WHEN MEDICINE IS A MYSTERY
Mina Longo is a soft-spoken 13-year-old who loves to read horror novels, listen to heavy metal music and is learning to play the
guitar. She sounds like many girls in middle school, worrying about things like making time
for friends and if she might finally get a new Google Pixel. You would never know it wasn’t always this way.
N
Mina’s complicated health journey began before birth, when physicians noticed her left kidney wasn't developing as expected. Then, to the surprise of her family and her doctors, Mina was born nearly 10 weeks premature. Weighing a mere 2 pounds, 12 ounces, she was so small that she fit in her mother’s hand. Unable to eat or breathe on her own, Mina was immediately transferred to Rady Children’s. At two days old, surgeons repaired a hole between her trachea and her esophagus, and then connected her esophagus to her stomach. Over the next 10 years, Mina’s life was filled with doctors’ appointments, surgeries, hospital stays and hundreds of opinions and diagnoses from various experts. Still, many of her health conditions remained a mystery and her symptoms have defied explanation. Mina’s mom, Shannon, remembers the wild ride.
“Her internal plumbing was all over the place,” says Shannon. “It was a complete game changer when she was born because all of my original plans were out the window. It was like, all right, let’s see what we must do for this little person. It was a mystery to figure out what was happening with her.” Since Mina had difficulty with respiratory and swallowing functions, physicians at Rady Children’s recommended she be the first patient in the pediatric Aerodigestive and Airway Surgery Program. She was 5 years old. With a multidisciplinary team of experts from otolaryngology (ENT), pulmonary and respiratory medicine, gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, speech-language pathology and occupational therapy, the program specializes in the evaluation, treatment and management of complex airway and esophageal disorders.
SUMMER 2023 HEALTHY KIDS MAGAZINE 21
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker