Eight-Year-Old Girl From Trinidad Receives Second Life-Saving Heart Surgery at Schneider Children's Hospital
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Bureaucratic delays at her local hospital nearly cost girl her life until her mother contacted local newspaper to get necessary reports Chantal Waldron, a eight-year-old from Trinidad who was born with a heart defect, can look forward to a long, healthy life—thanks largely to doctors at Schneider Children’s Hospital (SCH) and the determination and grit of her devoted mother, Marcelle Baptiste, a single mother of three. At a news conference held today at SCH, Marcelle and Chantal thanked surgeon Vincent Parnell, MD and other caregivers and supporters who gave Chantal a second chance at a healthy life, including Anthony Messineo, chairman of the Rotary Club’s Gift of Life Inc., which arranged to bring Chantal to the United States, and Robert Weitzner, president of the Ronald McDonald House, where the family has been staying.
Dr. Parnell, the hospital’s surgeon-in-chief and chief of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, explained that Chantal was born with tricuspid atresia, a congenital cardiac abnormality in which the tricuspid valve is absent. (The tricuspid valve carries the “blue,” de-oxygenated blood in a normal heart to the right lower pumping chamber. From there, in a normal heart, this blood is pumped to the lungs and then to the left side of the heart). In patients like Chantal, Dr. Parnell said, the entire right side of the heart is smaller than normal.
Chantal first came to SCH as a patient in 2005 from her homeland. Dr. Parnell’s surgical approach to her condition involved bypassing the “blue” blood that normally goes to the right side of the heart, which is essentially absent in these patients, and sending the blood directly to the lungs, without a pumping chamber. This is typically done in two stages: “The first stage was accomplished in 2005 in an operation known as a bidirectional Glenn procedure, where the oxygen-poor blood from the upper half of the body is directly diverted to the lungs,” Dr. Parnell explained. “In the second half of the procedure, the blood from the lower half of the body, also oxygen poor, is directly diverted to the lungs. This is called a ‘Fontan’ procedure, which we were able to complete on Chantal on June 18.” In 2005, Marcelle was told her daughter would have to return to SCH to have this Fontan procedure done. However, Marcelle missed the deadline for returning to the US, because Chantal’s doctors in Trinidad did not prepare the necessary medical reports in a timely fashion. Doctors at SCH needed that information to make decisions about the upcoming second surgery. That’s when Marcelle sprang into action. After notifying the local news media in Trinidad about her daughter’s plight, she received Chantal’s medical reports from the local hospital. Then, thanks to the Rotary Club International’s Gift of Life Program and the Community Chest Heart Foundation, Marcelle was able to bring her daughter back to SCH for the final surgery. “Had Chantal been in our own care from birth, she would have had a first surgical procedure at around six months of age and the second surgical procedure at around three years of age,” Dr. Parnell said. Despite the delay, he added, Chantal is making excellent progress and the timing of her care should have no negative impact on her long-term health. Chantal and her mother are scheduled to return home to Trinidad in August. Given the power of the press leveraged by her mother, Chantal reported that she wants to become a journalist when she grows up. As for her mother, Marcelle thanked everyone who came to her aid during the last three difficult years, but maintained her belief that this unusual display of strength is what any mother would do for a beloved child. Media Contact: Michelle Pinto (516) 465-2649 (Cell) 917-327-3898 |
