David

Life without limitations thanks to expert care

David was diagnosed with biliary atresia at just a few weeks old. Expert care has helped him grow up with big dreams and a bright future. 

Exactly four people have told 15-year-old David that he should run for president. 

"My mom, my second grade teacher, someone who works at the blood bank, and of course, Dr. Charina Ramirez," he said, referring to the pediatric gastroenterologist at Children's Health℠ he's seen since he was a baby. 

David is an extremely bright high school sophomore. He doesn't have a favorite subject because he sees value in all of them — though he's best at math and loves history because it provides context to understand the world. Fluent in English and Spanish, he even won a national essay contest about the importance of being bilingual last year. 

"David has no limitations, he's just like any other child," said his mom Angelica, who speaks Spanish and shared her story through a translator. "But if it weren't for God and Children's Health, David wouldn't be here today." 

Expert and compassionate care early in life 

Angelica knew something was wrong with her newborn baby. He was sleeping too much and his skin and eyes looked yellow (a condition called jaundice). She took him to the pediatrician, who did blood tests right away. 

"As soon as they got the results, they knew something was very wrong with his liver," Angelica said. "They had already called Children's Health and told us they were the best and most knowledgeable in this area." 

The family rushed to the Emergency Department at Children's Health. His care team gently explained that David's bile ducts, which help filter toxins from the body, weren't working properly, and they needed to do surgery to find out what was wrong. 

"From there, everything happened so fast," Angelica said. "By the next day, we had already met the care team, the surgeon, the anesthesiologist and everyone who was going to be taking care of our son." 

The minutes passed slowly during the seven-hour surgery. Finally, the surgeon came to the waiting room. He said three words: All is good. Angelica and Jorge, David’s dad, breathed a sigh of relief. 

But there was an issue with David’s bile ducts.  

The surgeon explained that David had a condition called biliary atresia, which happens when the bile ducts only form partially or don't form at all while a baby is in the womb. His surgeons then performed the Kasai procedure, which connects a section of the small intestine to the liver and helps filter bile. 

Throughout those first weeks in the hospital, Angelica and Jorge were grateful for all of the resources they had access to such as social work, which helped provide them with meal cards to eat in the hospital cafeteria and gas cards to get back-and-forth, and language access translators, who made it possible for Angelica and Jorge to understand their son’s diagnosis and treatment in their native language.  

Programs like social work and language access are offered throughout the hospital at no cost to our patient families. And they are resources that makes the holistic care we provide patients and families at Children’s Health unique. Philanthropic gifts will continue to be essential in affording team members the ability to meet the individual and wide-ranging needs of families we serve.  

“One of my biggest worries going in was understanding all of the medical information, but we always had translators, which really eased my worries,” Angelica said. “We also used social work a lot and were so grateful to have so much help with even small medical necessities that helped improve David’s quality of care.”  

A looming deadline of a liver transplant 

Like many parents faced with a scary diagnosis, Angelica feared that she'd done something wrong, and that's why David had a liver problem. 

"We felt much better after the doctor reassured us that only God knows why this happened to David, and there was nothing we could have done to prevent or cause it," Angelica said. 

The care team also explained that for many patients, the Kasai procedure is only a temporary fix. Most children will eventually need a liver transplant to effectively filter toxins from their body. Angelica remembers seeing a 10-year-old girl at the hospital while David was recovering from his surgery. 

"I remember thinking we had at least 10 years with David, which felt like forever looking at that little girl. But it also felt like a looming deadline," she said. "But so far we've been lucky. David has made it to 15 and hasn't needed a transplant." 

A bright future for David 

Angelica credits David's health to the expert ongoing care of Dr. Ramirez and his care team at Children's Health. She knows that donors play a key role in making that care possible.  

"We are so thankful for donors who support Children’s Health. God bless them,” Angelica said. “Your gifts multiply their impact and help improve the quality of care for children." 

David describes Dr. Ramirez as a lifeline who helps keep his health on track so biliary atresia doesn't get in his way. Instead, he spends his time hanging out with his friends, learning about maps, coding and writing comic books. An avid horseman, David spends many afternoons with his brothers learning how to train horses from their father – who David describes as an impactful role model. He likens his future to the Dr. Seuss poem "Oh the Places You'll Go," which teaches kids about seizing opportunities. 

"I may be the U.S. president. I might be a lawyer. I might be a scientist or a doctor. Dr. Ramirez encourages me to pursue gastroenterology," David said. "No one knows what I'm going to be or what I can do. But as long as I'm in good health, I will try my best to go everywhere I can go, so one day I can say: ‘Oh, the places I've been.'" 

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