Jill and Maggi - a grandmother's story - 50 years at the Heart of Health

Jill Hilton's granddaughter Maggi has to have repeated surgery for a rare heart condition almost 60 years after Jill had a heart operation of her own.

Maggi has a condition called pulmonary vein stenosis - a narrowing of the vein that leads from the lungs to the heart. Jill's operation was for a far more common complaint known as patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).

'How things have progressed since I had my operation. I was five years old, and I was taken to hospital in County Durham. We lived in Newcastle but my parents didn't have a car, so I was left there and that was it. In 1952 parents were not encouraged. Not like today - when Maggi goes into hospital her mother has a bed beside the cot.

'In those days my operation was a big deal. I have a big scar, which starts under my left breast and goes all the way round my back to my shoulder. It can be done by keyhole surgery now. I was in hospital for three months. Today you can be in and out in seven hours. But I was lucky - there were lots of children it didn't work for.'

All of these memories came flooding back when one-year-old Maggi had to undergo her first operation in 2008. The surgery was much more complicated than for a PDA. It involves inflating a tiny serrated balloon inside the pulmonary vein to cut it and stretch it. But because the vein partially contracts again afterwards, the surgery has to be performed an average of four times.

'It's amazing how she's progressed. She used to be so slow and lethargic and she was constantly ill. The first time she had the procedure she sat up, the next time (6 months later) she crawled, the third time (at 2 years and 3 months) she started walking. And now she's running around. Surgery has come such a long way!'

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• heart
• surgery
• generation
• grandmother
• granddaughter
• heart operation
• pulmonary vein stenosis
• patent ductus arteriosus
• british heart foundation