Seven years ago, Miranda woke up screaming in the middle of the night from unbearable head pain. She couldn’t move or recognize her parents, and then she collapsed.
Miranda’s parents rushed her, a 10-year-old at the time, to a local hospital. Physicians there initially told them to wait three days for observation.
Dr. Jason Knight, a CHOC pediatric critical care specialist and medical director of CHOC’s emergency transport services, was on call at that hospital that day, and met with Miranda’s parents, Regina and John.
An Emergency Transport to CHOC
“Dr. Knight explained what was happening better than anyone else at the hospital,” Regina remembers. “He suggested we transport her to CHOC so she could be seen by pediatric specialists. We were scared to move her, so we asked Dr. Knight if he would transport Miranda if she were his own daughter. He said yes, and we trusted him.”
Dr. Knight recalls, “As the physician covering the local hospital that day, it was my responsibility to assure that Miranda received the appropriate care in a timely manner. As soon as I assessed her condition and reviewed the CT scan of her brain, it was clear to me that Miranda needed to be transferred to CHOC immediately. I contacted Dr. Michael Muhonen, a pediatric neurosurgeon at CHOC, and coordinated Miranda’s transfer to CHOC.”
Scans revealed she had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a tangle of weakened blood vessels that had ruptured and started to bleed in her brain. Upon arrival at CHOC, Miranda immediately underwent neurosurgery with Dr. Muhonen, medical director of the neuroscience institute at CHOC.
“Miranda was critically ill upon arrival to CHOC. She reminded me of my own three daughters― innocent, beautiful and vulnerable. It was with this in mind that I approached her operation― do what it takes to keep her brain alive and functional,” recalled Dr. Muhonen.
After a successful four-hour surgery, Miranda was placed in a medically-induced coma for several days. Her parents didn’t know if she would survive.
“When Miranda was in a coma, I told Dr. Knight that I wanted to take a photo of her so that I could show her when she woke up, but that I didn’t want to take it if she wasn’t going to make it,” recalls Regina. “For a few days, he wouldn’t let me take the photo because he wasn’t sure if Miranda was going to survive. Then one day, Dr. Knight told me it was ok to take a photo of her, and I knew that meant she was going to make it.”
John adds, “My family is intact today because of wonderful doctors like Dr. Knight, Dr. Muhonen and their teams. It’s just amazing what CHOC does. We are so blessed.”
The Long Road to Recovery
Miranda’s recovery process included child life specialists, physical therapy and rehabilitation. She spent one month at an inpatient rehabilitation facility followed by an additional three months of outpatient care learning how to walk and talk again.
The first year after surgery was critical. Miranda saw Dr. Muhonen every few months for checkups to monitor her brain, as well as a CHOC ophthalmologist to make sure her sight was progressing.
“The AVM and the clot were removed successfully, and Miranda has recovered with minimal long-term deficit,” says Dr. Muhonen. “My reward is not only seeing a disease-free brain on the post-operative MRI, it is the omnipresent smile and effervescent personality that Miranda still has, despite her near-death experience.”
Everything came back except her sight. She lost 25 percent of her vision in both eyes, but that hasn’t stopped her from dancing, her favorite activity since age 8. Miranda’s parents had to supervise her at all times for the first year after surgery to make sure she didn’t have a seizure (a possible side effect of brain surgery), which meant that her mom went to every dance practice and every pool party to ensure her daughter’s continued safe healing.
Giving Back to CHOC
A few months after Miranda’s surgery, her family was invited to participate in CHOC Walk in the Park by friends.
“After what we went through, we felt closely tied to CHOC. We walked that year and fell in love with the event. We realized this was an affordable way to give back to CHOC,” recalls John. “My favorite memory was our very first CHOC Walk. Miranda walked alongside us, which was a huge accomplishment. A couple months before that, we weren’t sure if she was ever going to walk again. To see her walk on her own was the most memorable moment for me.”
The family’s first CHOC Walk was especially impactful for Miranda herself.
“I will never forget attending my first CHOC Walk one year after my surgery. I remember seeing other patients participating in the walk with their own team just like me, only they needed walkers or wheelchairs to have the capability of walking the entire distance. Seeing other patients that were struggling to do the simple task of walking, something that people take for granted, made me reflect back to being a patient at CHOC, where I once struggled with relearning how to walk during physical therapy,” recalls Miranda. “From that moment on, I promised myself I would always participate in the CHOC Walk and give back as much as I could, not only to represent the patients who couldn’t recover as fast as I did, but also for the patients that don’t make it. I am reminded every day by the scar on the back of my head of how blessed I am to have been a patient at CHOC.”
Every year since then, Miranda’s parents gather dozens of friends, family and co-workers to join Team Miranda, the CHOC Walk team they formed in honor of their daughter. They formed their team with the help of the Littlest Angel Guild, a philanthropic group that raises funds to support the mission of CHOC.
“We encourage people we meet to participate in CHOC Walk to help provide the best medical care for the children in our community. You never know if or when CHOC’s services will be needed for your children, for your friend’s children, for your neighbor’s children, or even a stranger,” says John, whose employer, Hill Brothers Chemical Company also sponsors CHOC Walk, in addition to the other philanthropic events benefiting CHOC. “We learned firsthand how much everyone at CHOC cares – the doctors, the nurses, the administrators, and staff throughout CHOC all genuinely care about the children and their families.”
Experience at CHOC Inspires Future Career
Now a senior in high school, Miranda is preparing for graduation and heading off to college. Inspired by her experiences at CHOC, she is planning to major in psychiatry and dreams of becoming a pediatric optometrist.
