Reseach and My Family Blog 3 Assignment

As I walked around my Aunt’s house and we reminisced about the old days we stood quietly staring at Little Ricky’s picture. Ricky passed away at age 6. He was born with a hole in his heart and in 1961 they did not have the knowledge or technology to perform open heart surgery on children.

On January 1, 1991, I became a proud aunt of a beautiful baby boy only to learn Joshua was born with the same heart disease as Little Ricky. (Ricky was Joshua’s second cousin) Thanks to research and modern technology Joshua has had two successful surgeries. He now attends college and lives a very normal and healthy life style.

I remember listening to my mother and family talk about both boys being called a blue-baby. I didn’t really know what that meant, but after my research I now understand the term.

Years of research has proven to be beneficial to children’s health and development. I’m sure there had to be some risk for the greater good through out the process, but worth the sacrifices for man-kind.

I found the following information helpful:
Approximately 10 percent of the cardiac surgery in this country is performed on infants and children. Problems requiring this surgery are almost exclusively congenital in nature-the children are born with heart defects. Congenital defects vary from straightforward problems, such as a “hole” in the heart, producing mild symptoms or none at all, to complicated malformations that result when a good portion of the heart has failed to develop. Normally, these lead to life-threatening situations. Depending on the heart defect, there are two common conditions that may arise. Children who have more than the normal amount of blood flow to the lungs as a result of a defect may suffer from congestive heart failure. A large hole between the left and right main chambers of the heart (ventricles)can produce this. On the other hand, children with blockage resulting in less blood flow to the lungs may suffer from blueness of the skin (cyanosis). Although they may gain weight and grow well, they are cyanotic because of the low level of oxygen in their blood. These children are often physically limited, and they can suffer from complications such as infections and blackouts.

Retrieved November 17, 2011 http://www.med.yale.edu/library/heartbk/25.pdf