Kayla's Story

One Houstonian's journey overcoming health challenges and a high-risk pregnancy

Kayla and her fiancé, Alexander, were looking forward to getting married. They had everything planned for their small ceremony with close friends and family. But in August 2020, the couple postponed their wedding during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without warning, Kayla became extremely sick.

After a previous bariatric surgery performed in Dallas, Kayla developed muscular neuropathy, a disease that affects the body’s motor nerves. She lost her ability to walk and could barely grasp things with her hands. Her mom and fiancé helped her with things like taking a bath, putting her clothes on and eating.

Despite her difficulties, Kayla focused on getting stronger. She was more determined than ever to walk down the aisle on her wedding day. In February 2021, she began receiving therapy at TIRR Memorial Hermann Outpatient Rehabilitation-Kirby Glen Center in Houston.

“My physical and occupational therapists were wonderful,” says Kayla. “They genuinely cared about me and wanted to see me walk and regain my independence. They encouraged me and were patient with me. When I first came to TIRR Memorial Hermann, I was in a wheelchair. I could barely lift my legs and I couldn’t move my arms or grip things. After receiving physical therapy and occupational therapy two to three times a week for six months, I made incredible progress with my mobility. I transferred from a wheelchair to a walker, and I was able to get into a regular car instead of a mobility van. TIRR Memorial Hermann gave me hope that I would walk again.”

A year after postponing their wedding, Kayla and Alexander tied the knot on August 28, 2021. And just as she had imagined, Kayla walked down the aisle with her father on her wedding day. “It was the best feeling in the world to do something I worked so hard to accomplish,” says Kayla. “I used a walker for support and my dad walked down beside me pushing a wheelchair just in case I got tired. It turns out I didn’t need a wheelchair. I was happy I could walk again. My wedding day was a happy day in my life.”

Then, four months after their wedding, the newlyweds were thrilled to find out they were expecting. Kayla recalls the day she got the surprising news. She and her husband found out at the same time.

“At first, I thought I had another urinary tract infection (UTI),” says Kayla. “I wasn’t feeling that great. My primary care provider (PCP) asked me if there was a possibility that I might be pregnant. I said that’s impossible because I am on antibiotics for my UTI. My PCP tested me again for UTI and a pregnancy test. A few minutes later, she told me my UTI test came back clear. I asked her, ‘Then why am I sick?’ She said, ‘Your pregnancy test came back positive.’ Immediately, my husband and I looked at each other. We were excited, happy and surprised. I cried when I found out that I was six weeks pregnant.”

Kayla began seeing Dr. Michal Bartal, an assistant professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. Dr. Bartal is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist with UT Physicians and is affiliated with The Women’s Center at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.

Kayla’s pregnancy was considered high-risk because she had several pre-existing medical conditions, including gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and lupus, an inflammatory autoimmune disorder. Since she had gastric sleeve surgery, that also elevated her risk.

“Studies show women who have undergone surgical weight-loss procedures like this are at a higher risk of developing complications during pregnancy, and their babies are more likely to be born prematurely,” says Dr. Bartal. “Considering these risk factors, Kayla had weekly appointments with me and the nurse practitioner to monitor her pregnancy more closely and to ensure her baby was growing and developing normally.”

“My pregnancy was a little chaotic,” says Kayla. “I was told standard screening for gestational diabetes is challenging in pregnant women after bariatric surgery. So I had to prick my finger every day to test my blood sugar for about two weeks. After testing my glucose I found out I had gestational diabetes. My doctor put me on insulin to control my blood sugar. My blood pressure also was fluctuating. I ended up going to the emergency room nearly 25 times during my pregnancy for immediate help with my blood pressure. Then, when I was 24 weeks along, I had my first lupus flare-up. Despite these pregnancy complications, I was relieved to know that my baby was doing well. Her ultrasounds were normal, and she was hitting her milestones.”

Most of Kayla’s emergency visits took place at the obstetric emergency room at The Women’s Center at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. The obstetric ER is equipped to support pregnant patients experiencing an obstetric emergency, including situations like Kayla was experiencing. It is also ready to help with other issues such as obstetric trauma; emergency deliveries; post-partum issues like hemorrhaging, eclampsia, seizure, uterine rupture; and other pregnancy-related situations.

