|
|
Article: For Nikki, New Heart Means New Life
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- December 1, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
Children's hospital is at its best when it deals with patients
who are suddenly and seriously ill. A young Washingtonian qualified
on both counts last winter. But Children's saw her through with the
help of some pioneering surgery. My associate, Debbi Wilgoren, has
the story of the first heart transplant at Children's:
It seemed like just another late-winter virus.
But soon after 11-year old Nikita Cook of Southwest Washington
complained of flu symptoms last February, her legs swelled up and she
had trouble breathing. Nikki had suffered congestive heart failure.
She needed a transplant to survive.
"I was in shock. I was in tears," her mother, Bonita, says now.
"I couldn't believe this ...