A Christmas to remember
On Christmas Day 2010, the Aunos family didn’t spend time unwrapping presents or eating a golden brown turkey, they spent the day in the emergency room at The Montreal Children’s Hospital. Four-month old Thomas had a high fever. Although it was Christmas, his mother, Marjorie was convinced it would be a quick visit. She never expected to learn her baby needed open heart surgery,
“My first reaction was...total shock,” recounts Marjorie. She says the ER physician listening to Thomas’s heart and detecting a heart murmur. To confirm suspicions Thomas underwent a series of X-rays while his mother anxiously awaited results. “The ER doctor told me she bumped into the cardiologist on call in the hallway...on the 25th of December! It was incredible,” she says. The cardiologist saw Thomas and conducted an echocardiogram. He detected a ventricular septal defect (VSD), a hole in the infant’s heart. The recommended treatment was open-heart surgery.
Three days later, she called Devon Leguillette, clinical nurse specialist in the Cardiology Department. Devon was able to answer most of the three pages of questions Marjorie had put together she also recommended Marjorie speak to Thomas’s cardiologist, Dr. Luc Jutras. “It was somewhere between December 25th and New Year’s day,” says Marjorie, “and I have a cardiologist calling me at home and answering all of my questions. He spent 45 minutes on the phone with me. It was incredible.”
On February 8, Thomas had his operation. “A baby’s heart is the size of his fist,” says Marjorie, “my hat goes off to the whole team, especially to Dr. Christo Tchervenkov, who performed the operation. It is incredible what he can do.”
Today, Thomas is a smiling, happy 13-month-old. “I will always be grateful to the team who helped him. They were so kind and everyone took the time to listen to me and take extra care of him....they really did give me back my son.”
Our hats go off to the many MUHC clinical and support staff that will be working over the holiday period. We appreciate your hard work.A Christmas to remember The care we give counts over the holidays!