MIRACLE MONDAYS – Hadleigh McCain

Mother’s intuition is what led Skylynn McCain to eventually take her child to St. John’s Children’s Hospital. “Hadleigh just kept crying and had a serious fever. We had taken Hadleigh to a walk-in clinic and a local ER,” Skylynn said. “Both places thought it was a virus and it would pass. Finally we took her to St. John’s. She had a temperature of 104.8.”

After 2 sonograms, one x-ray and a CT scan, doctors discovered what was happening….Hadleigh had a ruptured appendix. “Hadleigh had surgery the next morning,” said Skylynn. “Hadleigh has serious separation anxiety so she was given a drug to help. That morning I was so scared….I was holding my husband’s hand crying, hoping everything will be OK.”

Hadleigh’s surgery lasted 2 1/2 hours. “Surgery went wonderful!”

Fast-forward to a couple days later when Hadleigh was experiencing more challenges. “She wasn’t eating or drinking. They had to put a PICU line in. She also had to have a catheter and a JP drain. It came to the point where we went two steps forward and five steps back.”

Hadleigh was admitted to the PICU. “Her screaming when they put a PICU line in……it broke my heart.” 

Finally, Hadleigh began to feel better. Her JP drain came out…..then her NG tube….then her PICU line. “It was finally going home day!”

Today, Hadleigh is 2 1/2 years old. “She’s doing amazing! She loves strawberries, Paw Patrol and making animal sounds. We love the care we got at St. John’s. They were all about Hadleigh!

Do you have a miracle child that was treated as HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital? Facebook message us or email dave.newton@hshs.org and tell us your story! #miraclemondays