Cecilia back home after early Christmas present

By LAUREEN McMAHON

Cecilia Ferreira will celebrate Christmas at home in Burnaby with her mum and her brothers and sisters after undergoing a successful heart transplant at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children about four months ago,

The return home of the 13-year-old St. Michael’s student was the answer to the Ferreira family’s prayers and the prayers of her school and parish community, said her mother, Susie.

Laureen McMahon / The B.C. Catholic Young Cecilia Ferreira (l) is back on the ball after a successful heart transplant at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.Here she and her St.Michael’s schoolmate and friend Kaitlin Crean have fun shooting hoops in the gym.

Not even Christmas presents, Cecilia said, can compete with the gift of a brand-new lease on life, except maybe being back in her own bed and tending to her menagerie of four-legged, feathered, and much-loved pets, including her rabbit, Precious.

On Christmas morning, for the first time in many years, she will have the energy to actually play with her gifts, instead of lying on the sofa, watching others have all the fun.

Cecilia’s recovery is a “total miracle from God,” said her mother.

Last June, when she and her daughter embarked on their journey of hope to Toronto, hospital staff suggested it could take up to two years to get a heart. After that, “expect problems,” they said, which could delay a return to Burnaby for another six months.

“It was hard on everyone, especially my sons still at home,” Susie said, “so I began praying, ‘Lord, let us be home by Christmas.’ We actually arrived on Oct. 28, so you see how the Lord works even better miracles than you ask for!”

Susie and Cecilia had been in Toronto only a few weeks when they got a late-night phone call telling them to get to the hospital immediately because the life-saving transplant procedure would be performed that morning.

The newly pink-cheeked and energetic youngster is now able for the first time to do many of the things kids her age take for granted, including playing some sports with her classmates.

Since she was born, Cecilia and her family had lived with knowing that her heart condition would eventually deteriorate.

She has undergone an unbelievable 47 surgeries and countless other medical procedures, many to fight infections, since birth. In the past couple of years, her health had grown so precarious that even doctors who advised for years against a transplant were recommending they go ahead.

St. Michael’s principal Caterina Kennedy told The B.C. Catholic that the school held a celebration to welcome Cecilia back. Joining the St. Michael’s students were many of Cecilia’s former schoolmates who had moved on to secondary school. The children read poems and welcome-back letters at the assembly.

Kennedy and Cecilia’s mother, with Cecilia’s agreement, decided that, although Cecilia had been in Grade 7 last year, she should return to St. Michael’s for the remainder of this school year because being among familiar surroundings and old friends would aid in her recovery.

Kennedy, who kept in close touch with the Ferreira family by phone when they were in Toronto, said, “This has proved to be a good plan, because we are a small school and she has been through such a wrenching emotional and physical ordeal that she needs time to adjust. She is a bright girl and will move on with no difficulty when she is ready.”

While her mum never asked for special treatment, the students and staff had all noticed last year how weak Cecilia had become, said Kennedy.

“When we knew she was scheduled for a heart transplant, we invited a doctor and a team of nurses to the school to explain the procedures to the other children.”

St. Michael’s students, in the principal’s opinion, have really benefited from having Cecilia among them.

“They are so compassionate and understanding, and the experience helped us build community. They were so excited when we announced she was coming back. They know her and they love her.”

To see Cecilia today, with colour in her cheeks and normal breathing, said Kennedy, is inspiring to everyone, because the students prayed so hard for her recovery and regularly offered her spiritual bouquets.

“To see her walk into the school gym with her mum was a real testament to the power of prayer. We have seen how God has worked in her life.”

The road to full recovery remains arduous, with a very real possibility of organ rejection, so daily life revolves around a strict regimen of medications.

Fortunately, said Susie, Cecilia does a wonderful job of monitoring herself and making sure she keeps on schedule with precise dosages.

Medical tests are a way of life for the youngster, and Susie said that the surgeon who performed Cecilia’s transplant will visit her in the future to see how her recovery is progressing.

Susie, a single mother of six who runs a day care in her home, could probably qualify for a medical degree herself, as there is precious little she doesn’t know about cardiology after monitoring Cecilia’s health for 13 years!

A new heart for Cecilia became available only with the death of someone else and the organ donation by the family, of course. Susie said her family knows it cannot ever repay that family for their unbelievably generous gift.

“When you go to the Hospital for Sick Children and you see the difference in the lives of children who have had transplants, you see God’s work being done.”

Susie described meeting a little girl in Toronto who had just become able to see because of a donor’s gift. She was running up and down the halls for the first time in her life because she could see.

“At this time of year when we give gifts to our loved ones,” Susie added, “it would be wonderful if more people would consider donating organs to those whose lives could be so improved with these procedures. We thank God that someone was loving enough to give our Cecilia this wonderful present.”