By: Miranda Torres
“You probably will never have children”, are words Richardy Blanchard, 40, heard in her early 20’s after being diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome. After two decades of irregular menstrual cycles, she was shocked to discover she was pregnant.

Due to her diagnosis and age, Blanchard began seeing a high-risk maternal fetal medicine doctor along with her OB-GYN to create a prenatal care plan. During a routine check-up at 18 weeks, the ultrasound tech discovered Blanchard had an incompetent cervix, meaning her cervix was too short to support a pregnancy.

The doctor told Blanchard, “This is an inevitable abortion and you’ll be lucky if he survives another week. But we’ll catch it next time for your next pregnancy.”

“He didn’t know everything it took for me to get to this point to be a mom,” Blanchard said. “It was so dismissive.”

Blanchard sought a second opinion and found The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial. After reading a patient testimonial about a mother who gave birth to two healthy babies after having a cervical cerclage, or procedure to help keep the cervix closed, she knew The Women’s Hospital team would be equipped to care for her and her baby.

At 19 weeks, Blanchard began having unusual discharge and visited the emergency room at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The doctor explained that because of her open cervix, her amniotic sack was protruding, posing a risk for sepsis, a potentially lethal reaction to an infection that can lead to organ failure. The options included inducing labor, which would mean the baby would be stillborn, or leaving the hospital because her pregnancy was not yet viable. It was then she met Devita Price, APRN, director of professional practice at The Women’s Hospital.

“As a healthcare professional, I empowered her to listen to her gut and her body and reminded her we are here to help along the way and keep her educated on ALL her options,” Price said.

Blanchard decided to go home and trust that God would make a way for her to have this baby.

During her ER visit, Blanchard also met Pouya Abhari, MD, FACOG, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at The Women’s Hospital. Dr. Abhari promised that once Blanchard reached 22 weeks gestation, the earliest stage of viability for a baby, he would admit her and care for her until it was time to deliver her baby.

Once she was admitted at 22 weeks, Blanchard’s cervix was already 3 centimeters dilated.

The high-risk team was monitoring her and her baby daily for signs of preterm labor and infection.

Additionally, a counsellor was brought in several times to speak with Blanchard and address her mental wellbeing. Maternal mental health is a priority at Jackson, especially among Dr. Abhari’s team at The Women’s Hospital.

“We want mothers to feel like they are still being focused on and taken care of as a person, outside of being an expectant mom,” Dr. Abhari said.

At 30 weeks, Blanchard’s water broke and she went into labor naturally. The Holtz Children’s Hospital NICU team was present during the labor to ensure her baby would receive the necessary care from the moment he entered the world.

“The synergy between the delivery and NICU team was something I had never seen before. It was perfect, I couldn’t have dreamed of a more perfect birth,” Blanchard said.

Samuel Gerdes was born healthy, answering all of Blanchard’s prayers.

“When I held my son, I felt God was with me,” she said. “I was holding him while he was crying, and I felt so grateful for the gift of being a mom.”

While in the NICU, Samuel never required oxygen and took to bottle feeding quickly with donor milk, allowing him to gain weight and reach his milestones. Blanchard spent every available moment by his side.

“Being a first-time parent and this being her miracle baby, she was a great advocate and had thoughtful questions,” said Rebecca Jones, MD, a NICU hospitalist at Holtz Children’s. “For us it’s something we do every day but for these parents, it’s something they experience just one in their lifetime, so it’s important for us to give them time and space to take it all in and answer all their questions.”

Two months later, Samuel was discharged, finally going home to be surrounded by his family.

“Throughout this journey, I have experienced the best and worst of the healthcare industry,” Blanchard said. “Thank you to every doctor who answered my questions, celebrated every day with me, learned my son’s name, and embodied God’s love.”

By: Miranda Torres

When Brianna Denny was 11 years old, she was diagnosed with a blood factor deficiency, a rare bleeding disorder where clotting proteins in the blood are missing, low, or don’t work well. Until this point, she was a normal, healthy kid who enjoyed softball, spending time with her friends and family, and going to school.

