{"id":40135,"date":"2025-02-21T22:27:28","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T03:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/?p=40135"},"modified":"2025-11-07T16:43:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T21:43:30","slug":"daphine-gift-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2025\/02\/21\/daphine-gift-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, on Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day, let’s raise awareness to this under-diagnosed disease and celebrate the life-saving heart valve surgery of Daphine, a courageous 12-year old girl from Uganda!<\/p>\n

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\"GiftDr. Eric Roselli, Daphine and Me<\/p>\n

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Daphine’s Symptoms and Struggles<\/h2>\n

A sweet girl whose smile lights up the room, Daphine was diagnosed with severe rheumatic mitral valve disease.<\/p>\n

As a result, Daphine experienced an overwhelming inability to breathe.\u00a0 She also struggled with fatigue.\u00a0 Her symptoms were so bad that Daphine couldn’t do the simplest things including eating. Similar to other children with heart valve disease, Daphine was undersized for her age.<\/p>\n

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\"Dr.Dr. Tom Mwambu (Daphine’s Heart Surgeon)<\/p>\n

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Thanks to Dr. Tom Mwambu<\/a> at the Uganda Heart Institute, Daphine had a successful mitral valve repair that included a ring annuloplasty along with a tricuspid valve repair.\u00a0 Dr. Pranava Sinha<\/a>, of the University of Minnesota, assisted Dr. Mwambu during Daphine’s procedure.<\/p>\n

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Daphine’s Post-Op Update<\/h2>\n

After surgery, Daphine is doing great.\u00a0 By her third day post-op, Daphine was eating and cheering that she was not exhausted. As part of her recovery, a nurse handed her a pinwheel and showed Daphine how to use it. Daphine blew with all her might, but the wheel did not turn.<\/p>\n

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\"DaphineDaphine With Pinwheel In Hospital<\/p>\n

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The nurse then handed her bubbles and within seconds Daphine was sending bubbles across the ICU as she exercised her lungs. Once she was moved to the step-down unit, Daphine blew a strong breath and the pinwheel spun wildly. Her pride and excitement were evident in her huge smile.<\/p>\n

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How Did We Learn About Daphine?<\/h2>\n

As you may know, I am passionate about helping children with heart disease.\u00a0 Since launching HeartValveSurgery.com, our community has helped children in El Salvador, Philippines, Nigeria and Uganda get the life-saving, cardiac care they deserve.<\/p>\n

Our partner in this work is Gift of Life International<\/a>. Gift of Life is a wonderful, non-profit organization that has helped more than 52,000 children in over 80 countries across 5 continents get treatment for heart disease. In 2024, Gift of Life organized the treatment of more than 5,000 children in just one year. To learn how you can support Gift of Life, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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