Heart surgery doesn't stop kid's Irish dancing

Maggie Tovar

Last spring, Maggie Tovar of Ballwin was busy with school, soccer and Irish dancing. But, she was forced to take time off to have her second open-heart surgery.

But, the first grader didn't stay idle long. In June, she earned two firsts, a second, a third and a fourth in an Irish dance competition in Louisville, Kentucky. And in July, she had two first, two seconds, a fourth and a fifth in the An Samhra Feis competition in St. Louis.

In the Kentucky meet, Maggie was competing in the beginner class. After the St. Louis event, she moved to advanced beginner.

She's now working on advancing to the novice class. Her mother said, "She expects to be in the championship class by January."

For the rest of the year, she's already entered in meets in St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago. The later meet is the Oireachtas Midwest Championship meet during the Thanksgiving weekend.

That's pretty good for a girl who had her first operation when she was nine months old to repair holes in her heart. The operation last spring was to clean out scar tissue and do further repair work.

About the latest operation, Maggie admits she was scared and "I was crying" before surgery.

After the surgery, the 6-year-old told her mother, Mary, she was having trouble breathing. After an examination, she was found to have one collapsed lung. But, the doctors got that re-inflated.

Maggie in her dance costume

After five days in the hospital, Maggie was released to do convalescing at home. But, she didn't spend much time in bed.

Doctors told Maggie that she could go home when she was able to be on her feet for five hours and also drank large quantities of water. She worked hard to get out of the hospital.

Her mother said, "The first thing she did when she got home was learn to ride her bike without training wheels and get roller shoes." The roller shoes are sneakers with mini-rollers in the heel so kids can mimic roller-blades by balancing on their heels.

Once she mastered her bicycle, she and her dad, David, started riding to the Shop and Save market to get groceries. The round-trip ride is about five miles.

She said, "I take some of the groceries in my basket and my dad takes some in his."

And within six weeks, Maggie was back at her Irish dancing lessons, getting ready for meets. She and her two sisters, Anna, 10, and Grace, 9, take lessons with Kathleen Graham of the Graham Academy of Irish Dance in Ballwin.

Maggie's twin brother, Joe, started Irish dancing lessons. But, Maggie said, "He quit after one week. He thought it was too girlish."

Anna, Grace and Maggie (l to r)

The Tovar girls take lessons six days a week as they prepare for competitions.

Grace has been taking lessons the longest. Anna and Maggie started a year and a half ago.

Maggie was able to get back into Irish dancing quicker because most of the activity involves her legs and feet. She had to wait a bit before getting back into soccer.

In her open-heart surgery, doctors have to split the breastbone to get at the heart. Then, after the repairs are made, the breastbone is held together at first with wires. That means the healing of the bones takes longer.

In soccer, the kids use all of their limbs, including their arms.

But, her friends are looking forward to getting Maggie back on the soccer field. In one game before her operation, she scored five goals. She plays on a team at her school, Holy Infant Catholic School in Ballwin.

Maggie said she's ready to get back to school. Her parents had her drop out of kindergarten before the operation. She didn't go back after the operation.

But, she qualified to enter first grade with her classmates. "I'm looking forward to having a good teacher," she said. Her other favorite activities, besides dancing and soccer, include swimming, softball and Brownie Scouts.

Her parents aren't sure they will let her play indoor soccer during the school year. Her mother said, "There's more bumping and contact in indoor soccer and Maggie's going to have to be careful about that for a long time."

Another of Maggie's favorites that's out for a while is wild rides at Six Flags, St. Louis.

But, she's gotten doctor clearance for just about everything else. Maybe she can get back to making some money with her dancing. Just a week before her operation, she earned $75 for giving a dancing demonstration.