In February, Brianna, now 15, broke out in a rash on her feet. When it began to spread to her legs and became painful to the touch, she and her family knew something was wrong. A visit to a local children’s hospital led her to a rheumatologist, who began running tests to identify the cause of the rash.

About a month later, the rash returned and went further up Brianna’s leg. A hematologist recommended she be transported to Holtz Children’s Hospital.

While at Holtz Children’s, it was discovered that Brianna had autoimmune hepatitis, a rare, chronic liver disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the liver, and hepatopulmonary syndrome, a rare lung complication connected to liver disease. Due to these conditions, she was experiencing stage three cirrhosis of the liver, a condition that can only be treated with a liver transplant.

Her hepatopulmonary disease meant that Brianna required oxygen for over a month while the team at Holtz children’s focused on her liver.

Brianna was immediately placed under the care of the pediatric transplant team at the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), which included Gennaro Selvaggi, MD, transplant surgeon, Jennifer Garcia, MD, medical director of pediatric transplant services, adult and pediatric intestinal rehabilitation, and intestinal transplant, Akin Tekin, MD, liver, intestinal, and multivisceral surgeon, and Jessica Hochberg, MD, pediatric gastroenterologist at Holtz Children’s Hospital.

Brianna was listed for a transplant on April 17, and just seven days later, received the call that a liver had been found. On April 25, Dr. Selvaggi and his team transplanted Brianna and gave her a second chance at life.

While it was initially expected that Brianna could potentially require oxygen for at least a year post-transplant, she is off oxygen and recovering back home in Lake Placid. “She is determined, a fighter, and against all odds wants to get back to her normal life which is think is hugely important in her recovery journey,” says Dr. Hochberg. She also has a great support system in her family.”

She is looking forward to returning to her favorite activities such as softball and spending time with her friends, and school in November.

“Thank you to the team of doctors, nurses, and everyone at the hospital who took care of me,” Brianna said. “My mom gave me the strength to get through this, and so did my friends, who reached out every day.”

By: Krysten Brenlla

When Matthew Nunez was a freshman at Christopher Columbus Senior High School, he followed his older brother’s footsteps by joining the track and cross-country teams.

For years, the now 18-year-old competed in countless races without any issues. As his senior year approached, Matthew was preparing to run at the collegiate level, backed by his family, friends, and teammates.

“It was really a normal day, a typical race day on a Friday afternoon,” said Matthew’s parents, Anna and Carlos Nunez. “In fact, he was pumped up for the race and ready for it. He had absolutely zero signs of anything.”

On Friday, September 27, 2024, less than half a mile into the race, Matthew started to feel sharp pain on the right side of his head that spread down to his jaw.

“The pain got so bad that I had to turn myself around and walk toward the golf cart that follows the runners,” Matthew said.

At first, the race paramedics thought it was dehydration or heat exhaustion. However, as they started to examine him, they knew something else was wrong.

“I usually wait for him at the two-mile mark, but I noticed that Matthew wasn’t coming,” Anna said. “People began calling me, telling me, ‘Something happened, you have to get back to the rescue at the finish line.’”

Matthew was rushed to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson South, where a team led by Antonio Marttos, MD, a UHealth – University of Miami Health System trauma surgeon at Ryder Trauma, worked to stabilize and assess him.

“When he arrived at Jackson South, he was in critical condition,” Dr. Marttos said. “What concerned us most was that he was not moving his right side properly. We quickly sent him in for a CT scan to evaluate for a possible brain bleed, but within minutes, at the CT scanner, his heart and lungs began to fail.”

The multidisciplinary care team acted quickly and intubated Matthew, placing him on a ventilator to help him breathe and giving him life-saving medication to help his heart keep adequate blood pressure and blood flow to the brain.

When the CT scan was finally performed, a massive brain bleed was found.

“I was in the chapel at Jackson South when Dr. Marttos gave me the news. It was just utter shock,” Anna said. “So many thoughts started popping into my head. But, Dr. Marttos and his team gave us the confidence we needed, and I knew that they would do everything they could to help our son.”

