Michaela

To meet Michaela Healy is to meet the face of resiliency.

The 11-year-old has undergone 124 brain surgeries in her life. Over the past year, Michaela and her mother Lisa have made the cross-country flight from their New Jersey home to Children’s Hospital Central California four times.

It’s enough to dampen the spirits of even the most optimistic person. But you’ll be hard pressed to find Michaela without a smile on her face.

“She’s made me stronger because of the way she handles it,” says her mother.

When she was a year old, Michaela was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a disorder characterized by an excess amount of cerebrospinal fluid on the brain. It can cause increased pressure in the cranium resulting in convulsions or mental disability. Hydrocephalus affects about one in 500 live births, making it one of the most common birth defects.

But Michaela’s disorder was anything but common.

Pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Gary Magram performed Michaela’s first surgery at a Philadelphia hospital. He inserted a shunt in her brain to help alleviate the pressure. It would be the beginning of a special patient-doctor relationship.

“She seemed to do well,” says Lisa. “But after a couple of weeks they realized she had something a little more complicated than just normal hydrocephalus.”

What she had was both communicating and non-communicating hydrocephalus. Fluid could not travel from one part of the brain to another, and it also would not travel around the brain to drain out. One surgery wouldn’t be enough to heal Michaela. Many more of these delicate procedures lay ahead. The only problem was that the career of an expert pediatric neurosurgeon sometimes means moving to places where the needs are greater.

The Healys knew that there were only a handful of specialists with the skill to care for Michaela, and fewer still offering the kind attention she received from Dr. Magram. So they decided that he, and only he, would be the one treating their daughter, no matter how far away he was.

“He was so good with her that over the years we followed him to upstate
New Jersey, then down to Virginia, which is where he was before he came to Children’s,” says Lisa.

Dr. Magram relocated to Children’s about a year ago. The 13-hour trip from Philadelphia to Fresno was not enough to break the unique bond between patient and doctor.

“She basically calls him her second father because he’s with her just as much,” says Lisa. “She loves him like a family member. He is a great doctor and a huge asset to this hospital.”

Dr. Magram has performed nearly all of Michaela’s 124 surgeries. She’s had a total of six catheters placed in her head. Her long-term prognosis is unknown, and there’s a chance she will need continued surgeries throughout her life.

But through it all, she smiles. She’s become a pro at this, and she trusts the doctor she’s known her whole life.

“I couldn’t be more proud of her,” says her mom. “She’s absolutely amazing. She loves life and there’s nothing that will stop her.”

Journey Sponsored by The Guilds of Children’s Hospital Central California
Adventure Sponsored by Youngs Commercial Transfer, Inc.