Little Lucy Holt underwent a big operation in Boston March 31 and she pulled through like a champ.

“She’s a tough girl,” said her mother, Laura Holt, of Oxford.

The 6-month-old had surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital to repair the holes in her tiny heart.

Originally, it was thought Lucy had four holes.

“When the surgeon got in there, he said he stopped counting at 15 holes,” said Laura, a nurse practitioner at Lakeside Medical Group in downtown Oxford. “They actually call it a Swiss cheese septum.”

The septum is the wall of muscle that separates the left and right sides of the heart. With the exception of one, Lucy’s holes were located in the portion of the septum that divides the lower chambers of the heart, the left and right ventricles. One of her holes was located in the septum separating the left and right atria, the upper chambers of the heart.

The holes in Lucy’s heart were caused by Mosaic Trisomy 18, a genetic disorder she was born with. There was an error in her cell division, so instead of her body’s cells each having the usual two copies of chromosome 18, many of them, not all, have three copies. This disorder results in a variety of potentially life-threatening health problems and developmental issues.

The surgery, performed by Dr. Christopher Baird, took five hours.

“It was the most emotionally-stressful time of my entire life,” said Laura, a 2002 Lake Orion High School graduate.

Fortunately, Lucy’s family was given hourly updates on her progress to help ease their minds.

“Everything went really well,” Laura said.

When the operation was over, little Lucy wasted no time recovering.

“They were astounded (by) how well she did,” Laura said. “We spent two days in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit), which was really short.”

She was discharged on Friday, April 7.

The change in Lucy as a result of the surgery is quite noticeable.

Prior to the procedure, Laura said, “She was always out of breath, sweating (and) her color was pale.”

“Now, she’s nice and pink, she’s not sweating anymore (and) her breathing is so much better,” she continued. “She’s just much more comfortable. You can tell.”

“She’s never been happier. I’ve never seen her smile so much,” Laura added.

Part of the reason Lucy did so well is because she chunked up for the surgery. When it comes to babies, more weight translates into better survival odds.

Back in early October, Lucy only weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces. By the time she was placed on the operating table, she was nearly 14 pounds.

“We got more compliments on her fat body than I’ve ever heard in my life,” Laura said. “They were very impressed with how much weight she had put on.”

It was breast milk that helped her gain that much-needed weight.

Laura cannot believe all the breast milk donations she received following a front-page article in the Feb. 15 edition of the Leader.

“I’d say we probably got over 1,000 ounces,” she said. “She was completely set for her surgery and probably now until she’s about a year old.”

Laura’s ability to produce breast milk has been hindered by the stress and depression brought on by dealing with Lucy’s frightening health issues. She took to Facebook seeking breast milk donations, then had a story about her situation published in the Leader.

The response to the story was huge.

“It was incredible. I had to sort through over 200 emails,” Laura said. “I still have people contacting me. I am so grateful. I think people are amazing.”

Breast milk isn’t the only thing the community’s giving to little Lucy.

On Saturday, April 8, Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Oxford Village hosted a fund-raiser to help with the family’s medical and travel expenses.

“They raised over $5,000,” Laura said. “The support for Lucy has just been unreal. I can’t even put into words how incredibly grateful and thankful we are.”

Laura is also indebted to the Boston hospital and its staff. She couldn’t say enough good things about them.

“It was the most remarkable Children’s Hospital I’ve ever set foot in,” she said. “We were so impressed.”

Everyone – the valet, the nursing staff and the doctors – was “so kind” and “so knowledgable,” according to Laura.

“The surgeon was so personable,” she noted. “He actually came down to find us in the cafeteria to tell us he was about ready to start her surgery. He was amazing.”

“We’ve actually made the decision that we’re going to go out to Boston once a year and see our cardiologist (Dr. Ryan Callahan) there because we were so impressed by him. We figure that will be our family vacation,” Laura added.