To control the bleed, Matthew underwent emergency neurosurgery, which lowered the pressure on his brain that was triggering multi-organ failure. Once resuscitated, he was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial.

At Jackson Memorial, a specialized team of neurosurgeons was ready to take over and address the source of Matthew’s bleeding.

“The initial step was ensuring his heart and lungs were resuscitated,” said Adib Abla, MD, chief of cranial neurosurgery at Jackson Memorial. “Ultimately, we found the cause of bleeding in the brain was a vascular lesion located in the brainstem, which is an abnormality in the brain’s blood vessels that can burst, resulting in a dangerous brain bleed.”

On October 4, Dr. Abla and his team performed a successful surgery that removed the entire lesion.

After surgery, Matthew spent 26 days in the intensive care unit, and 11 days at Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial.

“Everybody here made those days as smooth and comfortable as could be considering the situation – they made us feel at home,” Carlos said. “I knew that Matthew was going to be okay because he was in the best place possible to recover from this. It is an absolute miracle.”

Today, Matthew has made a full recovery, and has returned to what he loves the most – running. He’s looking forward to finishing his senior year, and hopes to continue his running career in college.

“To the entire team at Jackson, there are no words that can truly express my gratitude,’” he said. “They saved my life.”

By: Krysten Brenlla

A Venezuelan native, Orlando Guerra, 61, moved to the United States in November 2019 to provide a better opportunity for his family.

In January 2021, Guerra contracted COVID-19, but recovered without needing any medical intervention.

However, as the months passed, he began to suffer from shortness of breath, persistent coughing, and fatigue. In April 2021, Guerra consulted his primary care doctor, who gave him devastating news: he was diagnosed with post-COVID pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic condition that causes gradual scarring of the lungs.

“After my diagnosis, I started treatments to help stop the progression of the disease. But it just reached a point where my lungs weren’t able to function anymore because my oxygen levels were so low,” Guerra said. “My doctor told me that transplant was the only option I had left.”

He was referred to the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), an affiliation between Jackson Health System and UHealth – University of Miami Health System, where he met his new team of pulmonologists and lung experts at The Lung Center at Jackson and MTI.

“When we first saw Orlando, he was suffering from end-stage lung disease and was depending on a lot of oxygen. He was also overweight, so we worked with him to help him lose the weight so he could be eligible for transplantation,” said Juan Salgado, MD, fellowship director for transplant pulmonology at The Lung Center at Jackson and MTI.

“His odds at surviving the next six months were very slim.”

Guerra’s post-COVID fibrosis continued to deteriorate. However, with the help of therapy at Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial and the multi-disciplinary care at The Lung Center, he lost the weight and became eligible for transplantation.

After just one week of being listed for a transplant, he received the call he longed for: a match was found.

“My world turned upside down – I felt terror and happiness at the same time,” Guerra said. “I called my wife, who was at work, and I talked to my kids before leaving – I was full of enthusiasm because when that moment came, I knew I would keep living and would be able to spend more time with my family, which is the most important thing for me.”

On November 4, 2022, the team at The Lung Center successfully performed Guerra’s double-lung transplant.

After the procedure, he spent three months in the hospital recovering, while undergoing more rehabilitation therapy to help him with daily activities.

By March 4, 2022, Guerra was healthy and ready to go home.

“Orlando has made remarkable progress and no longer requires supplemental oxygen or therapy; he’s living a normal life,” Dr. Salgado said. “Our daily work is a collaborative effort involving a large, multi-disciplinary team that helps us navigate the challenges of our complex cases, allowing us to restore quality of life for our patients.”

Today, Guerra is embracing life as he once knew it. He’s also collaborating with local producers on a documentary to share his transplant journey, hoping to inspire others to remain strong in their battle against end-stage lung disease while advocating for organ transplantation.

“I’m so grateful for God, for the doctors at MTI, and for the donor family – I’m alive today because of them,” Guerra said. “One of the most important things in life is breathing – if you can’t breathe, you can’t live. I thank God every day for this second chance.”

