Mother and son share repaired ‘hole in the heart’ – Hometown News

Rashad Deuce Gholston Jr. is all boy.

The active two-year-old, born in Tallahassee, but who now lives in Daytona Beach, is always on the go.

Hes always running and jumping, and doing backflips and cartwheels, said Dwyronyelle Dee Gillard, Deuces mom. He loves football and wants to tackle like his dad.

Deuces father, Rashad Gholston Sr., was a wide receiver for the Florida State University football team from 2010 to 2014. Ms. Gillard also is very athletic and was a basketball player at Atlantic High School in Port Orange.

The energetic mother and son have something else in common, both were diagnosed at age two with congenital heart disease and had open heart surgery to repair atrial septal defects. A congenital heart defect, ASD is characterized by an opening in the wall (the atrial septum) between the heart's two upper chambers (the right and left atria).

Deuce received outpatient pediatric cardiology care at Wolfson Childrens at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare specialty center and life-saving surgery at Wolfson Childrens Hospital of Jacksonville. Deuce's mom had the same heart surgery as her son in 1997 at a central Florida childrens hospital.

The most common birth defect in the U.S., CHD includes a range of abnormalities of the heart that develop prior to birth. While some heart defects are detected with routine screenings during pregnancy, at the hospital during birth or shortly thereafter, many heart defects may not be identified until later during a medical checkup.

During Deuces routine well care visit at North Florida Pediatrics in Tallahassee, Dr. Anna Koeppel, a pediatrician, detected a heart murmur, indicating a possible heart defect or underlying heart problem. She referred Deuce and his mom to consult with Dr. Justin Mac Vining, a pediatric cardiologist at Wolfson Children's.

Heart murmurs or atypical heart sounds are fairly common, affecting up to 50% of children, and there are many instances where a murmur may be heard in a child with a strong, healthy heart, Dr. Vining said. In this case, the murmur was atypical and indicated a structural heart problem.

Dr. Vining ordered diagnostic testing for Deuce including an EKG, which measures and interprets the hearts electrical activity, and an echocardiogram, which uses sound waves to get a detailed picture of the heart.

There was evidence of right ventricular enlargement on the EKG, so I ordered an echo, which confirmed his diagnosis, the doctor said.

In medical terms, Deuce had an ASD, one of the defects referred to as "a hole in the heart." Ms. Gillard had the same condition as a child.

Dr. Vining showed us the images and we could clearly see the hole in Deuces heart, Ms. Gillard said.

Its not common, but when a mother has a congenital heart defect, the chances of her child having a congenital heart defect are increased, Dr. Vining said.

Because the opening was large, Dr. Vining recommended surgical repair and that Deuce and his family consult with Dr. Michael Shillingford, chief of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery at Wolfson Childrens Hospital.

Dr. Shillingford performed open-heart surgery to repair the hole in Deuces heart late last year.

Because of enormous strides in medicine and technology, today nearly all children with atrial septal defects go on to lead healthy, productive lives as adults, Dr. Shillingford said. Thanks to these significant advances, there are now more adults with CHD than children living with the disease.

Children and adults with ASD must see a cardiologist for regular checkups. Deuces first follow-up appointment took place with Dr. Vining at Wolfson Childrens. Fortunately the familys new home, Daytona Beach, also has a Wolfson Childrens Specialty Center. This allows Deuce to continue to be monitored by pediatric cardiologists with the Wolfson Childrens Hospital and UF Health College of Medicine-Jacksonville.

Deuces surgery was the hardest thing we have ever been through, but our experience with Wolfson Childrens was wonderful, Ms. Gillard said. The doctors and medical team are the best we have ever experienced. They explained everything to me and answered every question. I couldnt have asked for a better group of people to care for my son.

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Mother and son share repaired 'hole in the heart' - Hometown News