Just in time for American Heart Month, learn about our courageous patient, Cyrus, who underwent complex pediatric open heart surgery. His successful journey was met by much celebration from his family and his team of CHOC experts.
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) is a rare congenital heart defect, which is 100 percent fatal if left untreated. Sunny and Jereme Brixey knew about their baby’s risks even before Cyrus was born in 2008, having been prenatally diagnosed.
Prior to Cyrus’ birth, the cardiac team at CHOC already had a plan of action: an approach involving three different open heart surgeries. Three days after he was born, Cyrus underwent complex open heart surgery. He had a second heart surgery at 4 months and a third at 4 years.
After the third procedure in 2013, Cyrus took a long time to recover in the hospital. After being in the hospital for nearly two months due to persistent drainage from a chest tube, Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) physician Dr. Michele Domico suggested that Cyrus could be discharged home with a portable chest drain. He would be the first patient in the hospital’s history to be sent home with this device. The cardiologists and surgeons agreed and ordered the new portable chest drain for Cyrus, allowing him to go home.
At home, Cyrus’ parents took care of him and his chest drain so that he could heal, and the drain was able to be removed after a few weeks. This successful procedure was met by a large cheer from Cyrus’ entire CHOC team. For Sunny and Jereme, this expression of joy reflected the care Cyrus received every step of his journey. In addition to the clinical excellence of the medical team, the Brixeys believe the team’s positive, encouraging words, as well as the support extended to the entire family, were a huge factor in his recovery. Since then, the CVICU team has used the portable chest drain in several other patients with great success.
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Learn more about CHOC’s Heart Institute
CHOC Hospital was named one of the nation’s best children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report in its 2024-25 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings and ranked in the cardiology and heart surgery specialties.