By: Krysten Brenlla

For nearly 20 years, Roma Baczyk worked as the environmental health and safety coordinator at Jackson North Medical Center.

The 65-year-old kept a relatively healthy lifestyle until one day when a case of sinusitis led to paralysis.

“The weekend of March 8, 2024, I went to the urgent care where they prescribed me some antibiotics and a nose spray for sinusitis. The weekend after, I woke up with my fingers numb,” Baczyk said. “I called my sister and told her she had to take me to the hospital, because I knew something was not right.”

By the time her sister arrived, both of Baczyk’s hands were numb, including her wrists. Her toes also began to tingle, and her speech was impaired.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where the emergency team ran several tests to rule out a stroke. As time passed, her body continued to deteriorate.

“By that night in the hospital, I lost everything – from the neck down, I couldn’t move,” Baczyk said. “I was still able to breathe, but two days later, I was intubated.”

Her medical team discovered that Baczyk was suffering from a rare autoimmune disease called Guillain-Barré syndrome, which occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the nervous system. It often starts with weakness and tingling in the upper or lower extremities, which can spread to other parts of the body.

“I was in the intensive care unit, where I was intubated for eight days before they were able to transfer me for rehabilitation therapy at Jackson North,” Baczyk said. “I couldn’t move my legs or arms or speak at all – I was essentially paralyzed.”

When her therapists and co-workers at Jackson North first assessed her, they were shocked.

“I was surprised to see a woman that I constantly saw moving through the hospital halls, a colleague who was always so full of life, with no functional movement,” said Baltany Michel, an occupational therapist at Jackson North. “She had zero movement in her upper extremities, and showed slight muscle contractions in her lower extremities.”

When Baczyk first started her occupational and physical therapy sessions, she couldn’t hold her head up or sit upright.

“To even communicate with us and her nurses, she had to use a sip-and-puff device, which allowed her to blow into a tube to signal for help since her hands couldn’t function to press the call bell,” Michel said.

However, as time progressed, Baczyk slowly improved with targeted exercises in physical, occupational, speech, and recreational therapy to help with her function and mobility.

Her team also focused on neurological exercises to retrain the brain to send signals to her muscles, helping her regain voluntary control over her body, which had the most significant impact on her recovery.

After more than 100 days of hard work, Baczyk went from being entirely dependent to walking and climbing stairs on her own.

“My biggest goal was to be able to walk out of there,” she said. “Everyone at Jackson North was so creative, and with their help, I was able to reach major milestones.”

Today, Baczyk is back home and has regained much of her function in both her lower and upper extremities.

“I’m walking now and am able to move around by myself – although not gracefully – thanks to them,” she said.

Baczyk continues to work with her therapists at Jackson North to improve her fine motor skills and things like brushing her own teeth, combing her hair, pulling her clothes up, and feeding herself.

“Roma’s story serves as a powerful example of determination, teamwork, and the potential of intense therapy,” Michel said. “Her resilience inspired not only her, but all of us at Jackson North.”

“I can’t rave enough about the Jackson North rehabilitation team,” Baczyk said. “They are passionate, compassionate, creative, and care for each and every patient. They were a godsend.”

By: Miranda Torres

Kevin Valdez, 15, was riding ATVs with his friends on July 9, 2023 when his life changed forever. Despite being warned not to ride the four-wheeler and to avoid driving on main roads, Kevin drove off without informing his loved ones. In the middle of the ride, he was caught off guard by an object ahead of him, and slammed his breaks to avoid running it over. The force from the abrupt stop launched him 50 feet. His Life360 app alerted his mom of a crash, which is how he was found.

“All of Kevin’s friends were older than him and had their licenses, but he was only 14 and had never driven on the streets with cars before, which is why I didn’t want him riding the ATV that day,” said Ileana Matos, Kevin’s mom. “It all happened so fast, I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening.”

