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The outlook for the baby of a Dallas ISD trustee who underwent a heart transplant is hopeful, yet ultimately uncertain.
Olivia Solis turned three-months-old the day she got her new heart -- a transplant procedure that lasted more than eight hours.
“My wife and I like to say North Texas has adopted our daughter, and she's as much their daughter as ours,” DISD trustee Miguel Solis said.
The procedure began Monday night and went into the early hours of Tuesday morning. Now she has a new and bigger heart -- actually too big for her body at the moment. That allows her parents to see the remarkable thump, thump, thump of a heart that used to beat for another baby.
“It means so much to recognize a family made such a selfless act so our daughter could have a new lease on life,” Solis said.
Solis and his wife Jacqueline, a pediatrician, are sharing their personal journey in hopes of bringing attention to the importance of organ donations.
“People need to know what goes on here at Children's Medical Center,” Solis said.
It was only moments between when her birth heart was removed and her new heart began to beat. But for the family, those moments seemed like an eternity.
“It was a scary moment, a joyful moment, because we knew if the heart could be removed, that was step one,” Solis said. “Once they placed the heart in her body, after a few tries it began to beat.”
Olivia's future is still uncertain. It takes about a month to determine if her body will accept the heart. By age 30, she may need another heart transplant.
But Solis says they have faith, which is Olivia's actual middle name.
“My eyes were opened back up to the power of faith and what it can do for people's lives,” Solis said.
It seems fitting that with so much love surrounding her, Olivia's heart is even bigger than before.
"I know moving forward, Olivia will have not just an angel in heaven, but an angel living with her every day,” Solis said.
Miguel and his wife Jacqueline hope to one day meet the family that donated its baby's heart to Olivia.
More information: childrens.com/volunteers and http://give.childrens.com/heart