When Kayla was 31 weeks pregnant, she experienced excruciating rib pain and her blood pressure kept rising again. She was rushed to the hospital. It turned out Kayla was showing signs of preeclampsia, a serious medical condition characterized by high blood pressure. If left untreated, preeclampsia can endanger the health of the mom and unborn baby.

Kayla was admitted to The Women’s Center at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. As a Level IV maternal facility, it provides comprehensive care for both mom and baby, including high-risk obstetrical and neonatal care within the same facility.

When Kayla woke up the next morning, her maternal-fetal medicine doctors told her that it would be best to deliver her daughter as soon as possible due to the severity of her preeclampsia.

After 20 hours in labor and a few pushes later, Kayla and Alexander welcomed their beautiful daughter, Elisabeth Rebecca, on April 10, 2022. She weighed 3 pounds and 14 ounces. Since she was born a few weeks premature, Elisabeth spent three weeks in the Level IV neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital.

“It was the most amazing experience in the world to finally lay eyes on my baby, hug her, and cradle her in my arms,” says Kayla. “My heart melted when I heard her cry for the first time. Once I knew everything was okay, I rested my head on the bed, and I told myself – you did it! My husband and I are so in love with her. She has stolen our hearts.”

Today, baby Elisabeth is doing well. She loves to eat and make funny faces, and she pretty much runs the household. During her regular checkups with her Children’s Memorial Hermann-affiliated pediatrician, Dr. Joyce Egbe, Elisabeth is hitting her milestones.

Kayla is settling into her new role as mom and counts her blessings every day. She can’t thank the TIRR Memorial Hermann therapy team enough for giving her the strength to push forward and her nurses and UTHealth Houston doctors affiliated with Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital for taking excellent care of her and her newborn baby through the ups and downs.

“They were so compassionate toward me,” says Kayla. “They made me feel comfortable and they were always there whenever I needed them, no matter what time of day. While everyone was encouraging, there was one particular nurse who was super encouraging. She told me, ‘Don’t let your walker stop you from taking care of your child and loving your child.’ Initially, I felt like I couldn’t change my baby’s diaper since I was still struggling a little with muscle weakness in my hands, but the nurse told me, ‘If you can move your hand, you can do it.’ She sat there and went through the motions with me, and I have video of me changing my baby’s diaper. I will forever be so thankful for her.”

While Kayla continues with physical therapy at TIRR Memorial Hermann, she has some encouraging words for other mothers who are facing physical challenges. “Your baby gives you that strength to fight and to never give up," she says. "As you learn how to do things all over again, you will forever be your baby’s superhero.”

Photo courtesy of Memorial Hermann

After lots of PT, Kayla was able to walk down the aisle at her wedding.

Learn more about the Women’s Center at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital here.

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Animal health

Continued screwworm threat slows down pet adoptions in Texas

Photo by Mia X/ Pexels

All animals deserve a happy home.

Adoptions are on hold for thousands of dogs and cats in Texas, potentially putting the animals at risk of being euthanized, because of efforts to stop the spread of the New World screwworm, an insect that has crossed the border from Mexico into the United States for the first time in 60 years.

The flesh-eating parasite threatens the nation's $113 billion beef industry, prompting federal officials to close the border to cattle movements. Because the screwworm also can infect pets, most states have restricted the movement of animals from infested areas of Texas, leading to crowded conditions in state shelters that rely on adoptions to other regions of the country.

“It’s thrown a wrench into things, for small rescues as well as the bigger shelters,” said Mia Bendixsen, executive director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network, which promotes animal welfare laws.

The screwworm can lay eggs that hatch into flesh-eating larvae in the wounds or mucous of any mammal, and of the dozens of infections in southern Texas and southeastern New Mexico, several have been in dogs. Forty-four states have restricted the movements of pets from infested areas, creating a hardship for shelters from Texas that typically send thousands of animals to other states each year.

In Corpus Christi, the Gulf Coast Humane Society couldn't get rescued dogs into New York state for weeks, causing the shelter's animal population to climb from around 325 to nearly 450.