Kevin was rushed to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson South, but was then airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial due to the severity of his injuries, which included a traumatic brain injury (TBI), brain swelling, and a broken femur.

“I remember being in such shock that I raced to Ryder Trauma to meet the helicopter. We got there so fast that I watched the helicopter land knowing my son was inside,” Matos said. “That was the last time I was behind the wheel of a car since.”

Because of the TBI, Kevin was in a coma for more than a month and temporarily paralyzed on his left side. Heather McCrea, MD, PhD, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Holtz Children’s Hospital, and a UHealth – University of Miami Health System pediatric neurosurgeon, and the pediatric neurosurgery team placed a pressure monitor to optimize medical management and reduce his intracranial pressure, which would be key to preventing further brain injury.

Kevin’s brain pressure wasn’t stable enough to undergo the orthopedic surgery needed to correct his broken femur until three weeks post-accident. Brian Black, MD, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Holtz Children’s, was able to operate on the fracture via a small incision in the hip. After having his broken femur corrected, Kevin was able to bear weight on his leg again, which allowed him to start inpatient rehabilitation care.

After being discharged from Holtz Children’s in September 2023, he was admitted to an inpatient facility in Jacksonville, FL that catered to pediatric rehabilitation patients with more serious cognitive deficits. While there, Matos was dedicated to getting Kevin to “emerge” – a term used in the rehabilitation field that signifies a person has regained their ability to interact, be alert, and be aware of their surroundings by responding and voluntarily participating in therapies. A month later, Kevin regained consciousness and qualified for acute inpatient rehab therapy at Holtz Children’s.

He began his stay in November 2023, undergoing physical, occupational, and speech therapies six days a week under the guidance of Joslyn Gober, DO, medical director of pediatric rehabilitation medicine at Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial.

When he started his inpatient stay, Kevin was immobile, unable to speak or communicate, and required maximum assistance to perform everyday tasks. Thanks to his family’s support and work with Lynn Rehabilitation Center’s Kyle Zreibe, pediatric physical therapist, Kiara Cespedes, pediatric occupational therapist, and Brenda Coba, pediatric speech therapist, Kevin has improved significantly. He has regained use of his left side and voluntarily does activities with his left hand, can communicate with technologies like tablets and keyboards, and went from exclusively eating via a GI tube to following a mechanical soft diet and feeding himself.

“Ileana is a great advocate for her child. She is top notch when it comes to advocating and asking the right questions,” said Zreibe and Cespedes. “She really pushed to get him whatever he needed, and she definitely deserves a lot of the credit for his improvement.”
Kevin was discharged from Holtz Children’s in December 2023, and has continued to receive outpatient therapy with his team at Lynn Rehabilitation Center.

“I owe my son’s life to the team at Jackson,” Matos said. “I will never tire of thanking them for being so insistent with his care and saving his life. I have no words to thank the therapists at Lynn Rehabilitation Center and care teams at Holtz Children’s for everything they’ve done.”

By: Miranda Torres

By the time Sheli Cataleya Gutierrez blew out the candles on her second birthday cake, she had already faced a grim diagnosis, survived two cardiac arrests, and found herself on the list for a heart transplant. The toddler’s family knew there was only place where their daughter would have a fighting chance: Holtz Children’s Hospital.Sheli was 1 when she arrived at Holtz Children’s emergency room, where she presented with acute respiratory symptoms. During the visit, the pediatric cardiac team performed an echocardiogram, which showed a severely dilated left atrium – a lack of function in one of the four chambers of the heart. In order to figure out the severity of Sheli’s condition, the family was referred to Holtz Children’s outpatient cardiac clinic.

A month later, in January of 2023, Paolo Rusconi, MD, director of pediatric heart failure and transplant at the Miami Transplant Institute, and director of the Holtz Children’s pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, performed another echocardiogram, which led him to diagnose Sheli with restrictive cardiomyopathy – a rare condition that causes the chambers of the heart to stiffen, become enlarged, and fail to relax properly, affecting its overall functionality.

During an evaluation on her second birthday, Sheli’s heart suddenly stopped beating.

