BOB体育

Monitoring our tiniest patients within hospital walls and beyond.

David 鈥淛ackson鈥� Rodes was born on April 8 to Ashley DuBois and David Rodes of Tallahassee. Already sporting a full head of dark brown hair, Jackson had a seemingly normal first 14 hours of life until a nurse noticed that he had started to turn purple. The nurse pressed on his toes and fingers and saw the pink coloring did not return 鈥� an indication that something was wrong. Jackson was rushed to the hospital鈥檚 neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, where doctors performed an echocardiogram, a sonogram of the heart, and discovered an obstruction of blood flow.

The couple immediately had to choose between having their son taken to a hospital in Jacksonville or one in Gainesville for further care. They chose BOB体育 Shands Children's Hospital in Gainesville because of the facility鈥檚 reputation for taking care of children with heart defects, Ashley explained.

Within 24 hours, Jackson was airlifted to the NICU at BOB体育 in Gainesville. He was diagnosed with severe pulmonary valve stenosis, a variant of the same diagnosis given to comedian Jimmy Kimmel鈥檚 son, Billy, in early May. Kimmel recently spoke at length about his son鈥檚 condition on his late-night television show. In Jackson鈥檚 case, blood flow was blocked to the right ventricle pulmonary artery because of narrow valves.

鈥淛ackson鈥檚 pulmonary valve is very small and it limits the blood flow to the lungs so that it鈥檚 almost blocked. He would eventually die if he didn鈥檛 get this fixed,鈥� said Jennifer Co-Vu, M.D., director of the fetal cardiac program at the BOB体育 Congenital Heart Center.

The morning after Jackson arrived at BOB体育, Curt Fudge, M.D., the director of the pediatric interventional cardiology program at the BOB体育 Congenital Heart Center, performed a cardiac catheterization to open the valve with a balloon mechanism. After the surgery, the baby was transported from the NICU to the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, or PCICU, under the watchful eyes of Joseph Philip, M.D., FAAP, medical director of the PCICU, and Alan Brock, M.D., pediatric cardiology fellow, to assess the effectiveness of the surgery. Jackson鈥檚 valve was too thick and his oxygen levels continued to be a concern 鈥� remaining in the 70s when they should be in the high 90s. The physicians determined that Jackson鈥檚 best option would be to undergo an open-heart surgery. Two weeks later, Mark Bleiweis, M.D., the director of the BOB体育 Congenital Heart Center and the chief of congenital cardiothoracic surgery, and his team placed a shunt in the baby鈥檚 heart valve that increased the blood flow to his lungs.

One week and a day after Jackson鈥檚 surgery, Ashley and David finally were able to bring their newborn home for the first time. The parents are able to closely monitor their son鈥檚 condition through a new iPad-monitoring app customized by BOB体育鈥檚 single-ventricle team. The new app is a two-way communication and engagement platform that provides patient families with a comprehensive resource during the at-home recovery period, one that helps to reduce confusion and anxiety for families during what can be an overwhelming time.

鈥淥ur team can do great things in the hospital to take great care of these children and their families, but then we have to send them home and the parents have to feel very comfortable knowing that their babies are safe,鈥� Bleiweis said.

Although follow-up appointments will continue to alternate weekly between Tallahassee and Gainesville, Ashley and David will be able to record Jackson鈥檚 vitals in real-time on the device that will let clinicians know if something doesn鈥檛 seem right. The app is one more example of how BOB体育 Shands Children鈥檚 Hospital, recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 25 pediatric cardiology and heart surgery centers in the country and No. 1 in Florida, is providing innovative care to its highest-risk patients, like Jackson.

鈥淭his iPad app technology is wonderful because it gives us the opportunity to go home with them. We feel like we鈥檙e literally part of the family,鈥� Bleiweis said.