You could say it was mothers' intuition. At 23 weeks pregnant, Julia Morris just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
For days she had been experiencing a strange pain in her foot, and as she turned in for bed on New Years’ Day 2025, she started to experience a sudden, severe tightness in her chest.
Her husband, Brandon, called an ambulance right away and she was rushed from their Inverary, Ontario home to the emergency department at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC).
It was clear to the emergency staff that Julia was having a heart attack. After the team got her heart beating normally again, diagnostic imaging revealed something devastating – a nine-centimetre mass in her heart.
Small pieces of the tumour were breaking off into Julia’s bloodstream and being carried around her body, causing nerve damage to her feet and even travelling to her brain. With imminent risk to both her and the baby, she was told she needed open heart surgery.
“I tried telling myself ‘This can’t be right. I’m young. I don’t have any heart issues,’” recalls Julia. “But I knew the reality, and I was terrified.”
Featured
A rare threat
A cardiac myxoma is an extremely rare heart tumour occuring in .03% of the population. They are non-cancerous, but still life-threatening. The chances of developing one during pregnancy is less than one in a million.
Featured
Bypassing for two
During open heart surgery, patients undergo cardiac bypass which means a machine replaces the work of the heart and the lungs, allowing surgeons to operate while keeping blood circulating throughout the patient’s body. In this case, the team also had to make sure Julia’s baby was getting enough blood.
Featured
Navigating the unknown
The rate of miscarriage or fetal loss after cardiac bypass in first trimester pregnancies is between 30-40%. There was very little data about the risk for a patient like Julia, who was in her second trimester of pregnancy.
Since waiting until after the baby was born was not an option, the Morris’ faced one of the hardest decisions of their lives: terminate the pregnancy before cardiac surgery or have the surgery and hope for the baby’s survival.
“We thought this could be the last chance to grow our family,” Julia shares, reflecting on those early, impossible conversations. “We knew it was a really big risk, but I didn't want to give up before giving it a chance.”
Cardiac surgery during pregnancy is exceptionally rare, particularly for patients in their second trimester. From the moment they heard about her case, Julia’s care team jumped into action, scouring research papers and connecting with peers across the province, collecting as much information as possible ahead of this high-risk operation.
Their dedication, compassion and determination meant the world to Julia. It’s part of the reason why she felt so strongly about one thing – staying in Kingston for the procedure.
“I didn’t want to be away from my family and my support system. It was important to me to have the surgery close to home, and I trusted that the surgical team could do it.”
Close to heart, close to home.
We are proud to offer the highest level of care in the region, meaning that families in our communities don't need to travel to Toronto or Ottawa for advanced medical procedures.
On the day of the surgery, everyone came together in the operating room with one clear mission: to save Julia and her baby’s life.
For the cardiac team, it was the first time working while also hearing a fetal heart rate; for high-risk obstetrician Dr. Jonathan Ausman, it was also the first time scrubbing in for an open-heart surgery.
“I was immediately intimidated at the thought of going to this space, but the amount of expertise in that room, from the surgeons to the perfusionists to the anesthetist, was so impressive,” says Dr. Ausman, recalling the day of the surgery.
Together, while closely monitoring both patients, the teams expertly extracted the tumour from Julia’s heart. Follow-up MRI imaging confirmed Julia’s surgery was a success and her baby was alive and healthy. After nearly a month in the cardiac sciences unit, Julia returned home to prepare for her next chapter: becoming a mother of two.
Featured
“Cardiac surgery is a huge team sport. It's not one person, it's everybody. This group worked really well together and trusted each other - that doesn't happen everywhere.”
Dr. Holly Mewhort, cardiac surgeon
Featured
“I was really overwhelmed with just how incredible what we were doing was. Saving this woman’s life, and keeping her baby alive – it was a beautiful experience.
Dr Jonathan Ausman, high-risk obstetrician
Featured
"It's a very rare collaboration. Our preparation only made us more confident and everyone in the room that day brought their A-game.”
Dr. Emma Renard, anesthesiologist
Featured
"Knowing there were two lives at stake for this procedure intensified the need for everyone to be on the same page.”
Zach Lister, perfusionist
Featured
“I got into nursing to make a difference in peoples lives, but as an operating room nurse I don’t always hear about how our patients make out after their surgeries. It was really special to find out that she not only was doing well, but had a healthy baby
Danielle Layne, scrub nurse
Featured
“They didn’t just save me; they saved our unborn baby. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for each one of them.”
Julia Morris, patient
Early on a Tuesday morning in April, Julia and Dr. Ausman were reunited in the operating room once again, only this time to welcome her second child into the world. Finally, after a tumultuous pregnancy, the Morris’ dream of growing their family came true when Julia delivered a healthy baby boy named Johnny.
To say this was a whirlwind experience would be an understatement. Julia admits navigating all the unknowns was scary but trusted the village of expert care providers who were with her every step of the way.
“They didn’t just save me; they saved our unborn baby. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for each one of them.”
Now, with the support of a different village, Julia is embracing being a parent of two and is a testament to the unshakable strength of motherhood.
“I’ve learned a valuable lesson about who I am as a person, and that is I’m not one to take the easy road out of things,” Julia smiles, while feeding Johnny. “I hope that my sons will someday understand those lessons, that it will help them thrive and get through tough situations in life.”
This is the place where donations save lives.
Your support can save more people like Julia and Johnny. Donations are used to equip our staff with top-of-the-line equipment, modernize care spaces, and fund innovative research.
Click here to learn more about how you can make an impact on more families in our region.
Click here to learn more about how you can make an impact on more families in our region.