“It was heartbreaking, but she was so strong,” said Sheli Galvin, her mother. “We were so scared we were going to lose her, but she overcame.”

With no medication currently in existence to treat the condition long-term, and the potential for liver and kidney failure, Sheli’s diagnosis meant a heart transplant was inevitable. Following her cardiac arrest, the pediatric cardiac care team followed her on an outpatient basis while she waited for a transplant. In January, she came down with rhinovirus and pneumonia, landing her back in the hospital. While admitted, Sheli underwent a second cardiac arrest. It took her care team more than an hour to resuscitate her, and resulted in Sheli being moved up on the heart transplant list.

Once she was resuscitated, Sheli was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenator, or ECMO, which takes over the function of the heart and lungs when the organs can no longer support themselves. Rather than using standard ECMO cannulas, the team used Berlin Heart cannulas, allowing Sheli to remain mobile and alert.

For the first time in Holtz Children’s history, a pediatric patient on ECMO was able to be awake, active, and mouth-fed rather than sedated. This revolutionary technique also made Sheli a better candidate for a heart transplant since she was able to receive physical and occupational therapies, and was given less opioids and sedatives.

Her ECMO team was led by Desiree Machado, MD, director of the ECMO program at Holtz Children’s, Jennifer C. Munoz Pareja, MD, interim section chief for Holtz Children’s pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, as well as the perfusionists team.

After 40 days on ECMO, Sheli’s parents received the call that a heart donor had been found.

“We felt overwhelmed with joy and gratefulness to God for giving our daughter a second chance at life,” Galvin said.

Led by Sandeep Sainathan, MD, a UHealth Jackson Children’s Care pediatric cardiothoracic and congenital cardiac surgeon at Holtz Children’s, and Leonardo Mulinari, MD, Holtz Children’s chief of pediatric cardiac surgery, Sheli underwent her transplant, with the donor heart working immediately.

“She had all of the signs to not have a good outcome, but despite all that, she overcame,” Dr. Sainathan said. “We did a very unique ventricular assist device by using the Berlin Heart cannulas with ECMO, which is one of the reasons she was able to have high quality support, recover well, and get the transplant.”

Now, Sheli has recovered quickly and rang in her third birthday with a new lease on life.

“This little girl is meant for something very big because she’s a little warrior,” said Maylene Gonzalez, surgery coordinator for pediatric cardiac transplant at Holtz Children’s. “The fact that she tolerated ECMO for such a long time and has no lingering major effects to her health is incredible.”

Tamera Johnson, 49, knows what it means to fight hard. As a former radiology and mammogram technician at the Roberta Orlen Chaplin Digital Breast Imaging Center/Taylor Breast Health Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, she saw breast cancer patients and survivors every day.

“I saw everything – from women who came and passed away, to women who came back and were cancer-free,” Johnson said. “I never imagined I would become a patient, too.”

In December 2010, Johnson felt a knot in her left breast when she reached over for the television remote control at home.

“I remember that I sat up immediately in my bed and felt it,” Johnson said. “I always found it strange when patients reported knots showed up ‘out of nowhere’ – until it happened to me the same exact way.”

On December 23, 2010, a biopsy revealed that Johnson had breast cancer.

She was only 36 at the time.

For the next 10 years, she did everything she could to fight the disease, including a double mastectomy, a total hysterectomy, removal of her ovaries, and removal of her lymph nodes underneath her left arm. Additionally, she underwent chemotherapy and radiation for a year after her surgeries.

“I just knew that I wanted to fight because I didn’t want to die,” Johnson said. “The chemotherapy felt like someone was pulling every piece of energy out of your body. If I wanted to live, I had to fight with all that I had. It was a strength I never would have imagined I had.”

In January 2012, Johnson finished chemo and radiation therapies, and was cancer-free. She then underwent breast reconstruction surgery, which involved a lengthy waiting period due to skin damage from radiation therapy.

That same year, Johnson’s doctor suspected she also had thyroid cancer. Rather than take chances, she followed her oncologist’s recommendation and had a total thyroidectomy.

