Stephanie Privert
Dr. Erle AustinPosted by Katharine Greene - email
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A young Haitian girl who came to the United States to receive care for a heart valve leak is well the road to recover. For years, 15-year-old Stephanie Privert suffered from a heart valve leak which caused pressure in her lungs.
In June 2010, the organization, Healing the Children, arranged for Stephanie to come to Louisville's Kosair Children's Hospital for treatment. She received the urgent care she needed while doctors performed open-heart surgery to fix the problem. Seven months have passed since the surgery and recently doctors have said that Stephanie is close to making a full recovery.
"She's going to school full time, she's participating in Phys Ed, there's not any major restrictions on her, so I would say that she's almost back to full recovery," said Dr. Erle Austin. "She is still on some medications that are treating her heart, and we are looking forward to doing more studies on her in the next few months to see if she will be in a situation where we are comfortable with her going back to Haiti."
Doctors said if Stephanie was a U.S. resident, she would continue to receive care and undergo check-ups for the rest of her life. But because she lives in Haiti, they can only hope to communicate with a physician over there and continue to make sure she gets a physical exam every year.
The hospital and doctors donated more than $200,000 to cover the costs of Stephanie's treatment.
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