3-year-old Kittanning girl with heart tumor wouldn't be alive without care at UPMC Children's Hospital, family says | Free Care Fund
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The 71st Annual KDKA Free Care Fund Telethon is this Thursday, and all week, we're introducing you to some of the local children and families who are alive and thriving today thanks to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Three-year-old Makenna McDonough of Kittanning is one of those children.
"I never really believed in miracles, but she truly is," said Makenna's mom, Emily McDonough. "If you didn't know what happened to her, you would never guess," she added.
In February, Makenna, or Kenny as her family lovingly calls her, started to not feel well. Her pediatrician thought it was just a virus. But then on March 4, everything turned upside down.
"She grabbed her chest, and she said 'Mommy, I don't feel good,'" said McDonough.
She passed out and turned gray. Her mom called 911. Paramedics took Kenny to the local hospital, where they decided to fly her to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
When they got there, her vitals crashed. Turns out, Kenny had a tumor on her heart and needed open heart surgery immediately. As doctors worked to remove it, the tumor exploded and sent tiny pieces of it all throughout her blood vessels. That caused Kenny to have three strokes and also led to a blockage in her femoral artery.
"From her belly button down, she did not have blood for 12 hours," McDonough said.
Doctors had to cut open both of her legs to try to save them. With all of Kenny's issues, things were not looking good. Doctors said if Kenny survived, her brain might never recover, she'd likely be blind and she would also have to have both legs amputated below the knee.
Then they had the difficult discussion about end-of-life care.
"And that is not something I or her father, David, was going to accept. And we were just like 'No. We need more time,'" said McDonough.
And so, they waited, hoping, praying and fighting for Kenny to survive.
"I mean that first week was absolutely horrendous. I'll never forget getting in the car each night to go back to the family house and seeing her car seat in the back seat and like thinking, 'What if we remove that car seat and she doesn't come home with us?' And I mean, that was excruciating as a mom. Absolutely excruciating," said McDonough.
A week later, Kenny finally started to come around. She started to shake her head yes and no to things.
"At that moment I needed that little, tiny glimmer of hope," McDonough said.
But it didn't last long, and Kenny slipped back into a state of delirium.
Eventually, doctors decided to move her out of the PICU and into a regular room, and almost immediately, she started to respond again.
"At that moment I was like, 'I have her back'. From that day forward, it was new, positive things each day," said McDonough.
All told, Kenny spent 116 days in the hospital before finally being well enough to go home.
"And now, she is walking, talking, and her vision is completely back. Everyone was in disbelief. I mean no one, not even the seasoned doctors, were expecting any of this," said McDonough.
Through it all, the McDonough family says the care and compassion their entire family received at UPMC Children's was unparalleled.
"I mean I can't even say enough about the staff. And not just the doctors. Everyone else who's, like, I want to say backstage at the hospital," McDonough said. "Every single person just cared so much about everybody involved. And I mean you can feel it too. Like when her cardiologist was crying with us saying like 'I don't know if I can save her, but I'm going to do everything that I possibly can.' We couldn't have gotten a better team of doctors. Without them, we wouldn't have her. Without them caring for her like they would care for their own kids, we wouldn't have her. I'm sure of that. It was the exact right people at the exact right time for Makenna, I think."
Now, nine months later, Kenny has recovered from almost everything. She still goes to rehab for her legs and also is now being treated for Carney complex, which is a rare genetic disorder.
"Less than a thousand people have been diagnosed, and she's probably one of the youngest," said McDonough.
She'll live with it for the rest of her life, but considering what could have been, Kenny's mom says at least she's still alive.
"We're just so blessed to have her against all of the odds," McDonough said. "Everything was stacked against her. She has gone through more than most people go through in ten lifetimes. And I don't want her to ever feel different because of the things that she's gone through. I hope one day I can like look out and see her riding a bike all by herself or playing in the snow, running around and jumping. I mean she's already doing so much of that. I just hope that it continues. I just want her to feel like every other kid."
But given all she has survived at such a young age, Kenny is clearly not just any other kid.
"She is so feisty and so sassy. It's done nothing but help her in this. She's such a fighter. I'm so proud to be her mom," said McDonough.
And you can help children just like Makenna this Thursday during the 71st Annual KDKA Free Care Fund Telethon. The Free Care Fund at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh ensures no child is ever denied medical care.
Jordy is one of this year's junior co-hosts for the Free Care Fund Telethon. So please join him and the rest of us from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19 here on KDKA and donate to the Free Care Fund.
