Heart of the matter

A Stoughton toddler will have open-heart surgery next week and his family is helping to raise money for a well known charity event.

Sixteen-month-old Eric Boykin was diagnosed with a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), commonly known as a “hole in the heart,” when he was just two days old.

 The son of Finance Committee Chairperson Holly Boykin and her husband Bill, Eric is being treated by doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for Children in Boston. 

One in every 1,000 children is born with a VSD. Approximately 50 percent of all VSDs close on their own. In some cases, like Eric’s, the VSD becomes problematic and requires surgery to close.

In January, doctors determined Eric’s hole was a rare type called a Conal VSD. The Conal VSD almost never closes spontaneously.      

Eric’s VSD is located directly under his aortic valve. In recent months, the valve began to grow into the VSD, resulting in deformation and leakage of the valve.

“If we don’t fix it, it will continue to leak and over time you will get to a point where the aortic valve cannot be closed,” said Dr. Jeff Myers, Eric’s cardiac surgeon at MGH for Children. 

The doctor will go in through the pulmonary valve and close the VSD with a half centimeter GORE-TEX vascular patch. The GORE-TEX, said Myers, is the same product used to make winter outerwear.

The body has almost no reaction to the product and over time, said Myers, Eric’s body will grow a layer of tissue over the GORE-TEX patch.

While Myers is operating, Eric’s heart will be stopped and a cardio pulmonary bypass machine will do the work of his heart and lungs.  

The toddler is expected to be in the operating room for about two hours. After the surgery, Eric will be in the intensive care unit for two to three days and hopefully able to come home within six to seven days, said Myers.

Born three weeks early in April 2006, Eric weighed five pounds, 14 ounces. Shortly after his birth, a heart murmur was heard through a routine stethoscope exam. Doctors did an electrocardiogram (EKG) and an Echocardiogram before diagnosing the newborn with a moderate sized VSD.

At four days old, Eric was started on the diuretic Lasix to prevent congestive heart failure. His parents were advised of symptoms to look for which might indicate potential problems and Eric was sent home. A visiting nurse went to the family’s home three times a week to monitor Eric.

Almost immediately, an otherwise healthy Eric started having difficulty gaining weight. After multiple gastrointestinal procedures, he was diagnosed with reflux, fairly common in babies with VSDs. He was put on an anti-reflux medication and started to grow.   Things were looking good, said his mom, Holly.

Then one day the visiting nurse expressed concern about Eric’s blood pressure and the possibility that his heart had become enlarged. Right away Boykin took her son to the pediatrician who did an x-ray and determined it was a false alarm. 

At one point, a cardiologist thought the hole was getting better; the Boykins were thrilled. And then another cardiologist determined the hole was getting worse.

Once the valve problem was diagnosed, the Boykins were told that if it continued to leak, Eric would need surgery.

The leaking was making Eric’s heart inefficient, causing his body to waste energy resulting in his failure to grow, according to the cardiologist.

After three months with no weight gain, Eric was admitted to MGH where he had a nasal gastric feeding tube inserted. Before the procedure doctors ran an Echocardiogram, an ultrasound, of Eric’s heart. They found that the left side was slightly dilated. 

The feeding tube was successful in helping Eric gain some weight, but unfortunately had to be removed when Eric developed blisters in his throat. 

So for the past week or so, little Eric has been treated to every child’s dream, a diet rich in high-calorie foods.

“Eric can have as much chocolate and ice cream as he wants,” said Holly.

 Throughout months filled with anxiety and fear, the Boykin family, which also includes Kenneth, 13, and Matthew, 11, has done their best to cope with the situation. 

They have reached out to the American Heart Association and to MGH’s family support group as well as to family and friends. Holly has also found support locally from women in the Stoughton Moms Club.

Although not able to participate in this year’s American Heart Association “Heart Walk,” the family is raising money for the cause. They are also accepting donations for MGH. The hospital’s family room, said Holly, is in need of toys, DVDs, Play Station and GameCube games.

Donations can be dropped off at the Boykin home at 81 D Street in Stoughton. For more information about Eric and his surgery, people can log onto a special Web page set up for him at MGH. The website is www.carepages.com. Once you register to visit, Eric’s page is at Ericboykin.