Jackson’s Doctors Give Texas Mom Early Gift

Source: CBS Miami

MIAMI (CBS4) – A mother from Texas has received the best Mother’s Day gift anyone could ask for thanks to the transplant team at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“This journey wasn’t easy of course. Its had its bumpy roads, but I’m glad we’re here,” said Julissa Cerda.

After undergoing seven organ transplants; stomach, pancreas, liver, large and small bowel, spleen and kidney, Julissa’s daughter Delilah is ready to go home and finally begin living a normal childhood.

“She recovered after a week, opened her eyes, she was smiling,” said Delilah’s father, Pete Valdez.

Delilah was born with a digestive disorder of the smooth muscle in the abdomen and digestive system, Megacystis Microcolon Intestinal Hypoperistalsis Syndrome (MMIHS), which prevented the stomach, intestines, kidneys and bladder from working correctly. It also left her unable to eat on her own.

“Now we can actually give my daughter food, let her eat whatever she wants,” Cerda said.

Sixteen month old Delilah has gained about 8 pounds since her surgery in January. But to get here took many months, sitting by their daughter’s bedside, unsure of the outcome.

“Every time I think about it, it’s just hard. It was really hard but her smile got us through it,” Valdez said.

Pete and Julissa credit the doctors at the University of Miami with saving Delilah’s life, but they say their daughters smile and strength kept their spirits alive.

“She helped us sees things we would have never seen,” Valdez said. “We don’t take advantage of it. Take every day at a time, every second at a time.”

After four months recovery here at Jackson Memorial Delilah and her parents finally get to go home to Texas on Thursday and begin a new chapter in their lives.