In 2022, after years of taking chemotherapy medication and remaining in remission, Johnson’s oncologist informed her that she was cured and again cancer-free.

“Although you never feel like yourself again, I feel blessed that I’m still here,” Johnson said.

For her entire cancer battle, she also suffered from lymphedema, a condition where fluid builds up in the body, usually in the arms or legs, causing swelling.

Over the years, Johnson received lymphedema therapy and did at-home exercises. However, the swelling became more uncomfortable, and in 2024, she was referred to Jackson North Medical Center for treatment, where she met Erica Poulin, an occupational therapist and certified lymphedema specialist.

“When Tamera came to me, her left arm was weak and felt heavy for her, making it hard for her to carry groceries and put on clothes. She was also feeling self-conscious with the way it looked,” Poulin said. “The swelling was impacting her quality of life and affecting her ability to fully participate in her roles.”

For a month, Johnson and Poulin worked on specific grip-strength exercises, and developed plans to help significantly reduce the swelling, including bandaging the arm, massages, compressions, and exercise.

“When it comes to lymphedema, we empower our patients to become independent with managing it at home. We practice exercises, compression, and massage until the swelling is reduced to fit the patient for a sleeve and maintain our results,” Poulin said. “It’s so important to know and understand what lymphedema is and how to treat it, because you’d be surprised how many patients come to us after major surgeries and have never heard of it before.”

Following lymphedema therapy at Jackson North, Johnson saw improvements in her arm’s range of motion, strength, and size. She regained the ability to wrap her arm independently, wear lymphedema sleeves comfortably, dress herself, and feel confident again.

“Tamera did so wonderful, and she was really excited about the improvements she saw – she was feeling a lot better,” Poulin said.

Today, Johnson remains cancer-free, thanks to annual visits with both her oncologist and lymphedema specialist. She focuses on managing her lymphedema and swelling, advocating for more breast cancer education in the African-American community, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise.

“After so many years of battling cancer, my advice to any cancer patient is to fight – fight with all you have,” Johnson said. “Don’t give up – stay strong, and surround yourself with family and friends – don’t worry about anything else, because you will get through it.”

By: Miranda Torres

Paul Flanigan, 67, experienced a life-altering event when the plane he was piloting crashed on a golf course in Key Largo on March 1, 2024. He was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson South, which was just the beginning of his journey with Jackson Health System.

Flanigan, a well-respected local entrepreneur, has long been intertwined with the community, including a successful decade-long partnership with Flanigan’s Enterprises Inc., where he managed several of the beloved Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill franchises. Later, he purchased Quarterdeck from Flanigan’s Enterprises, and established multiple locations across Florida.

Flanigan arrived at Ryder Trauma with severe fractures to his hip and knee area. He was cared for by Joyce Kaufman, MD, a critical care surgeon, and Marilyn Heng, MD, an orthopedic trauma surgeon. Dr. Heng operated on his hip. Two days later, Flanigan underwent surgery to address the fracture around his knee.

The plane crash came just four years after a bicycle accident caused Flanigan to break part of his pelvis, which triggered severe arthritis. The injuries he sustained during the plane crash caused his arthritis to accelerate, leaving him with discomfort and a limited range of motion. Flanigan eventually had a total hip replacement with Dr. Heng.

“Every step of the way during my time at Jackson, it seemed like there was help there instantaneously,” he said. “My previous crash meant I sort of knew what to expect, but I was grateful for how knowledgeable and friendly they were, especially since I didn’t know how long I would be there. I was blessed.”

Since his hip replacement, Flanigan has been receiving physical therapy to help him regain his total range of motion. He was non-weight bearing for the first 10 weeks of his rehabilitation, but is now getting back to the activities he loves most, like playing pickleball, chasing after his grandchildren, and dancing with his wife, Michelle.

“For his age, he’s fantastically active and very kind in terms of always being polite and good natured. His love of activity and function is of a much younger person,” Dr. Heng said.

