As we celebrate American Heart Month, one mom shares her son’s story and her family’s gratitude for both our cardiology and NICU teams.
“If you met Sonny today, you would never know how much he has been through,” shared Laura Tudor right after her son celebrated his first birthday. “He's crawling, pulling up to stand, and loves laughing at his big sister doing silly things.”
But when he was born, there were plenty of scary moments.
“He was in respiratory distress at birth and immediately admitted to the NICU, where they began piecing together everything about his condition,” remembered Laura.
He was diagnosed with a congenital hemangioma on his left arm and a coarctation of the aorta. A congenital hemangioma is a vascular tumor present at birth, and coarctation of the aorta is a narrowing of the main artery, which forces the heart to work harder.
“Thanks to a coordinated effort by the cardiology, vascular malformation, interventional radiology and NICU teams, it was determined that the two conditions were possibly linked,” Laura said, “and a treatment and surgical plan was put in place within a week.”
“It genuinely felt like they were caring for their own loved one.”
Over the first 26 days of his life, Sonny underwent two major surgeries and numerous procedures.
“Every VCU team member we interacted with was kind, caring and dedicated to providing the best possible care for Sonny,” explained Laura. “We’re so grateful for everyone we encountered.”
From the surgeons who operated on Sonny to the NICU nurses who were like family, and the clinical psychologist assigned to support them, Laura is still astounded that all those people can be found under the same roof.
“We are so grateful for the expertise of Dr. Samuel Casella and the coordinated effort on Sonny’s hemangioma procedure, and Dr. Brian Kogon and Hugh Cline on his coarctation repair,” said Laura. “They were all uniquely qualified for exactly what our son needed, and it will never cease to amaze us that those people all worked at the same hospital at the same time, and it happened to be this one.”
Providing care for the whole family
In addition to the surgeries, Laura recalled the care the NICU team provided for every member of her family.
The nurses, like Kelsey Wilke, there not only took great care of Sonny, they reassured the family during stressful times.
“Kelsey happened to be working during a couple of scary incidents, and we’ll forever be thankful for her calming confidence during those moments,” Laura recalled. “We will always remember as every alarm in the room was going off, Kelsey calmly turned and said, ‘Okay dad, a lot of people are about to rush in here, but he’s going to be fine.’”
There was also a lot of care helping the family balance what was happening at home. While Sonny was still in the hospital, his big sister turned 3 and one of his nurses, Savannah Bustos, made sure the newest addition of the family commemorated the big day.
“Savannah made a birthday card ‘from Sonny’ with his footprints for our daughter,” Laura shared. “It was a small act that meant the world to us, and it’s still framed in our playroom. She even changed her schedule so she could be with Sonny during his first surgery, and just continually went above and beyond.”
While the nurses helped the family navigate the day-to-day care for Sonny, his parents were so grateful they had help working through the psychological stress of having a baby in the NICU.
“The clinical psychologist, Dr. Allison Williams was a tremendous source of support and helped us navigate an incredibly taxing situation,” Laura said.
A milestone to celebrate
When Sonny turned 1, he of course got the customary smash cake for his birthday, but even more special, he and his family came to CHoR for a reunion to celebrate their care team and show their gratitude.
In a message to the team to let them know her family was treating them to lunch, Laura said, “While there is nothing we can do to adequately thank you all for the kindness, care and compassion you showed our family and son, we want to invite you to celebrate Sonny turning 1 with us!” She went on to say, “We are eternally grateful for what you do every day, and the enormous difference you all make in the world!”
As for Sonny, he is making his own difference in the world and Laura could not be prouder.
“He’s a sweet, funny little kid who has never met a stranger, and is just a constant light to everyone around him,” she shared. “Neither his rough start to life nor his medical condition will define him or slow him down.”