Vasco: Heart Working Overtime
Before Vasco Eagle III was born, pediatric cardiologists at Wolfson Children's Hospital and the University of Florida's Pediatric Cardiovascular Center, which is Wolfson's primary academic and research partner, were ready for him. A sonogram, when Vasco's mother Adrienne was three months pregnant, revealed a heart condition. The initial diagnosis, d-TGA and ventricular septal defect, meant that Vasco only had one main pumping chamber in his heart that was useful.
After his C-section birth at Baptist Medical Center on December 29, 2000, the Eagles remember the nurse transported their baby to NICU. "As soon as they clipped the umbilical cord, he literally ran with him like a football," they recall. Other diagnoses, after his birth, included pulmonary stenosis.
Little Vasco wasn't expected to survive.
Days after his birth, doctors told the Eagles that corrective surgeries would be done in three different stages. His first was at two months of age, the second was in July 2002, and the third was in November 2004. Pediatric cardiovascular surgeon Eric Ceithaml, MD, led the surgical teams.
The Eagles commend the medical professionals at Wolfson Children's Hospital and the loving care they gave Vasco. "We thank God for giving the doctors the knowledge, wisdom and talent that they have."
Today Vasco is a six-year-old first grader. He loves to play with his brother William and is always active. "He tries to go and go and go," says his mother. "I keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't over do and get too tired."
Vasco has an annual follow-up exam with Wolfson's pediatric cardiology department. "He is fine," says his mother. "You would never know that he has had three heart surgeries unless he holds up his shirt to show his scars!"