While Flanigan’s recovery is well underway, another challenge awaits: a knee replacement surgery with Victor Hernandez, MD, an orthopedic surgeon with UHealth – University of Miami Health System. Flanigan remains optimistic and is eager to regain full mobility so he can focus on what matters most to him—his family.

“I could never thank the team at Jackson enough,” Flanigan said. “If I could, I’d share the blessings I receive at the conclusion of every mass: ‘May the almighty God bless you and keep you safe to love and serve others.’”

By: Krysten Brenlla

Kevin Stalbaum, 63, and his wife, Amy Stalbaum, 53, live for adventure. After Kevin worked for the U.S. Air Force and Arizona’s Power and Water Company for years, the couple decided a quiet retirement awaited them in the Caribbean island of St. Croix.

“The scuba diving in St. Croix is amazing. We’re renovating our hurricane-damaged dream house on the island ourselves, and there is a great cycling community there,” Amy said. “Cycling is one of our favorite things to do together.”

They never thought the activity they loved the most would almost cost them their lives.

On September 17, the Stalbaums began their bike ride at 6:45 a.m. Less than 10 minutes into their ride, a car crashed into both of them from behind.

“We’re both experienced cyclists, and we do everything we can to be as visible and as safe as possible,” Amy said. “Despite our precautions, we were hit, and we don’t know why. The driver and the car are still missing.”

The impact from the crash left both Amy and Kevin unconscious on the road. Emergency medical services arrived to the scene and rushed the couple to the nearest emergency room on the island, where doctors diagnosed Kevin with leg, cervical, and lumbar fractures, and Amy with severe road rash, a brain bleed, and a spinal fracture.

“At one point, I remember being on a gurney, with Amy on her gurney next to me,” Kevin said. “I remember asking, ‘what’s going on?’ And that’s the last thing I remember before waking up in Miami.”

Because of the severity of their injuries, Amy and Kevin needed to be medically evacuated to the nearest trauma center, and by Monday, September 18, the Stalbaums arrived to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial by helicopter, where they were prepped for emergency surgery.

“The first thing we had to do with Kevin was make sure he was stabilized from a cardio pulmonary standpoint,” said Stephen Shelby Burks, Jr., MD, a UHealth – University of Miami Health System neurosurgeon and spinal cord surgeon at Jackson. “He needed a collar due to his cervical fracture, and a custom lumbar brace. For Kevin’s lumbar surgery, we used a CT-based navigation surgical system, which enabled us to direct the screws in the exact position needed. With this procedure, we hope to mitigate Kevin’s pain, and avoid any deformities in his spine from forming in the future.”

At the same time, Amy was also undergoing spinal surgery.

“The ligaments of Amy’s spine were ripped apart,” said Evan J. Trapana, MD, a UHealth orthopedic spine surgeon at Jackson. “Amy is very young and active, which is why we went the route we did by placing rods and screws in her spine to stiffen the spine’s structure, giving her a stable construct for her body to weigh on. In six months, when everything is healed up, we’ll remove the rods and screws to preserve most of her motion and lower the risk of her needing future spinal surgery.”

Amy’s surgical team used robot-assisted surgery to place the screws and rods in her spine; Jackson Memorial is one of a few hospitals in the nation with the robot technology available for use in spinal surgery.

“It really helps us, as surgeons, safely implement screws with pinpoint accuracy,” Dr. Trapana said. “It also shaves time in the operation, and provides a better recovery rate for patients.”

After spending nearly three weeks in the hospital, the Stalbaums were discharged on October 10. They received rehabilitation therapy at Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial, and created comprehensive plans with therapists to help with their mobility, balance, endurance, and strength.

With the help of physical, occupational, and cognitive therapies, the couple look forward to making a full recovery, so they can return to St. Croix.

They’re grateful to the teams at Ryder Trauma and Jackson Memorial for not only saving their lives, but giving them the chance to keep their adventures going for years to come.

“We count our blessings that we landed here,” Amy said. “Jackson’s staff and our community back home in St. Croix really helped us get through this.”