TEXARKANA MAGAZINE O n September 10, 1983, six weeks before she was due to arrive, a baby girl was born in Newellton, Louisiana. This baby was different. The six-pound infant was born with a broken heart. Though her heart would not stay broken, it would take four agonizing weeks of enduring sickness for her young parents to decide to take her to West Monroe, Louisiana, for further testing. It was there that a pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Terry King, discovered Vonnie was born with a boot-shaped heart. Along with the initial diagnosis, he found she had a murmur and Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), which is a combination of four heart defects present at birth that affect infants and children. The defects occur together and change the way blood flows through the heart and lungs. TOF occurs in about one out of every 2,518 babies born in the United States each year. The doctors also discovered Vonnie to have pulmonary valve stenosis. This is a narrowing of the valve between the lower right heart chamber and the lung arteries, which can cause the heart valve flaps to become thick or stiff and reduce blood flow through the valve. “I had my first heart surgery to temporarily repair the holes that were in my heart. However, the pediatric cardiologists were unable to do the balloon surgery necessary for repairing my pulmonary stenosis when I was nine because my veins were too tiny to get through. I eventually had the surgery I needed at Ochsner Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, when I was 11. From then on, I had six-month follow-ups and eventually annual follow- ups,” said Vonnie. A vivacious child, Vonnie was no different from most little girls growing up in the late 80s and early 90s. She loved caring for her baby dolls and being outside in her imaginary playground, where she built houses of pine straw and created new worlds with her sisters and neighbors. “I was a very sensitive kid, but always had a love for people and never let my heart stop me,” she said. Growing up, she found her way to the stage, where she enjoyed singing for her church and school. “I was fortunate enough to be asked to be a part of the Louisiana Allstate Choir,” she said, “and that is an experience I will never forget.”
Dress and Shoes courtesy of Dillard’s, Jacket courtesy of Apricot Lane Boutique
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LIFE & STYLE
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