Meet Frank, whose heart beats stronger than ever before
When faced with an urgent need for a rare, complex surgery to repair their son’s heart, Frank’s family was grateful the surgery was available nearby.
Thai remembers waiting for her newborn, Franklin II — or little Frank, as she calls him — to gain the strength he needed to face heart surgery at Children’s Health℠. She had been unable to pry herself away from his side, until a social worker stopped by their hospital room, sat beside her and asked when she'd last been outside.
"I hesitated. It had been more than two weeks," Thai said. "But she encouraged me to step outside for fresh air and assured me Frank would be OK."
At Children’s Health, the social work team is one of many groups who provide a critical resource and support system for patients to help make long hospital stays and the road to recovery more approachable and comfortable.
"Leaving Frank's bedside was so hard to do because he was so fragile,” Thai said. “But it was so important. And my experience with him has taught me that you can’t control everything. You have to put your trust in the experts.”
Putting their trust in a team of experts
Thai first met her care team at Children’s Health through the Fetal Heart Program when she was five months pregnant. Her OB-GYN had referred her after a concerning prenatal scan.
Physicians diagnosed her baby with heterotaxy syndrome, which caused several heart defects: double-outlet right ventricle (DORV), complete atrioventricular septal defect and pulmonary stenosis.
The team prepared Thai and her husband, big Franklin, for every possibility, including an immediate transfer or surgery after birth.
It was so beneficial to be able to prepare — logistically and emotionally — and to move our prenatal care early on to be closer to Children’s Health.
— Thai, Frank's mom
At birth, little Frank didn’t need immediate medical support. Thai even got to hold him before he was taken to the NICU for monitoring.
Then, at 4 months old, during a visit to Children’s Medical Center Plano with Dr. Colin Kane, M.D., Pediatric Cardiologist and Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Frank’s oxygen levels quickly began dropping.
Dr. Kane ordered a transfer to Dallas to stabilize him. When that wasn’t possible, the care team performed an emergency surgery to help the heart pump blood to the lungs, where it gets oxygen. Soon after, he would need an additional heart surgery and an intestinal malrotation procedure.
Thai is thankful for their care team’s incredible expertise, but also for the team members at Children’s Health who kept Frank calm during blood draws and decorated his room for his birthday or helped him learn to eat, crawl and roll over.
Rising to meet the region’s growing need for complex pediatric care like fetal and neonatal heart surgery, Children’s Health is investing in how it cares for the next generation of kids like Frank.
Together with UT Southwestern Medical Center, and with the generous support of donors, Children’s Health is building a new Dallas pediatric campus that will be home to one of the largest and most transformative pediatric hospitals in the nation.
The new campus will accommodate emerging technology; foster deeper collaboration in research to find new treatments and cures; and create more room to care for children from before birth until they mature into adulthood for generations to come.
An unexpected 'godsend’
In 2023, Thai and her husband were introduced to a new treatment possibility for their son: biventricular repair surgery, a state-of-the-art surgery that could get Frank back to being a kid.
They began researching centers on the East Coast, unsure how they’d manage travel, work and insurance for a months-long stay.
Then came what Thai calls “a godsend.”
Dr. Nicholas Andersen, M.D., joined Children’s Health as Director of the Complex Biventricular Repair Program and Associate Professor of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at UT Southwestern.
Having Dr. Andersen come to Children’s Health changed our whole world. Because we had no idea how we’d manage being away from home for so long. Knowing Frank could have this surgery here, close to family, was everything.
— Thai, Frank's mom
Dr. Andersen is one of only a few specialists nationwide trained to perform this rare two-part surgery, which remodels a child’s heart to function normally — and Frank was an ideal candidate.
New hope after surgery
Putting their baby through two more intensive heart surgeries wasn’t easy, but Thai and her husband focused on what it would mean for Frank’s future.
“They told us this surgery could let him run across a playground and play team sports, which we couldn’t imagine before,” Thai said.
After his second biventricular repair surgery, Frank’s oxygen levels and circulation were typical for the first time.
“He’s more energetic and rambunctious than ever,” Thai said. “He goes down the slide over and over at preschool and loves to play in the sandbox. And at home, he’s so sweet with his baby sister, Tori.”
After everything they’ve experienced, Thai still can’t believe that Frank now only needs to see Dr. Kane every few months.
Dr. Kane is literally part of our family. My whole extended family knows his name and how important he’s been to us. While we know it’s good that Frank doesn’t need to see him as much, it’s also a little sad.
— Thai, Frank's mom
These days, Thai volunteers on the Children’s Health Family Advisory Network, supporting parents whose babies face similar challenges.
She loves letting new moms know they’re doing the right thing by being there for their baby, but she also reminds them of two crucial lessons she’s had to learn:
You have to take care of yourself.
Parenting a medically complex child is a lifelong journey.
When asked why she wanted to share her family’s story, Thai’s answer is simple:
“We’ve been so blessed,” she said. “We want other families to know what kinds of resources are out there to help their kids.”
She believes Dr. Andersen saved her son’s life. And she knows that donor funding plays a key part in keeping Children’s Health on the leading edge of care through supporting research and state-of-the-art facilities — including its new Dallas pediatric campus.
“The fact that Children’s Health was able to recruit Dr. Andersen to North Texas — with its growing population and expanding research and care — was huge for us. And it will be huge for many other families too,” Thai said.
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