It was a day that Gabriel and Michelle Morales had been eagerly anticipating. Their 4-month-old daughter, Chelsea, who had been born with a cleft lip and palate, was scheduled for surgery with Chip Miller, MD, and Janet Salomonson, MD, Director of the Cleft Palate Center, to correct her lip. “The night before, I had been shaking and in a lot of pain, but I was determined to keep Chelsea’s appointment,” Michelle recalled. But the next day, before she could get to the elevator that would take her up to the preoperative department, Morales fainted and found herself being wheeled rather than walking into the preoperative waiting room. Noticing that Morales was in severe abdominal pain, Jean Burgdorf, RN, immediately sent her down to the Emergency Department. Gabriel stayed with his daughter Chelsea while Dr. Miller began the first part of the baby’s surgery. As soon as Dr. Miller had finished his surgery on Chelsea, he went down to the Emergency Department to check on her mother.

A quick diagnosis by the emergency staff revealed that Morales, who had lost a lot of blood, had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, a condition that is one of the leading causes of maternal death. Called in to perform emergency surgery, fertility specialist Hal Danzer, MD, gave Morales two units of blood and was able to quickly remedy her condition with minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. Just as Morales was about to be given anesthesia, Dr. Salomonson let her know that Chelsea’s surgery had been successful. The baby came into recovery just 30 minutes before Morales did, and Ann Masson, RN, Coordinator of the Cleft Palate Center, arranged adjoining postoperative rooms. Wheeling Morales to her room, the transportation team paused by the baby’s room so Morales could see Chelsea’s new face. Mother and daughter were both discharged the next day.

“There were so many steps along the way, and each was done so perfectly,” said Dr. Salomonson. Morales agrees wholeheartedly. “People at Saint John’s really care about their patients.I appreciate everything they did to help Chelsea and me,” she said. “On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate Saint John’s a 10 plus.”