HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Memorial Hospital’s labor and delivery wing isn’t unusual, but Leticia Maia’s pregnancy is. At 27, she lives with Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the connective tissues that hold organs in place.
An eye appointment as a teenager led to the diagnosis.
“I thought I had an eye infection that everybody has. We talked and I said, ‘I feel like my eye is jelly.’ And he said, ‘Oh! That is not very common.’”
That “jelly” feeling in her eyes turned out to be a common symptom of the syndrome that affects about 1 in 5,000 people worldwide.
Patients are often tall and lean, with long arms, legs, fingers, and toes. The syndrome can affect the body’s largest artery, the aorta.
The heart beating every second of our lives creates pressure and that pressure has to be accommodated by the aorta expanding and having elasticity to do that.
That’s why patients and their hearts have to be very closely monitored. Sometimes surgery is needed to repair the aorta.
Deciding to start a family is a big decision for any couple, but it’s even more nerve-wracking when the mom-to-be has this health condition. After all, her heart will be pumping for two.
Maia considers herself lucky. She and her husband own a catering company and she even has her pilot’s license. For her, becoming a mom, never seemed impossible.
New technology helps patients know if their heart is strong enough to pump for two through special imaging. Maia’s mother and sisters also live with the syndrome.
“I am a chef. I work standing up the whole day. I lift weights. I do everything. I live my life like normal,” Maia said.
She is looking forward to welcoming a baby in April. It’s a girl!
“I’m very excited to see her to know how she is, what she looks like, even if she has Marfan, I know she will live a normal life,” Maia said. “My whole family does.”
Take action
The Walk for Victory to benefit the Marfan Foundation is at noon, Sunday, at the T.Y. Park, at 3300 North Park Road, in Hollywood. Join the Team Top 10 team. For more information or to register, visit this page.