Hearts of two runners collide

By Tara Poulin “A runner must run with dreams in his heart,” said Emil Zatopek, Olympic long-distance runner, winner of 3 gold medals in the 1952 summer Olympics, and known for his brutally tough training methods.   Kendal This statement was never more true than when considering the bond that has been formed between my daughter, who was born with congenital heart disease and kidney malformations, and a woman who runs in her name for each Boston Marathon, including during this past year’s tragedy. On October 13, 2003, three days after her birth at Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH), Kendal Powe had her first cardiac surgery performed. She was diagnosed in utero by Gerald Marx, MD, at Boston Children’s Hospital, at approximately 30 weeks of my pregnancy—at which time he began his cardiology care for Kendal.  The birth was particularly emotional for me, as I work as a birth doula and had participated in many births at BWH. I knew all the doctors and nurses involved in the birth from my own work at the hospital. But it was quite a different experience being the actual patient, especially with a newborn who had severe congenital heart defects. Kendal had a bicuspid aortic valve, multiple ventricular septal defect and a coarctation of the aorta. She was taken to the ICU at Boston Children’s immediately after birth. The complex six-hour surgery was performed by Frank Pigula, MD, a cardiac surgeon at Boston Children’s. Kendal was near death with congestive he...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: All posts Heart conditions Our patients’ stories Heart Center our patients' stories Source Type: news