Illinois Surgery Reviews

What CHD does/did your child have? :: Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) and Dual Chamber Right Ventricle (DCRV)

What did you think of the hospital and staff? :: The hospital staff was fantastic, ESPECIALLY Pediatric ICU staff. The entire staff at Children's makes sure parents are involved, informed, and even as comfortable as possible.

What did you think of the surgeon? :: Dr. Mavroudis and Dr. Stewart are wonderful and SO competent! I was 100% comfortable knowing they were performing my son's surgery.

Would you take your child back to this facility/surgeon? :: Absolutely. I would not take my son anywhere else.

Any advice for others looking at this facility/surgeon? :: Consider it seriously.

What CHD does/did your child have? Pulmonary stenosis/atresia, transposition of the great vessels, dextocardia, L looped ventricles, overriding mitral valve and lots of other stuff

What was done to correct this CHD? BT shunt, Bi-directional Glenn Shunt, Diaphragm Plication due to surgery complications diaphragm was paralyzed from Glenn shunt.

Where was your child's surgery done? University of Chicago Children's Hospitals, Chicago , IL

Who did the surgery? Dr. Robert Karp

When was the surgery done? November 23, 1998 (Bt Shunt), May 13, 1999 (Glenn Shunt), October 28, 1999 (Diaphragm Plication)

What did you think of the hospital and staff? The hospital was great, always treated well, my son was also cared for by some wonderful nurses, Dr. Peter Koenig his Cardiologist was wonderful, always explained things to me to help me understand and backed me up in my decisions.

What did you think of the surgeon? Terrible Bedside manners, never even said sorry when my son's diaphragm got paralyzed from second surgery. There is a new surgeon there and last I heard a world renowned Dr. named Dr. Hijazi was there, I think things are better now than before.

Would you take your child back to this facility/surgeon? I would go back to that facility because of Dr. Koenig and now that Dr. Karp is not there.

Any advice for others looking at this facility/surgeon? When you run into a surgeon lacking bedside manners don't be afraid to ask lots of questions and don't be intimidated. If you feel that way and don't feel comfortable let your child's cardiologist know how you feel.

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University of Chicago Children's Hospitals (Chicago , IL)

What CHD does/did your child have? :: asd

Where was your child's surgery done? :: university of Chicago

Who did the surgery? :: Dr Emile Bacha

When was the surgery done? :: Oct 4 2004

What did you think of the hospital and staff? :: Wonderful.

What did you think of the surgeon? :: Wonderful.

Would you take your child back to this facility/surgeon? :: yes

Any advice for others looking at this facility/surgeon? ::

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University of Chicago Children's Hospitals (Chicago , IL)

What CHD does/did your child have?

What was done to correct this CHD?

Where was your child's surgery done? University of Chicago

Who did the surgery? Dr Emile Bacha

When was the surgery done? Feb 2002

What did you think of the hospital and staff? We spent two months in the hospital due to our daughter getting RSV right before surgery and we didn't know it. I never left the hospital, I lived at Ronald McDonald house so I got to know a lot of the staff. The nurses are incredible there. They would buy my daughter hats, things for her hair, socks--all kinds of things. They brought in stuffed animals for her. The best nurses in the world are at UofC. Our daughter's doctor is Dr Koenig, what a guy. He is the best, and I make sure I tell him that whenever possible. He has went out of his way to help me with things.

What did you think of the surgeon? Dr Bacha is such a nice man. I saw him almost daily, since I never left. Our daughter was so sick--but he would always reassure me by telling me she was going to be okay even when it looked bad. He had so much confidence and you could tell he really cared. He is leaving and will be so missed.

Would you take your child back to this facility/surgeon? Most definitely. I put my trust in the heart care team and Dr Koenig.

Any advice for others looking at this facility/surgeon? The nursing staff is awesome. A new children's hospital was built, it sounds great. The RMH is great. Even though the surgeon is leaving, I hear the new team coming in is great. I definitely recommend this hospital.

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Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital (Oak Lawn, Illinois)

What CHD does/did your child have? :: Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Where was your child's surgery done? :: Hope Children's Hospital

Who did the surgery? :: Dr. Michel Ilbawi

When was the surgery done? :: Aug 29 2005

What did you think of the hospital and staff? :: The staff was wonderful. They where there every step of the way and where always happy to answer any questions. They made sure the parents got a meal and made adaptations to their schedule for us to be with our son when he wasn't doing well. (he was on ECMO) The only problem we encountered was having to leave the room for rounds when he was awake. He was already upset about being uncomfortable because of surgery, and then to have his mom have to leave the room was not ideal.

