Maui girl survives Wallette and Milton Kawaiaea Jr. thought their 11-year-old daughter, Daphne, had the flu until a doctor gave them the bad news: She had an enlarged heart and probably less than six months to live.
on strength of heart
The 11-year-old has hope after
she gets a successful transplantBy Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.comThat was three weeks ago. Today, Daphne's future is a lot brighter following heart transplant surgery Wednesday in California.
The sixth-grader at Hana High & Elementary School remained confined in the intensive care unit at the Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto.
Her mother, Wallette, said that when Daphne came out of surgery and a tube was removed from her mouth, her first words were, "When can I eat?"
"She's very determined," said Barbara Bagio, Daphne's maternal grandmother, who was at her bedside yesterday.
She ate fruit and turkey for lunch yesterday, said Wallette, a secretary at the Hotel Hana-Maui.
Kawaiaea said her husband, Milton, who works as a truck driver and cowboy, and the physicians were surprised at Daphne's progress after surgery.
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Since her surgery, Daphne has watched the movie "Princess Diaries" on video and wants eventually to go to the place in Northern California where it was filmed, Wallette said.Until Daphne began complaining of stomach pains in January and experiencing dizzy spells, Wallette said, she was a normal, active girl, dancing hula with a halau, playing volleyball, and riding horses in rodeo competitions.
A couple of years ago, Daphne took first place in the "keiki competition" during a July Fourth rodeo.
After Maui physicians discovered her enlarged heart on Feb. 5, she was flown to Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children on Oahu.
Wallette said that on Valentine's Day her daughter's heart stopped, but luckily a team of heart specialists, including a visiting physician from the mainland, was in Daphne's room and performed emergency surgery that revived her.
She was later flown to California, where physicians told the family Daphne's heart was severely scarred and that she needed a transplant within six months.
Wallette said physicians believe Daphne's heart became enlarged because of a virus, but the family cannot remember any specific illness that might have caused that.
"The doctors said it could have happened a couple of months ago but not did surface until now," she said.
Wallette said the move to the mainland happened so quickly, her family did not have time to gather their clothes from Maui, and her two sons arrived on the mainland dressed in slippers, shorts and T-shirts.
They have been sleeping in chairs and sometimes in a couple of rooms for family members within the hospital.
The news of Daphne's illness stunned students and teachers, said Hana Principal Melanie Coates.
"We're really pulling for her," Coates said. "I know her as a wonderful, bright young girl, very smart, thoughtful."
There are community efforts to help the family financially. Individuals have donated about $2,000. The school, with an enrollment of a little less than 400 students, has raised $650 on and outside campus and will raise more through a food booth at a music festival in Hana on March 9.
A concert and rodeo for Daphne is scheduled on March 16 at Oskie Rice Arena in Olinda, starting at 8:30 a.m.
The Rev. Paul Zegers of St. Mary's Church in Hana said about 35 to 40 people, including non-Catholics, have been attending prayer services for Daphne each evening for the past two weeks. Bagio said relatives of Daphne have also been holding prayer vigils on the mainland.
If there are no complications once she is released from the hospital, Daphne is expected to live in an apartment near the medical center where physicians will monitor her recovery for three to six months.
Wallette said her daughter needs to take more than 20 pills daily for the rest of her life -- some of them to keep her body from rejecting her heart.
Wallette said the family feels fortunate for the support they have received from the community.
"It feels good. Everybody got closer and helped us out," Wallette said. "We really feel blessed."
Anyone interested in donating may call Roxanne Prito on Maui at 575-2836.