“They really cared about my daughter’s wellbeing and went above
and beyond.”
At birth, Laila appeared to be a healthy baby girl, but things changed
drastically at her two-week doctor’s visit. Laila’s pediatrician
immediately referred his tiny patient to a pediatric cardiologist. Further
testing concluded that she had a ventricular septal defect (VSD) –
a large hole between the lower chambers of her heart. With this condition,
instead of all the blood being pumped from the left side of the heart
to the body, the VSD allows blood to pass from the left to the right side
of the heart and back to the lungs, causing the heart to work unnecessarily
harder. Laila was prescribed seven doses of three different medications
each day, along with a high-calorie nutrition formula to help her gain
weight. “An infant with such a VSD needs 50 to 60 percent more nutrition
because the demand of their bodies is so high,” says Rajiv Verma,
MD, FACC, FSCAI, Director, Children’s Heart Center, Children’s
Hospital of New Jersey (CHoNJ) at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, an
RWJBarnabas Health facility. “We always hoped that the hole (VSD)
may shrink in size on its own, but in Laila’s case the hole was
too large,” says Dr. Verma. After discussions with the cardiologist
and heart surgeon, Laila’s parents, Hilburn and Patsy, of Plainfield,
agreed that heart surgery was necessary to save Laila’s life. Sunil
Malhotra, MD, Director, Pediatric and Adult Congenital Cardiac Surgery
at the CHoNJ, performed successful open-heart surgery on 5-month-old Laila
and closed the large hole her heart. Hilburn Sparrow, Laila’s father,
describes his experience with the entire hospital staff as phenomenal.
“They really cared about my daughter’s wellbeing and went
above and beyond.” Laila’s recovery was outstanding. Six months
post-surgery, she no longer needed medications, and 14 months post-surgery,
she was up to the 51st percentile in weight. Today, Laila is a busy, thriving
3-year-old who enjoys going to school and playing with her older brothers.