Baby born with heart condition was “world changer” for Cardiology nurse

Holly Tomlin, APRN, CPNP-PC, a Pediatric Cardiology Nurse Practitioner, has always been led by her deep faith and passion for caring for mothers whose unborn babies have complex heart conditions. As Fetal Heart Program Coordinator at Pediatric Heart Specialists, she met a baby who captured her own heart in a way that has changed her world and had a lasting impact on her career.

In 2015, Holly and her husband, Cory, were raising two small children when Holly was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. She recovered, but the cancer left her unable to have another child.

“That journey really opened up a new opportunity and opened our hearts to knowing that our family wasn't complete,” Holly says. “So we started talking about the possibility of adoption and what that may look like for our family.”

Around that time, a patient's child was diagnosed in utero with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The patient, who came to see Alan Sing, M.D., Medical Director of Pediatric Heart Specialists and Co-Director of Cardiology at Children’s Medical Center Plano, planned to give the child up for adoption. Holly recognized an opportunity to make life better for one child in her care by fostering to adopt him.

“It was a moment that I knew that he was supposed to be ours. That journey led us to that chance to be his parents,” Holly says.

Reid Tomlin was born in January 2017 and had surgery his first week of life. He has since had two more open heart surgeries and became a patient of The Heart Center at Children’s Health in 2019, when Pediatric Heart Specialists became the center’s main ambulatory and outreach branch.

Reid, now 8 years old, is an active, thriving boy who plays baseball, loves seafood and dreams of being a firefighter like his father.

“Every day when I pick him up from school, I ask him, ‘How was your day?’ and he tells me it was the best day ever,” Holly says. “He has the best outlook on life. He always tells people positive things about themselves, and he just loves interacting with other people.”

Leslie Lewis, DNP, APRN, CPNP-AC, a Cardiothoracic Surgery Nurse Practitioner at The Heart Center, has worked with Holly for more than 20 years and was present for each of Reid’s surgeries. She says Holly and Reid had a special bond from the beginning.

After his surgery at the hospital, “Holly would come back after hours and rock him and hold him,” Leslie says. “And then she got to where she would come on her lunch break and rock him and hold him.”

Leslie also noticed how adopting Reid changed Holly at work.

“She became a fabulous nurse practitioner, because now she had both sides, and she was able to relate more to the parents and what they were going through,” Leslie says.

Reid’s last surgery was in 2020. He sees Dr. Sing every six months for checkups, including visits in our Fontan program, a specialized multidisciplinary clinic for patients like Reid with a single ventricle heart. Reid has no surgeries planned in the near future.

“I love seeing Reid,” Dr. Sing says. “He always has a smile on his face. He's just a bundle of joy and always has a positive outlook on life.”

Reid’s personality and his journey have created special bonds among Holly, Leslie and Dr. Sing. Holly shares frequent updates and cute photos with the team, and they all enjoy seeing Reid thrive.

“He wouldn't be where he is today if it weren’t for Holly and her family and then being watched closely by Dr. Sing,” Leslie says. “But I'm the lucky one because I get to be a part of his life and watch him continue to grow and be successful.”

For Holly, she’s forever grateful for how adopting Reid has changed her personal life as well as her ability to relate more to the patients she cares for.

“Before, I'd always have told patients, I can't tell you what it's like to personally walk through it. But now I can,” she says. “There's so much more of an impact whenever you know someone has personally walked through it. I'm so thankful that I have that perspective for our patients and can counsel those parents in the most difficult days of their lives.”

Learn more

The Heart Center at Children's Health provides expert and compassionate care for babies and children with a wide range of heart conditions. Our care has also expanded to include health counseling and screening for anxiety, depression and stress for expecting mothers at the Dallas and Plano campuses. Learn more about The Heart Center at Children's Health.