick was amazing. When
he came out, he told us that, “It’s a one
day at a time with Christina. We removed 7/8
of her liver. But the liver regenerates. And
we’re gonna do it one day at a time.”
We took her home six weeks later, and she thrived.
She now has a liver, at one point that looked
like a chili pepper. She has a mark that goes
from left to right, and it is known as her
beauty mark. She is our miracle.
>> They weren’t given a lot of hope, and
then when they come to CHOP, hope lives here.
And they were told, “You’re going to be
able to have this child. Your child can grow
up, graduate high school, go to college.”
I go to the reunion every year, and it’s
crazy to see how far we’ve come.
When you See all of these little kids 
running around, they’re hope.
Today I’m almost 20 years old, a freshman,
at college, and I was operated on as a newborn
at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
And look at me now.
