AUGUSTA — Andy and Susan McLean spent part of the evening before their daughter was to undergo open heart surgery praying to God for a miracle.

And they believe that is exactly what they got.

Doctors discovered on Valentine’s Day that one of the valves in 6-year-old Haley McLean’s heart was no longer working properly. Haley, who was born with a congenital heart defect, faced her fourth open heart surgery to replace the valve.

Haley and her parents, along with her 11-year-old brother, Andy II, went to Maine Medical Center in Portland last week hoping doctors could enlarge the valve but knowing it was possible Haley would need a new one.

“Susan told me the other night that this was the first time she really wasn’t sure. She had thoughts that Haley wasn’t going to make it this time,” Andy McLean said. “To be thinking that, and then have it turn out the way it did, was crazy. We were super excited.”

What doctors discovered when they took a look at the heart with a scope inserted through Haley’s leg, is that the valve’s measurements and pressures had improved. Doctors took additional readings and discovered that some of the other indicators of Haley’s heart health had improved since her last surgery three years ago.

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Haley’s cardiologist offered no scientific explanation for any of it.

“One of the first questions Susan asked was, ‘Is this a miracle?'” Andy McLean said. “He said, ‘I’m not going to rule out anything.’ We prayed with a close friend the night before and asked for a miracle. That’s what we believe we got.”

Instead of a four-hour open-heart surgery from which it would have taken Haley months to recover, she spent just a couple days in the hospital and returned to school Monday. Haley’s biggest complaint, her dad said, was a sore throat from the breathing tube and mild headache, likely caused by the anesthesia.

“The important thing to know is they didn’t have to get super invasive,” Andy McLean said. “They didn’t have to open her chest. Knowing she needs future surgery, any time they can avoid going into her chest, they will.”

Doctors will likely need to replace Haley’s pacemaker and a donor valve and replace the original valve that the McLeans expected to have repaired Tuesday. Now, doctors hope, all that work can be done during one operation. Reducing the number of surgeries is key to preventing additional scar tissue, Andy McLean said.

“It’s really important,” he said. “The surgeon has told us scar tissue is like chipping away at concrete. The less they do, the easier the work is going to be in the future.”

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Andy Mclean said every checkup brings a new round of anxiety. And soon, he said, Haley will be old enough to understand the seriousness of her condition.

“We could go in there for her next checkup and it could be entirely different,” Andy McLean said. “We really don’t know.”

McLean, who been out of work since September, said his family is overwhelmed by the support they have received from people throughout central Maine and beyond. The family has been able to pay off some bills, which Andy McLean said has lifted a weight from their shoulders, but more importantly the McLeans have been emotionally encouraged and strengthened by the outpouring.

“This community is amazing,” Andy McLean said. “We’ve just gotten so much support that it’s just been unbelievable. We’re hoping for a good summer here.”

 

Craig Crosby–621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com


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