THOUSAND OAKS : Nicaraguan Girl, 16, Has Heart Surgery
A 16-year-old girl from Nicaragua who was flown to Los Robles Regional Medical Center this week for open-heart surgery is recovering in the cardiac care unit and may be released as early as Sunday, hospital officials said.
A spokeswoman for surgeon Mohammad Gharavi said doctors replaced Sara Maria Sanchez’s mitral valve early Thursday but did not have to repair or replace two others as expected.
Her valve was replaced by a pig’s valve instead of a mechanical one to eliminate the prospect of taking blood thinner for the rest of her life. The estimated cost of a mechanical valve is about $6,000.
The Thousand Oaks medical center, doctors and a heart valve manufacturer underwrote the cost of the surgery for Sara, whose plight was discovered by Healing the Children in February after the group visited her country.
Sara will be placed in a foster home for six to eight weeks until she recovers. She will then return to Nicaragua.
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