Just two years ago, Christopher Ennis of Howell was an infant recovering from a fetal cardiac intervention procedure that was performed by surgeons of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
JEFF GRANIT staff Christopher Ennis, 2, is doing well two years after he underwent a life-saving heart transplant at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His parents, Sandy and Craig Ennis, have since become supporters of the Big Hearts to Little Hearts organization. Couple committed to finding answers Christopher was born on Nov. 7, 2006, at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, and had to be resuscitated. Immediately after his birth, he was transferred to CHOP where, on Dec. 13, 2006, a heart transplant was performed.
Now the toddler is well into his “terrible twos” and he is playing and developing like any other child. The scar on his chest is the only evidence to show that Christopher once suffered from a narrowing or obstruction of his heart’s aortic valve that caused him to have congenital heart defects (CHD).
JEFF GRANIT staff The Ennis family (l-r), Craig, Christopher, 2, Sandy, Madelyn, 3 months, and Ryan, 5, relax in their Howell home. The family is supporting a fundraiser for Big Hearts to Little Hearts, which is based at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Christopher’s parents, Sandy and Craig Ennis, have put the traumatic ordeal of their son’s diagnosis behind them and they have dedicated their time to supporting efforts that fund research for CHD.
Last winter Christopher was in and out of the hospital due to respiratory infections, and he has since been diagnosed with asthma, Sandy Ennis said. However, she said his health is great otherwise and life for their family is “good now.”
Ennis said her son is an energetic toddler who is progressing wonderfully. At one time, the child was taking about 14 pills a day. His medicine load has since decreased to eight pills a day.
This life-altering experience has changed the family’s habits. According to Ennis, she and her husband and their children are eating better, keeping Christopher on a high-protein, high-magnesium diet, and staying active.
Ryan, 5, Madelyn, 3 months, and Christopher keep their parents busy.
Ennis said her family is in a much better place today than it was in the recent past. She credits the successful outcome to the support of the Howell-Farmingdale community, the expertise of CHOP’s medical professionals, and to Big Hearts to Little Hearts of Spring Lake, an organization committed to supporting research and care for pediatric cardiac patients.
Ennis praised Big Hearts to Little Hearts for its efforts. She said the organization’s work is important and said people need to be aware that “heart disease is not an adult disease, it affects children as well.”
To further its mission, Big Hearts to Little Hearts will hold its sixth annual “Heart Ball” to raise funds for the Cardiac Center at CHOP on Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. at the Eagle Oaks Country Club, Howell. To date, the organization has raised more than $450,000 for CHOP’s Cardiac Center.
The funds provided by Big Hearts to Little Hearts provide patient education notebooks and DVDs, research for Delange syndrome and the connection to heart disease, a medical professional education series, music for the hospital’s Child Life Unit, patient education videos, a fetal heart information sharing society, research on the effects of Sildenafil on post-fontan patients, and the mobile duct buster unit.
Research provided by the Children’s Heart Foundation reveals that nearly one in every 100 American babies is born with CHD. Congenital heart disease is the No. 1 birth defect-related killer, and there are 35 different types of congenital heart defects.
Studies have not yet found the cause for CHD, and Ennis believes that is due to a lack of research.
According to the Children’s Heart Foundation, “In the United States, twice as many children die each year from CHD than from all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times more than funding for CHD.”
Ennis praised the talented doctors at CHOP, saying, “This transplant gave my little boy a shot at life. We are very thankful for that. Without it we might be telling a different story.”
She noted, however, that one day the heart Christopher received as an infant will have to be replaced.
“The heart will grow as he grows, but at some point he will need another heart. Our hope is that it will be many years from now before we are back at CHOP again waiting for another heart,” Ennis said.