What did you think of the surgeon? :: Dr. Ilbawi and his entire staff was wonderful. Dr. Ilbawi never once handed us over to another Dr. or surgeon so that he could go home. For one of our sons more eventful surgeries he was in before sunrise and didn't leave until 3am the next morning.Dr. Husayni stayed to talk to us after one of his procedures. He explained to us in a few different ways to make sure we understood and also let us participate in our sons care and decisions. One of the comments he made that struck me was that he said that they are there to treat the child within the family - to make the best decision tailored for the individual and to take into consideration what the family wants. We really appreciated the fact that he took into consideration that our child was an individual and not just another cardiac case.Our son is seen regularly by Dr. Roberson. We are so glad to have a Dr. that our son likes and that likes our son.

Would you take your child back to this facility/surgeon? :: Yes

Any advice for others looking at this facility/surgeon? :: If you are in the PSHU there are no showers but you can go up to the 4th floor for a shower so you don't have to leave your child for long. Also ask (if they haven't offered) to set you up for meals. You can't eat in the room, but you can take it out to the waiting room. There are DVD players in the room so you can bring your child's favorite movie. The cafeteria in the children's end of the hospital is only open till 2pm but the employee's cafeteria in the basement of the main hospital is open past midnight (2am I think) Or there are machines in the cafeteria area of the children's hospital.

What did you think of the hospital and staff? couldn't have asked for better! Our cardiologist, Dr. Hussayni, is a great doctor too- a great bedside manner!

What did you think of the surgeon? absolutely wonderful- he took so much time to answer questions before our son was born and after each surgery

Would you take your child back to this facility/surgeon? absolutely- it is 3 hours away, but I wouldn't go anywhere else

Any advice for others looking at this facility/surgeon? We researched other hospitals in the area and talked to other surgeons- We considered Dr. Bacca, however he left the month before- Dr. Hijazii is wonderful at explaining and answering questions as well. Make lists of every question you can think of- no matter how small. There is so much optimism and hope in this hospital, it is hard not to leave and feel confident and know your child is in good hands.

What was done to correct this CHD? The full three step procedure Norwood, Glenn and Modified Fontan

Where was your child's surgery done? Hope Hospital, (Christ Hospital) Oak Lawn Ill

Where was your child's surgery done? Christ/Hope Children's Hospital; Oak Lawn Illinois

Any advice for others looking at this facility/surgeon? I trust them so much, I would never want to go anywhere else!!

What CHD does/did your child have? hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Receives physical occupational and speech therapies in our school district. She attends special ed. 5 days/week, and is doing fantastic!

What was done to correct this CHD? (1) The Norwood was done when our daughter was a little over a week. She spent almost 2 months on life support. She was released, and then back in the hospital after Christmas with RSV. Fortunately for us, our daughter did not have to stay for long. (2) She had her Glenn was she was 7 months, and (3) her Fontan when she was 15 mos.

What did you think of the hospital and staff? The surgical heart nurses for the most part were excellent with all three surgeries, as were the PICU nurses.

What CHD does/did your child have? Tricuspid Atresia with a VSD and an ASD

What was done to correct this CHD? to date, bi-directional Glenn; Fontan expected summer 2005

Where was your child's surgery done? surgery performed at Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL

Who did the surgery? Dr. Michel Ilbawi

When was the surgery done? 5 months old

What did you think of the hospital and staff? fabulous- Hope Children's now has a dedicated unit specifically for post-surgical CHD patients. My daughter recovered in the pediatric surgical heart unit for the first 3 days post-Glenn before being transferred to the regular peds floor. The staff in the PICU was amazing...and I will never be able to say enough about her surgeon, Dr. Ilbawi...he does everything in his power to help these children lead healthy lives.

What did you think of the surgeon? see above

Would you take your child back to this facility/surgeon? Yes. We plan on it for our daughter's Fontan next year

Any advice for others looking at this facility/surgeon? Our surgeon met with us once before our daughter was even born to discuss her treatment.
Then met with us again prior to her Glenn to go over any questions, concerns, etc. My advice to parents facing a CHD surgery is to meet with your surgeon as many times as YOU want-- until all of your questions are answered. We went in with a list of 50 questions (both visits) and our doctor answered all of them...he never made us feel dumb, like we were wasting his time, etc. Any surgeon who treats CHDs should know full-well that he/she is treating the parents of the patient too and should treat them (the parents or caregivers) with as much grace and support as he/she does the actual patient.

We also got a tour of the units our daughter was going to be in before arriving at the hospital for her surgery. This was a luxury for us as our daughter's first surgery was not an emergency. If you are able to tour the facility (in advance) your child will be in, my advice is to do so.