McKynna's Story - Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)

Getting on Flight For Life - McKynna CDH Survivor

I was born in August of 1996 with left sided CDH. It was not known prior to my birth that I had this, so everyone was very shocked and confused. After delivery I was sent down for a STAT chest X-ray after it was noticed that I had paradoxical chest rise & fall, but I was also not crying/breathing. The x-ray showed some of my organs up in my chest, which is where my pediatrician gave the official diagnoses. He called for me to get on Flight For Life immediately & called Children's to let him know I was coming.

EMT school at age 20 - McKynna CDH Survivor

The whole time this was happening, my mom was alone in the delivery room with a single nurse not knowing what was happening to me. As fate would have it, Dr. Kinsella was on call that night at Children's as the neonatal surgeon. He made me stable enough so they could wait until early in the morning to operate. My liver was one of the ONLY organs they didn't have to move down & I was fortunate enough that they were able to sew my diaphragm back together without a patch.

I remained in the NICU for 2 ish months while I recovered from the CDH repair where I managed to remove my own oxygen hood after my stubborn self realized I could finally breathe on my own. I was discharged & went home on oxygen, but the relief was short lived when I had a bowel obstruction at home in Nov 1996 and had to be rushed back in for another emergency surgery. I was then put in the NICU for an addition week to recover from yet another thing that tried to kill me.

Celebrating 23rd birthday - McKynna CDH survivor

I went to yearly follow-ups at Children's until I was approximately 8 years old. During these followups I did cognitive exercises to make sure my development was on track, I did pulmonology testing to make sure my lungs were holding a decent amount of oxygen still, & I did echocardiograms to screen for any cardiac abnormalities. I also had RSV several times among other respiratory illnesses.

I am now 23 years old & fairly healthy. I have asthma, scoliosis, a narrow esophagus which has caused 3 surgeries for food bolus obstructions, & PTSD, but am overall very healthy (which is a miracle). My hope is to be hope for families who question if their survivors will ever get to be where I'm at now. I hope to connect with other survivors who still question why this had to happen to us & ways we can navigate through the PTSD we experience.