The shelter, which sends about 500 dogs a year outside Texas, created more space in outdoor exercise areas until New York again allowed dogs from Texas — if a veterinarian first certified that each one wasn't infected with the screwworm.

She added that if her shelter doesn't have space to take animals from municipal shelters, “then they have to euthanize more animals.”

Surplus of dogs and cats for adoption
Moving dogs and cats from Texas to other states, particularly in the Northeast or Great Lakes region, has become crucial to saving stray and abandoned animals.

In 2025, Texas had more unadopted dogs transferred out of its shelters than any other state — nearly 89,000, according to the American Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals. Texas also euthanized about 45,000 dogs — more dogs than any other state, according to the data.

And Texas led in the number of cats transferred out of its shelters — nearly 53,000 — and was second to California in those euthanized, with almost 29,000.

Texas has more stray dogs and cats than any state other than California — about 439,000 in 2025 — largely because of its high population and size. Warm weather also allows stray animals to survive longer and breed more, said veterinarians and animal welfare advocates. They added that Texas pet owners seem less willing to spay or neuter their dogs.

“There are people with working ranch and farm dogs, both male and female, who feel like the animal will lose some of its drive," said veterinarian Lori Teller, executive director of the Texas Veterinary Medical Association.

Both shelters and animals are stressed
In Houston, Humane Society shelter Director Aaron Grady said an inability to send animals out of state has left them more stressed.

“If an adopter comes through and they’re going from kennel to kennel and they see one dog who may be sitting calmly and contentedly in one kennel and then in the next kennel, there’s one dog who’s bouncing off of the walls and barking because of how stressed they are, first one may be looking more desirable,” Grady said.

The Houston shelter has worked to keep its animal population — mostly cats and dogs — at about 200 by tapping a network of foster homes for up to 300 more and by helping pet owners keep their animals even a little longer.

Tightened rules for importing animals
Restrictions on animal transports followed efforts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to keep the New World screwworm fly from crossing the border with Mexico.

Those efforts include construction of a $750 million fly factory in southern Texas that's set to open in April 2027 for breeding billions of sterile males. The U.S. had largely eradicated the fly by the early 1970s by breeding sterile males and releasing them from planes to mate with females, who laid eggs that wouldn't hatch.

Smaller facilities in Texas and southern Mexico have been dispersing sterile flies bred in Panama, and another is planned for Arizona.

Florida — where the screwworm fly can thrive — banned imports of rescued dogs and cats from Texas and New Mexico just a week after the first reported case in Texas this year. Other states required veterinarians to inspect animals and declare them free of the parasite. Many shortened the period that a certification was valid from the typical 30 days to as little as three days.

Shelters worried about space
State restrictions hit an animal welfare system that's long been short of the money and other resources, said Delcianna Winders, director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at the Vermont Law and Graduate School.

She said shelters need more money and space, but communities also should require animals to be spayed or neutered — and have programs to provide those services if people cannot afford them.

“If we could provide them just with some basic support, they might be able to keep those animals in their homes, and that’s one less animal in a shelter, one less animal being killed,” she said.

COVID-19 stressed the system, too, in part because pandemic restrictions put spaying and neutering on hold. Cost-of-living increases are another reason people turn animals over to shelters.

“A lot of them are just saying, ‘I just can’t, I just can’t do it anymore,’” said Brandon Krodle, animal control supervisor in Greenville, Texas, a fast-growing city northeast of Dallas.

A trip saved her dog's life
Mills, the Corpus Christi shelter director, has a dog who would have died in 2015 but for a nearly 1,000-mile trip from Paris, Texas, to Angola, Indiana, where Mills was working at the time. Zuri, a young female Shepherd-pit bull mix, was on a list of dogs set to be euthanized, and Mills' counterpart in Texas asked Mills to add Zuri to a transport.

Zuri's right ear doesn't fully straighten up, and the puppy had “the cutest face,” Mills said, but she was sold on Zuri because Zuri looked as if she “was actually thinking things through” as Mills spoke to her. Mills broke a personal rule against taking her shelter's animals home.

When Mills moved to Corpus Christi in 2020, Zuri returned to Texas.

“The shelter that I was at in Indiana, we transported from Texas and Southern states every week," Mills said.

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